Between 2.7oz (80ml) and 4.39oz (130ml) depending on size, but not all oranges are the same. There are some ways to get a bit more juice.
Oranges are not always the same. Pick any handsome bunch and some will definitely be juicier than others. Generally speaking, it depends on the size of the orange, but not always.
Navel oranges, for example, are known to be some of the largest, but the Valencia orange is known to be one of the juiciest.
When buying oranges, it may be wiser to get a little more than you think you might need to be extra sure you’ll have enough.
Anyhow, to solve this pressing mystery, I got myself five oranges with a total weight of 1.056kg and a manual juicer to find out for myself.
Full disclosure, I ordered these oranges online—I didn’t hand-pick them from the store. As a result, I got a batch in different sizes.
Notably, one is rather large, one is rather small, and the other three are similar in size. I’m also not completely sure of the variety, though I do know that they came from Greece.
How Much Juice Is in an Orange in Ounces and ml?
To test this fairly, I started with one of the more ‘average-sized’ oranges. It came to 2.7 ounces or 80ml—almost ⅓ of a US legal cup.
The second orange I squeezed came out to 3.04oz or 90ml, so this is in no way an exact science (surprise surprise).
Then interestingly, the smallest of the five oranges almost managed 2.7oz/80ml of juice too.
So, don’t go judging how much juice is in an orange based on the size of the orange.
But then, as if to prove me wrong once more, the last and largest of the oranges managed a whooping 4.39oz or 130ml of juice!
So, what does this tell us?
When guessing how much juice oranges likely have, if there is not much difference in size between them, then there’s probably not too much difference in juice.
More likely, significantly larger oranges are going to be juicier, but it won’t always work out that way.
How Many Tablespoons (tbsp) of Juice are in an Orange?
I used a tablespoon measurement for this (it came with the bread machine I bought a couple of years ago).
The 2.7oz/80ml of juice I squeezed out of the first orange equated to approximately five tablespoons.
How Many Oranges for 1 Cup of Juice?
Using a cup to measure orange juice (or any juice) can be tricky. A cup of juice for one person could be a lot or a little for another. It all depends on the cup that you use.
In the US alone, there are two measurements that could come under ‘cup,’ according to Google—‘US cup’ which is 8oz or 236.58ml, and ‘US legal cup’ which is 8.11oz or 240ml.
And in the UK and Commonwealth, a cup could mean an ‘imperial cup’ which is approximately 9.6oz or 284.13ml.
For practicality’s sake, I’ll stick with the US legal cup measurement of 8.11oz/240ml.
To cut to the chase, it took me three average-sized oranges to reach 1 cup. By my estimate, two very large oranges could probably exceed one US legal cup.
How Much Juice From 1kg of Orange?
In total, my 1kg of oranges once completely drained of juice came to about 14.54oz or 430ml, probably enough juice for one or two people.
Tough, Remember, I had 1.056kg of oranges, technically speaking (not that 0.056 probably makes much difference!).
How Many Oranges to Make 1 Liter of Juice?
I didn’t have enough oranges to reach 1 liter (not even half) but based on what I managed with five oranges; we could assume that around 12 will be enough to reach the 1-liter mark.
To play it safe, it might be wiser to get one or two more oranges (so 14 in total) to be 100% sure you’ll reach 1 liter.
What Percent of Orange Juice Is Water?
Unsurprisingly, a lot of orange juice is water. According to the Florida Department of Citrus, “almost 90 percent” of pure orange juice is water.
Similarly, the USDA says that for every 100g of orange (raw and navel), approximately 86.7g are made up of water, that’s almost 87%.
And as you probably know, when we start looking at specific brands of orange juice and not oranges themselves, we can sometimes notice big differences in water content.
How Much Water to Add to Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice?
Plenty of people out there would argue that you shouldn’t add any water to orange juice (most of it is already water anyway) because it dilutes that fresh orange taste.
I’ll argue that your juice will last much longer if you add water, and your juice will cost you less.
You should also think about how worth it is. Is it worth your time to squeeze oranges for 30 minutes just to gulp it down in five?
On sweltering summer days, when I make freshly squeezed orange juice, I will almost match the amount of water for the orange juice.
You may argue that this will dilute the taste way too much, but when it’s hot outside, it’s super refreshing, especially when using very cold water and ice cubes.
But even among those that add water to their orange juice, there is a disagreement over how much to add.
Tarla Dalal of TarlaDalal.com recommends using half a cup of water for every six oranges you use.
This may be a good ratio to use if you want to stretch your orange juice a little without compromising taste.
Or, if you’re thinking to add more water than that, you may want to consider adding more sugar and or even mixing your orange juice with complimentary juices.
Either way, make sure you mix (or blend) your juice well.
How to Get More Juice From an Orange?
A while back, someone told me there were oranges specifically for juice. I thought this was nonsense, but it turned out to be true. (They were probably talking about the Valencia variety.)
To get the maximum yield of juice, try to look for oranges that are specifically for squeezing juice. (As I’ve said a couple of times, bigger doesn’t always mean juicier.)
After I have finished adding water to my orange juice. I may also squeeze a lemon in but note that this can be very overpowering.
You may have squeezed several oranges into a juice and added an equal measure of water, but as soon as that lemon goes in, it’s no longer orange juice, it’s lemon juice.
You should also make sure you properly rinse your juicer or blender after every orange because the leftover flesh can build up and prevent the juice from draining.
And if you’ve left juice for a day or so and it has started to separate, don’t add more water or juice, just stir.
Dole has a few great tips for getting more juice from an orange.
The two best tips include heating the fruit in hot water or the microwave and rolling the fruit a few times before squeezing. Both methods loosen up more juice.
And lastly, another simple trick is just to add ice.
Key Findings
Here’s a quick summary of what I measured from my little orange juice experiment.
- One orange can contain between 2.7oz and 4.3oz or 80ml to 130ml.
- A regular-sized orange can contain up to five tablespoons (tbsp) of juice.
- Three regular-sized oranges can give you a US legal cup (8.11oz/240ml) of juice.
- A kilo of oranges can yield around 14.5oz or 430ml of juice.
- To get a liter of juice, you’d likely need between 12 and 14 oranges.
