I am a bit of a citrus nut. Seriously. I buy these things by the ton, tangelos, mandarins, tangerines, grapefruit, and oranges of all types. So needless to say this orange smoothie recipe with fresh oranges is a favorite of mine. (scroll down for the recipe!)
Now one of the reasons I love using fresh citrus, particularly sweet oranges, is because you can often get them year round, and relatively fresh, without having to go the frozen route like you and I often have to do for more perishable or exotic fruits. Now you could go a couple of different ways with smoothie recipes like this, like either going with a mostly orange based smoothie, or one with a blend of other citrus like the ones I mentioned earlier, namely, mandarins and tangelos.
For this refreshing and healthy orange smoothie recipe, I am going to be going with a blend of different citrus fruits, but there will definitely be plenty of fresh orange goodness in there to be sure. The different citrus is just to add some other tasty and different citrus “notes” to the smoothie which I think make it a more interesting, exciting, and tasty beverage. Now if you can’t find one of the additional citrus fruits fresh, just substitute it with an extra fruit from one of the other citrus fruits you could find.
My personal picks for this recipe are mandarins and tangelos, but you could also use tangerines too! This recipe calls for freshly squeezed orange juice, not store bought, the two taste completely different, and truly fresh orange juice wins hands down in terms of taste and nutrition, this is a orange smoothie recipe with real oranges! Many stores have simple and affordable citrus hand presses for around 10$-20$ or less that you can use, so you definitely don’t have to go broke buying a fancy juicier to do this. (plus you get to make fresh juice whenever you want!)
Let’s get to that smoothie!
Orange Smoothie Recipe with Fresh Oranges
- 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (not store-bought juice)
- 1 medium or large orange
- 1 mandarin
- 1 small tangelo
- 1 whole banana in frozen chunks
- (optional) 1 tsp of organic Stevia for extra 0 calorie sweetening
- Peel your citrus fruits and separate them into there natural segments or slices
- Add in your freshly squeezed orange juice into the blender/juicer.
- Then toss in your citrus fruit slices in no particular order
- Put in your frozen banana chunks
- Then finally add in your sweetener if desired
- Blend until desired consistency
- Enjoy!
Servings (yield) : 2-3 generous servings
Notes : The extra orange is meant to be blended as a whole fruit (in slices) along with the other citrus fruits. This recipe is pretty versatile and you can use mostly oranges, all oranges, or different combos of mandarins, tangerines, tangelos, and oranges depending on your personal citrus preferences, or depending on what you can find locally.
The orange juice and pure fruit used in this recipe make this smoothie pretty darn sweet, so I leave the Stevia as an optional o calorie sweetener, which may be preferable for those of you who want to balance the natural tart and tanginess of the other citrus fruits with a sweeter taste. I will personally use it sometimes, and other times not, it’s really a matter of personal preference. Have fun and experiment!