This Strawberry Orange Julius recipe is the perfect refreshing drink for a hot summer day. It’s sweet, super creamy, and couldn’t be easier to whip up at home.
If you love frozen treats, be sure to try our Dole Whip recipe, Blue Smoothie Bowl, and our famous Acai Bowl Recipe.
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Strawberry Orange Julius Recipe
This homemade strawberry orange smoothie totally hits the spot on a hot day. Based off of our copycat recipe for Orange Julius, this easy frozen drink tastes like a melted strawberry creamsicle. All you need are a few ingredients, a blender, and about 10 minutes.
The original Orange Julius was developed in the 1920s in Los Angeles by a man who owned a little orange juice stand. Its popularity skyrocketed in the 1960s and now there are even hundreds of Orange Julius stores owned by Dairy Queen across the country.
Our Strawberry Orange Julius recipe uses frozen strawberries, frozen orange juice concentrate, whole milk, a little sugar and vanilla and plenty of ice. Blend it up, serve with a straw and prepare to chill.
Key Ingredients
- Milk - whole milk is best, but 2% will work. For a thicker smoothie, you could even substitute yogurt.
- Water - for an even richer drink, you could skip the water and substitute more milk, or even orange juice.
- Sugar - white granulated sugar adds sweetness and balances out all of the tart juice concentrate.
- Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate - this adds the best orange flavor to the drink since it is so concentrated. You could substitute orange juice but the Julius drink will be much thinner.
- Frozen Strawberries - frozen strawberries give this more of a fruit smoothie consistency than if you were to use fresh strawberries. You can absolutely freeze fresh strawberries if you’d like, or just purchase a bag of frozen strawberries.
- Ice - small ice cubes will blend up easier in the drink.
How to Make This Strawberry Julius Recipe
- Blend. In a blender, add the milk, water, vanilla extract, sugar, orange juice concentrate and frozen strawberries. Blend until smooth.
- Add ice. Add the ice and blend again until smooth.
- Serve. Pour into individual glasses and serve with a straw. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you want to use fresh strawberries, you should still freeze them ahead of time. The frozen fruit, along with the ice cubes, is what helps to create a smoothie texture.
If you have any Strawberry Orange Julius left over, don’t toss it. Instead, put it into popsicle molds or even ice cube trays with popsicle sticks for a tasty homemade popsicle.
You definitely can, although the texture will be a little thinner and it won’t have quite as strong of an orange flavor. I would definitely skip the water in the recipe if you plan to go this route.
Recipe Variations
- Add a handful of pineapple chunks and a splash of coconut milk.
- Make it mixed berry by adding fresh blueberries or raspberries. This will also add a vibrant burst of color!
- If you prefer a creamier texture, swap out the regular milk for vanilla ice cream or Greek yogurt.
- Try squeezing in some lime juice or adding a splash of lemonade to the mix.
- Boost the nutritional value of your smoothie by adding a scoop of protein powder.
Homemade Strawberry Orange Julius Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup Water
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Sugar
- 12 ounces Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate
- 2 cups Frozen Strawberries
- 2 cups Ice
Instructions
- In a blender, add the milk, water, vanilla extract, sugar, orange juice concentrate and frozen strawberries. Blend until smooth.
- Add the ice and blend again until smooth.
- Pour into individual glasses and serve with a straw. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Drink Recipes For the Whole Family
- Breakfast Punch
- Breakfast Tropical Punch
- Disney Copycat Dole Whip
- Virgin Strawberry Pina Colada
- Mint Lemonade
- Holiday Punch
- Caramel Apple Punch
- More Summer Recipes
- More Copycat Recipes
This Strawberry Orange Julius is a summer drink recipe the whole family will love. Just combine orange juice concentrate, frozen strawberries, milk, sugar, vanilla and ice for a simple treat.
Ashley
This reminds me of my favorite childhood drink. Yum! It's so good, I will definitely make it again.
Liz
This was the perfect way to cool off on a hot and humid day! So yummy!