Artificial Food Coloring Free Lemon-Basil Orange Carrot Cooler
This vibrant drink gets its gorgeous golden-orange hue entirely from real carrots, fresh-squeezed citrus, and a pinch of turmeric — no synthetic dyes, no questionable additives, just pure color from whole ingredients. That's a bigger deal than it sounds, since plenty of store-bought juices and flavored drinks sneak in artificial colorings to punch up their appearance. Here, the carrots do the heavy lifting, blending with bright orange juice and tart lemon into something that looks almost too pretty to drink. Fresh ginger and basil add an herby, slightly spicy complexity that makes this feel like way more than a simple juice. A touch of honey rounds everything out without tipping it into cloying sweetness. Straining the blended mixture gives you a silky, smooth texture that's genuinely refreshing poured over ice on a warm day.
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Learn more →Ingredients
2 servings
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 cup fresh orange juice (from about 2 large oranges)
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tbsp honey
- 8 fresh basil leaves
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 cup ice cubes
For serving
- 2 thin orange slices (optional)
- 2 fresh basil sprigs (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Add the chopped carrots, orange juice, lemon juice, cold water, grated ginger, honey, basil leaves, and turmeric to a blender. Blend on high for 60–90 seconds until completely smooth and no large carrot pieces remain.
- 2
Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large measuring cup or bowl. Pour the blended mixture through the strainer, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the pulp.
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