We’ve all been there before. You’re reading your favorite recipe and get to this ingredient: “the juice of one orange”. Unfortunately, you only have a carton of orange juice in the fridge and don’t want to buy a whole bag of fresh oranges.
Luckily for you, I’ve got you covered. I’m here to tell you just how much juice is in one orange. Obviously, you’ll know from the outset that it varies from orange to orange so I’ll get down to the good stuff.
The amount of juice a single orange will give you 1/3 cup of orange juice, 75 ml. if you’re using a particularly big orange you could get more and if you’re juicing your orange by hand rather than with an electric juicer you’ll get less. This is 4 tablespoons of juice and it will take 3 oranges to make a cup of fresh orange juice.
So when a recipe calls for the juice of one orange, about 1/3 cup of juice is what you’ll get. Like I said earlier, the amount of juice you get each time might vary since juicing oranges isn’t an exact science! And of course 3 oranges will yield one cup of juice.
This brings me on to my next point which will help you with making your own fresh orange juice – which types of oranges will give you the freshest juice?
In This Article
Which Oranges Give The Most juice
If you want the amount of fresh orange juice as possible, then you’ll need one of the best oranges for juicing: the Valencia orange.
Valencia oranges have fewer seeds and are in season for 9 months of the year, from April to December. These are the type of orange that is generally considered to be the commercial standard for orange juice since they’re large, juicy and widely available. In the height of summer, Valencia oranges can become green on the outside but this isn’t something to worry about. When this happens, they’re still ripe, they just develop the green color to protect themselves from the sun.
A medium sized valencia orange will provide at least 1/3 cup of orange juice while navel oranges and other varieties will more likely give you about 1/4 cup of juice.
If your recipe calls for the juice of an orange, don’t panic. Juice whatever orange you have and taste whatever you’re making. You can always add more if it needs it.
Blood oranges will make more juice while smaller ones like mandarin oranges or clementine oranges will make less juice and medium sized oranges like naval will be the same as a medium sized valencia.
Tips For Getting The Most Juice Out Of Your Orange
Warm it Up – You might not have known this but fruit doesn’t yield as much fresh juice when it’s cold. To get the most juice possible out of your oranges, it’ll help to warm them a little before juicing.
This is easy to do! It’s as simple as just rolling your orange around in your hand for a few seconds. You can also prick the skin of your orange with a skewer and then place it in the microwave for about fifteen seconds. This microwave method tends to work a little better and can make life easier when you get to the juicing stage.
Roll it around first- Roll your orange around on your countertop or cutting board before juicing. A kind of citrus fruit massage! This will make it much easier to get as much fresh juice out of your orange as possible since it won’t be so firm and rigid.
Cut it into quarters instead of halves – This is such a simple step but it makes a real difference, especially if you’re squeezing your orange juice by hand. Instead of cutting your oranges in half to juice them, cut them into quarters. A quarter of an orange is much easier to squeeze thoroughly and get all the juice out of than a half, so trust me – take the time to cut those extra pieces!
Get an Electric Orange Juicer – Using a hand squeezer works perfectly well for making orange juice but there’s only so much juice you can get. With an electric orange juicer, you get twice the juice using a fraction of the effort. They’re easy to use too, you just put your orange on the juicing cone, push the lid down and your juicer spins away, getting every last drop of fresh orange juice possible.
Like I said though, manual orange juicers definitely have their place. They juice oranges quickly and can be a real space-saver compared to an electric juicer. A manual juicer doesn’t take up space in your kitchen cupboards since they usually fit neatly inside a drawer. Another bonus is that you can generally pick one up for around $10 – that’s something everyone appreciates. Especially since an electric juicer can set you back about $100!
How Many Oranges are in a Glass of Orange Juice?
Making yourself a glass of orange juice takes a little bit more work than just juicing a single orange. A glass can take between 1-2lbs of oranges to make but it obviously depends on the glass you want to fill! My rule of thumb for a glass is 250ml. It’s recommended you have 8 glasses of water a day, and each of those glasses is supposed to be 250ml, so it’s a good benchmark!
Using that as our gauge, you’ll need about 4 oranges to make yourself a glass of orange juice (since one orange usually yields about 75ml).
But this can vary! Be prepared to need between 3 and 6 if they’re not the juiciest oranges.
Related F.A.Qs on how much juice in one orange
Can I juice the whole orange?
Nobody likes waste, so if you’re interested in minimizing yours then you might be pleased to hear that you can actually juice the peel of your oranges! They’re not as tasty as the fleshy part of the orange but they’re packed full of nutrition. Orange peel has lots of potassium and magnesium in it.
However, there are chemicals in orange peel that can irritate your stomach – so it’s really up to you whether or not you want to do this. If you’re keen to reduce your food waste and maximize how much juice goodness you get out of one orange then give it a go but do it with caution.
Do I need to peel an orange before juicing?
I kind of answered this above but you don’t necessarily have to peel your orange before you juice it. If you want to juice the peel along with the flesh, then just chop your orange into quarters and put it all in your juicer. If you’d rather not juice the orange peel, then peel your orange before juicing it. Easy peasy!
What are the benefits of orange peel?
Orange peel actually has a lot of nutritional value. It has potassium, magnesium, Vitamin B2, B6, C, and fiber. These can help you maintain good heart and digestive health, so orange peel is a good all-rounder for keeping yourself healthy. Orange peel also contains polyphenols, which you might not have heard of before. Studies have shown that these polyphenols can help prevent serious conditions like type-2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
How many oranges does it take to kill you?
An interesting question but definitely not something you need to worry about happening!
If you were going to die just from eating oranges, you’d need to eat around 11,000 of them. 11,000. I’d say your chances of managing this are pretty low, so don’t panic! And it’s 3 oranges for one cup of orange juice so you’re looking at almost 4000 glasses of orange juice.
Conclusion of How Much Juice Is In One Orange
To sum up, the rule of thumb is the amount of fresh juice that one orange will give you is about 1/3 of a cup. Which is equivalent to 75 ml or 5 tablespoons of juice in one orange. But if you’re using a recipe that hasn’t told you exactly how much freshly squeezed orange juice you need, then chances are you have some wriggle room. Just taste as you go! And if you’re making homemade orange juice you’ll need about 4 oranges to make a glass that’s about 250ml.
There you have it: everything you need to know about juicing your oranges! From navel oranges to Valencia oranges I hope you found this useful and if you have any other questions please ask them below and I’ll be sure to answer them, I might even update the article if they’re good enough, or they might end up getting an article of their own!
The exact juice content depends on the orange, smaller oranges will yield less juice and might be closer to a quarter cup of juice per orange.. Drink your orange juice while it’s fresh and enjoy! Fresh citrus juice is the best citrus juice.
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