Home » From Fast Food to Fine Dining: Copycat Restaurant Recipes for Every Taste! » How To Make An Orange Julius
by Stephanie Manley, Last Updated 76 Comments
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How would you like to make theOrange Julius we all love from our neighborhood Dairy Queen restaurants? This delightful, creamy drink is a frothy smoothie that you can make.This easy Orange Julius recipe can be made with just five ingredients, and best of all it tastes just like the real thing. Yes, a copycat recipe will taste like the original Orange Julius. This is a drink the entire family will love.
It used to be that you could only get this drink from an Orange Julius stand or an Orange Julius store that was located in your favorite food court or mall years ago, but after Dairy Queen bought the rights to this much-loved chain, the DQ is where you need to go to get one of their delicious fruit smoothies.
We now have the secret ingredients to this orange drink recipe (thanks to Dave Oberg) and you can enjoy it in minutes. There are only 5-ingredients, making this a refreshing treat on a hot summer day.
Table of Contents
Why this copycat Orange Julius recipe works
This recipe works very well because it does a good job of mimicking the flavor you have always known. The orange juice concentrate gives you lots of flavors, and it is better to use than orange juice. Orange juice is watered own. The vanilla pudding powder provides a boost of vanilla flavor and the egg whites in the pudding mix gives this drink a lift.
Orange Julius History
The very famous Orange Julius drink started as an orange juice stand back in southern California. Orange groves were near Los Angeles back in 1926 and Julius Freed created this sweet treat. Sales were very modest early on so a friend came up with the idea of a drink mix that would make the acidic orange juice easier on the stomach.
Freed’s stand took up this new drink, which had a frothy, creamy texture, and sales took off. It became so popular that people began lining up at the store and shouting, “Give me an Orange, Julius!”
This acclaim led to the new drink being named the Orange Julius. In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was incorporated into Dairy Queen where you now are most likely to be able to drink an Orange Julius.
Did the Orange Julius use raw eggs?
When the Orange Julius first came out they did use raw eggs in the recipe, but the recipe was changed over time, and they changed the raw eggs to egg white powder.
Is the Orange Julius Healthy?
A small Orange Julius may not be the healthiest option, if you buy one in the restaurant a small one has about 300 calories, and it has about 75 grams of sugar, which is equivalent to a soda. There is about a gram of fiber in a serving, but these are low in salt with only about 57 grams. These may not be the healthiest option, but they are a great treat to enjoy once in a while.
You can enjoy this orange creamsicle flavor once in a while. So don’t miss out on this fun drink, it is like a milkshake but made with orange juice.
How to Make an Orange Julius
You only need these five ingredients to make a homemade Orange Julius:
- Frozen Orange Juice concentrate do not use fresh orange juice
- Water
- Whole milk – you could make this vegan by using almond milk instead of whole milk
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered Sugar
Put 1 1/2 cups of ice and all 5 ingredients in a good blender. Blend until smooth and you have your Orange Julius!
Some fun facts
- The original stand also provided Bible tracts and medicinal tonics.
- It became the official drink of the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
- During 1970 and the early 1980s, it used the image of a devil with a pitchfork inserted through an orange, along with the apt slogan, “A Devilish Good Drink.” This logo and slogan were later dropped because the logo was somewhat similar to that of Arizona State University’s mascot, Sparky.
Notes:
- If you already have premixed orange juice, use 1 2/3 cups of that instead of the concentrate and water. If your ice cubes are from a tray, you may want to pre-crush them a bit because the ice blends better if it is not in large pieces.
- The original orange beverage was made with raw eggs, but I believe they’ve gotten away from this as many people feel uncomfortable with eating raw eggs. However, if you want to add raw eggs, you can get eggs that are pasteurized, and these are safe to consume. My recipe does not contain eggs.
Perfect for Summer
Although this is the perfect refreshing drink to make any time, it’s especially good in the heat of summer. It’s a fun, non-alcoholic beverage that your whole family will enjoy. To make things easy, you can watch a video to see how to make this special orange smoothie.
Love copycat drink recipes? Check these out
- Strawberry Julius
- Red Robin Mixed Drinks – Screaming Zombie
- Starbucks Strawberry Frappuccino Recipe
- Starbucks Passion Fruit Iced Tea Lemonade
- Starbucks Iced Coconut Milk Mocha
- Starbucks White Chocolate Cocoa
- DIY Frosty
- Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard
- Chick Fil A Lemonade Milkshake
- Sonic Coconut Cream Pie Shake
Love Oranges? Try These Recipes
- Orange Pineapple Delight Cake
- Homemade Orange Sherbet with Orange Soda
- Orange Fluff Salad
Be sure to take a look at these restaurant drink recipes and copycat desserts.
Did you make and love this recipe? Give your review below and make sure you share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Homemade Orange Julius
You now have the secret Orange Julius recipe and can make this delicious smoothie at home.
4.85 from 19 votes
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Orange Julius
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 143kcal
Author: Stephanie Manley
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup orange juice concentrate
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 6 ice cubes (approx 1 1/2 cups ice)
Instructions
Put all ingredients in a blender, cover, and blend until smooth.
Hints: If you already have premixed orange juice, use 1 2/3 cups of that instead of the concentrate and water. If your ice cubes are from a tray, you may want to pre-crush them a bit because the ice blends better if it is not in large pieces.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 399mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 280IU | Vitamin C: 65.3mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 0.2mg
About Stephanie Manley
I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.
Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Barrett Craig
I practically subsisted on Orange Julius nearly 60yrs ago! It was delicious, as were the chili-cheese hot dogs. I distinctly remember the orange juice was always fresh-squeezed, the proprietary powder was a cream-white color, while the raw egg was only added on request, at additional cost. It made the drink extra creamy and tasty. I believe the person who mentioned malt is on to something, I’d find it hard to believe the full taste is to be found with only vanilla. I plan to try your recipe, with some pinches of malt, powdered milk, and vanilla.
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Posie G
The taste is excellent! We will definitely be making this again!👍🏻I would recommend this recipe to anyone!😊🍊🧡Reply
Donna Sharp
At one of the Orange Julius stores at a mall that no longer stands, I used to frequent the O.J store and became friendly with one of the clerks. He showed me how they made the Orange Julius and it included: Orange juice, powdered milk, a whole egg, sugar and ice. The powdered stuff people are talking about is milk. They didn’t use liquid milk. Just a tablespoon of powdered milk..
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Johnnie Lohmann
As a former manager of Orange Julius I can absolutely tell you that whatever he showed you is false. There are 2 different proprietary bags of powders that come in, each from a different producer so that no one has the full exact recipe. While one DOES contain powdered milk that is not all it contains. Tasting each mix before making drink shows they are each sweet and have different spices.
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Vida
Hello. The recipe included 1 whole, but I am not sure but based on comments, is this 1 whole egg? Thank you.
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Stephanie Manley
It is 1 cup of whole milk.
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Kevin M
My friends this is the way Orange Julius was made back in the 1960’s when i was a kid.Fresh squeezed Orange juice,milk, one egg,sugar, vanilla ,ice mix in blender and served with a pickle pooch hot dog.Every body have a good day!
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Jessie
Made this for the first time today and it was delicious! I cut it down to 1 serving using the tool and it’s perfect.Reply
Gloria
Concord Foods makes a really close drink with their Smoothie packets. You can find them in the produce sections usually. They have orange, strawberry and pineapple.
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Ted
Hi, here in Montreal, we have something similar which is an Orange Julep. It sounds like it’s just as creamy as Orange Julius. A few years ago, I came across a recipe that had orange juice, powdered sugar, vanilla? and a bit of coffee creamer that made the drink frothy. It was a pretty good copycat to our Orange Julep.
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Baltisraul
The last Orange Julius stand I saw was in the late 1990’s in a food court Mall in Milledgeville, Ga. Until reading your article, I had no idea DQ now owns and serves them. When I do go to DQ, it’s for a chocolate malted milkshake and I never look at the menu. Steph, you have now saved my summer! Now if I could just find an A&W Root Beer stand.
See AlsoElderflower Liqueur RecipeReply
Stephanie
In Houston, we have this weird A&W and Long John Silver’s combo, it does nothing favorable to either place.
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Baltisraul
Funny how one memory leads to another memory. My last visit to an A&W stand was on the backroads of SE Georgia traveling to Waycross, Ga in that same late 1990’s time period.
David
We have that same type of place up in the D/FW area.
I agree that it definitely does nothing favorable.
Mary Tramp
ok, been making these for years, without out here use of powdered sugar… the orange juice, milk, vanilla, and yes whole egg is plenty sweet enough and a whole lot more nutritious.
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Audrey
There was no egg whites, it was freshly squeezed orange juice, they juiced their own oranges, mixed with soda water or water(came from the pop soda fountain) and a powder that they added to all drinks, dont know what the powder was….there was no milk added, maybe the power was a milk mixture….you could add egg to any drink at the time if ordered that way….and ice
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Chris Russell
The original story about Julius Freed spells out perfectly what was in the original drink. It had powdered egg whites, which would explain the frothy foam that is part of the taste in an orange Julius. I do believe it also said it had milk. It’s a Wikipedia article about the man and his strange concoction.
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Jay Toubman
That ‘powder’ you refer to, that came in an aluminized / mylar bag, was POWDERED EGG WHITES. Try to make any ‘Julius®’ without and it will NOT have the same, unique taste or froth.
And . . . FORGET Dairy Queen®!
They have DISCONTINUED all of the ORIGINAL ‘Orange Julius®’ drinks, sad to say.
Might still be available if their supply has not run out, but the ‘DQ’ stores cannot get the ‘mix’ any longer. At my local ‘DQ’, no more ‘Orange Julius®’, however, I can still (?) get the Strawberry-Banana ‘Julius®’. Having a VERY small kitchen, it’s disappointing even though I have ‘tweaked’ the recipe for both if I can again make at home.
And, ‘DQ’ marketing made no effort to explain their discontinuation, other than these drinks only amounted to about two (2) per cent of their sales. (Any wild guesses as to who the ‘parent’ corporation of ‘DQ’ is?)
Only 2% of sales . . .
Equipment and supply chain already established, for years.
OFFICIAL drink of 1964 Worlds Fair or World Series . . .
Oh, well!Reply
Stephanie
Thank you for pointing out my not sharing clearly what was in the bag.
Gloria
Our DQ in kill devil hills, nc has Orange Julius! I stop and get one often.
Kiki
Just as well be discontinued because they changed the recipes. I bought one at a dq that had zero ice or froth, yet the employee swore it was the original recipe… I just smiled and drove away.
KatyMary
The powder was merengue powder, no need for egg whites when they are powdered.
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Lisa M Leuning
I got very excited when I saw the dream whip comment…that is exactly what I remembered from making these in home economics 35 years ago. I haven’t been able to find my old recipe. Should be able to duplicate it now. Thanks!
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Sam Abrams
Many Many Thank you’s for this one. Love an Orange Julius. I will try it with and without raw eggs just to see if it makes enough difference to repeat with the eggs.
Happy New Year
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Stephanie
Happy New Year to you as well!
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teeryn
I was thinking of trying this but with powdered egg whites, but I’m not the best at adjusting recipes. Any idea how many T to start the experimentation with? Thanks in advance!Reply
Stephanie
I think it would take far less. I would start with something like 1/4 of a teaspoon to make this.
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KatyMary
2 teaspoons merengue powder and 2 tablespoons water is equal to one egg white. I usually use the equivalent of two in a full-sized blender pitcher about 3/4 way full.
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Jamie
Wasn’t feeling well when I stumbled upon this recipe. Just what the Dr ordered. Thanks!Reply
Star
Wow amazing how mean and rude people can be! Thanks for the free recipe in a free country where I can decide if I want to make and drink an at home Orange Julius or not! And I can choose to comment or as my mom used to say if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. Luckily we loved your recipe thank you Stephanie
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Pepper
I agree on the rudeness; thank you Stephanie! I saw the comment about “forgetting the egg whites” as well. I got the actual recipe from a friend who worked there in the mall and there were no egg whites in it, however, they only use real frozen fruit from the frozen isle. I like to make them with strawberries or pineapple and they also use granulated sugar rather than the powdered. (This was years ago though so things may have changed) The rest is bang on. xD We love the work you do. I hope you have a lovely Christmas!
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Jillian7
OOOH…the strawberries and the pineapple both sound so yummy!
George
Pepper, can you tell me a bit more about how you make the Pineapple Julius? That one was always my favorite – I thought it was about 10 times better than the Orange. Fresh pineapple, or juice, or ? I’ve been wanting a Pineapple Julius for decades now. And Thank You, Stephanie for posting this! 🙂
Chef Mariposa
Has anyone tried making this with malted milk powder? What I remember seems to have had a mild nuttiness in the flavor that balanced the fresh of the oranges. Plus I believe the malt powder (or whatever they used) – after raw eggs were removed – helped with the frothiness.
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Joe
While working on rehabbing an injury I searched for a few ways to make protein powder (Whey ) taste paletable. One of the best was a drink that tastes more like my beloved Orange Julius than any home recipe I have found.
Blend:
1cup Tropicana No Pulp Fresh OJ
1cup good Vanilla Ice Cream
1 scoop protein powderI use a milkshake machine but a blender works just fine. Smooth frothy and soo tasty.
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Terry
Back in the day, I used to get an Orange Julius at the mall. Unless some ingredients were pre-added to their orange juice, it was orange juice, ice and one egg blended. I watched them do this many times and it appeared to be just orange juice, ice and an egg (to make it smooth & frothy). I made them at home and could not tell the difference,.
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