Freshly-squeezed orange juice offers the same luxury as a café-made coffee. Once you’ve tried your orange juice fresh, there’s no going back to the bottled stuff. There are plenty of health benefits of orange juice to take advantage of, most notably because oranges are packed with vitamin C, which is needed for the growth, repair and development of all body tissues.
If you own a citrus juicer, you can make your own fresh orange juice whenever you want. But making your own juice poses an important question: what types of oranges are best for juicing?
During my time writing for Juicerspot, I’ve juiced every type of orange (and every type of citrus fruit, for that matter) that I could get my hands on. Through my own experience, and the anecdotal feedback from other juicing enthusiasts, I’ve devised a list of the best oranges for juicing. Grab your pen – it’s time to take notes 📝
🍊 Best Types Of Oranges For Juicing
Here are the five best juicing oranges:
- Navel
- Valencia
- Blood
- Tangerine
- Clementine
- Tangelo
You might be wondering what makes the best oranges for juicing in my eyes. I’ve rated the oranges on this list based on several factors: juice content, affordability, and flavor (the balance between sweetness and bitterness).
Navel Oranges
Being accessible and easy to peel, navel oranges are some of the most popular types of oranges you can buy today. Navels are seedless, so they’re easy to juice.
However, these oranges usually peak in LARL content (a substance in the fruit’s cells that promotes bitterness) about two months before they’re picked. This means that navel oranges can be more bitter than other juices if you leave the juice sitting around in your fridge. However, if you plan to drink the freshly-squeezed juice of navel oranges immediately, you won’t have a problem with bitterness.
| Juice Content | 5/5 |
| Affordability | 5/5 |
| Flavor | 3/5 |
Valencia Oranges
Valencia oranges are also very popular and widely available in the US. These oranges are the most favored for juicing as they’re big and full of juice, and their flesh packs a great flavor.
Valencia oranges are typically picked a few months later than navel oranges, which means they have a better balance between sweetness and bitterness, and can be stored in your fridge all day without becoming too bitter. Juicing valencia oranges is easy and cost-effective, and these oranges are seedless or contain very few seeds, which is why you’ll commonly find valencia oranges in store-bought juices.
| Juice Content | 5/5 |
| Affordability | 5/5 |
| Flavor | 4/5 |
Blood Oranges
Blood oranges are a little more unique, but it’s well worth getting your hands on them if you can. As the name suggests, these oranges are blood-red on the inside, so they’ll produce a juice that’s more ruby than orange.
Blood oranges are typically more expensive, because they’re not as readily available.
They also contain seeds. However, you’ll get a unique flavor from blood oranges, so I recommend trying blood orange juice at least once if you never have before.
| Juice Content | 4/5 |
| Affordability | 3/5 |
| Flavor | 5/5 |
Tangerines
Tangerines are around half the size of a valencia orange or navel orange, and have a shorter season. These robust citrus fruits have plenty of sweetness and flavor, with minimal bitterness. Tangerines are a traditional deep orange color and have soft skin that’s easy to peel. This makes them good juicing oranges, despite their smaller size and seeds. You can only get your hands on fresh tangerines between late fall and easily spring. Although they’re not available year-round, they’re well worth using in your fresh squeezed orange juice when they’re in season. They can also be used for cooking purposes.
| Juice Content | 4/5 |
| Affordability | 5/5 |
| Flavor | 4/5 |
Clementines
Clementines are another small orange variation that can add a new flavor profile to your orange juice. While they’re great for juicing, and produce plenty of juice if you decide to squeeze them instead of eating them, their smallness means you’ll need to put more work into peeling and prepping these juice oranges to get enough fresh squeezed orange juice to fill a large glass. Clementines are available year-round, but their peak season is between late November and early January.
| Juice Content | 4/5 |
| Affordability | 5/5 |
| Flavor | 3/5 |
Tangelos
Tangelos are dark orange in color and have a slightly tarter taste than most oranges. The skin of tangelo oranges is thin and easy to peel, and the flesh is sweet and juicy. Fresh juice made from tangelos has the perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness, making it one of the best orange juicing options to try. Tangelos are in supply from early November through December, so these fruits aren’t the most available or affordable. Still, they’re worth trying for a delicious Christmas sweet treat.
| Juice Content | 4/5 |
| Affordability | 5/5 |
| Flavor | 4/5 |
🥤 Best Juicing Oranges: My Verdict
If you choose any of the oranges on my list for juicing, you should have a good overall experience. Whether you’d rather drink sweet or tart juice will determine which of these oranges you prefer. Each fruit has its own unique taste, but all of the above oranges are good for your health, so I recommend trying them one-by-one in your juicer and deciding on which you prefer.
There are several oranges that didn’t make my top five, but they’re still good options for juicing. Satsuma and mandarin oranges are both healthy and rich in vitamin C. They just don’t produce the quality of juice you can get from the oranges on my list.
Finally, there are some oranges that I wouldn’t recommend using at all in your juicer. Acid-less oranges, otherwise known as sweet oranges, have very little acid, which means they’re not protected against spoilage and are unfit for juicing. Bergamont oranges can be quite sour, so they’re not typically the best oranges for juicing, either.
