Some people consider the luscious red and delicious sweet taste of a blood orange a luxury. After all, they are a seasonal fruit and can be very expensive when not in season.
It is possible to replicate a blood orange’s sweet, tangy, slight bitterness on a budget.
Our 4 Substitutes for Blood Orange
The most important thing a blood orange substitute must do is provide an orangey flavour to a dish. The colour is also important.
Here are our top 4 substitutes for blood oranges:
1) Regular Oranges
It may seem like the obvious choice, but regular oranges are a good replacement for blood oranges. After all, most supermarkets supply them all year.
Blood oranges taste pretty similar to regular oranges tasting slightly more muted.
The zest of regular oranges is also packed full of flavour and can be used to flavour baked goods. You may need to use more than one orange to bring out the zest’s flavour.
Use Food Colouring to Match the Aesthetics
Many people prefer blood oranges because of the uniquely blood-red colour that it produces. Regular orange will not naturally produce the same colour.
Use red food dye a little at a time whenever you use regular oranges. Whether it be in baked goods or a zingy cocktail. It may be the cheater’s way, but no one will be able to tell the difference.
2) Navel Oranges
Just like blood oranges, the navel orange differs slightly from a regular orange.
Navel oranges are typically more oval in shape and have bright orange skin, much more vibrant than the skin on a blood orange. However, their pulp is more yellow rather than orange.
Not only is this yellow pulp sweet and tangy like that of blood orange, but they also have a slightly stronger tart taste. This balance makes them the better choice when cooking savoury dishes.
Navel oranges pair particularly well with meat and vegetables. Though if you want its flavour to be more pronounced, use it in a salad dressing or as a yoghurt topper.
Luckily, navel oranges are also available for longer in the year than blood oranges as their season starts earlier than that of blood oranges.
Better yet, their pulp is entirely seedless, so you don’t have to strain out the juice.
Use Navel Oranges Straight Away
The one significant downside to a naval orange is that you must use it immediately after slicing.
If you are just using the orange for the zest then it will be fine. However, as soon as you slice the orange open, it will turn bitter very quickly.
Use a naval orange as soon as possible. Wait until you are ready to serve your dish to slice it if you are using it as a topping.
3) Blood Orange Syrup
What better way to replicate the flavour of a blood orange than to use a blood orange flavoured syrup?
The syrup is sweet and tangy while still holding all of the iconic colours of blood oranges.
Though if you want a more punctuated citrus flavour, use lemon juice. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice to every tablespoon of blood orange syrup.
It is a substitute best used in beverages or desserts seeings as it is a syrup so is a little sweeter than other options.
Make Your Own Syrup
Essentially, blood orange syrup is just orange flavoured extract mixed with a certain amount of sugar.
You can make your own at home by adding ½ teaspoon to every tablespoon of orange extract, mixed with 1 cup of water. Bring it to the boil until the sugar has dissolved. This recipe is also worth trying.
4) Orange Juice
If you have none of the other substitutes already in your house, then plain orange juice will be a safe bet for replacing blood oranges.
You can achieve that sweet, citrusy flavour without much effort on your part.
Orange juice is a great addition to any citrusy sauce and is just punchy enough to not overwhelm the sauce with sweetness. Likewise, there is a tart aftertaste that can serve well when using a sauce for meats or vegetables.
Be careful to use orange juice with no pulp, otherwise, your recipe may turn out slightly bitter and grainy. Or, if that is all you have, strain out the pulp with a sieve.
Don’t Over Do It!
It can be very easy to overuse orange juice when compared to other blood orange substitutes.
While the juice is strongly flavoured, it is typically more diluted than a juice directly from an orange. Therefore, some people make the mistake of using too much to try and enrich the flavour.
This is fine if you are using orange juice in a sauce, but if you plan to bake with it then stick with using ½ of what the recipe calls for.
Pour too much orange juice into your mixture and you may ruin the recipe.
Other Substitutes for Blood Orange
During the summer months, you may find many of the above substitutes out of stock. So, here are a few more that you could use:
- Pomegranate Juice – You can either buy or make your own pomegranate juice. The juice is very sweet but more on the tarter side
- Cranberry Juice – A very deep red, cranberry juice is made with a blend of sugar that prevents the cranberries from being bitter
- Tangerines – They are one of the sweetest oranges which may not bode well for some blood orange savoury recipes. However, in desserts and for drinks, tangerines are a good substitute
Summary
To conclude, people love blood oranges for their sweetness and their unique colour. There are plenty of other oranges that can serve as substitutes.
Your best bet is to buy a regular orange and add more zest or juice than a recipe calls for to bring out that orange flavour.