The Forager Lab
Citrus Juice Yield Calculator
Estimate how much juice one lime, lemon, orange, or grapefruit will produce — or how much fruit to buy for a target batch.
Fresh citrus varies by size, ripeness, season, and extraction method. This calculator uses practical planning ranges instead of pretending every fruit gives the same amount of juice.
Estimate juice from fruit you already have, or work backward from a juice target.
Count is fastest. Fruit weight gives a steadier estimate when batching larger quantities.
The low-to-high range accounts for normal variation. A more efficient press generally lands nearer the upper end.
Batch planning tool
Estimate Your Citrus
Ready when you are.
Choose your citrus, enter an amount, and calculate. Results will show a typical planning estimate plus a practical low-to-high range.
For event batching
If you are buying citrus by the case, use fruit weight whenever possible. It reduces the error caused by unusually small or large individual fruit.
For better accuracy
Juice a small sample from the actual case, measure the yield, and scale from that number when precision matters. Fresh fruit can fall outside any published average.
Quick Answer
How Much Juice Is in a Lime, Lemon, Orange, or Grapefruit?
For practical drink and batch planning, a typical lime yields about 25 mL (0.85 fl oz), a lemon about 45 mL (1.5 fl oz), an orange about 72 mL (2.4 fl oz), and a grapefruit about 145 mL (4.9 fl oz). Actual yield changes with fruit size, ripeness, season, and how efficiently you juice it.
How much juice does one lime make?
Typical: about 25 mL (0.85 fl oz) A practical planning range for one Persian or Tahiti lime is roughly 18–30 mL, or about 0.6–1.0 fl oz.
How much juice does one lemon make?
Typical: about 45 mL (1.5 fl oz) A practical planning range for one common lemon is roughly 35–55 mL, or about 1.2–1.9 fl oz.
How much orange juice comes from one orange?
Typical: about 72 mL (2.4 fl oz) One medium Navel or Valencia orange commonly plans at roughly 60–85 mL of juice, or about 2.0–2.9 fl oz.
How much juice does one grapefruit make?
Typical: about 145 mL (4.9 fl oz) A practical planning range for one grapefruit is roughly 120–160 mL, or about 4.1–5.4 fl oz.
These are planning estimates, not guarantees. For a larger prep, use the calculator above or juice a sample from the actual case and scale from your measured yield.
Yield methodology & source notes
The calculator converts published citrus-yield references into deliberately rounded planning ranges. The range is meant to reflect real prep conditions — fruit size, maturity, season, and extraction efficiency — rather than act as a statistical confidence interval.
- Lime: modeled around common Persian/Tahiti limes. UF/IFAS reports fruit around 54 g with juice content of roughly 45–55%; Illinois Extension also shows how individual-fruit yield can run lower in kitchen use.
- Lemon: University of Guam Extension reports about 45% juice yield by fruit weight for lemon; K-State Extension notes a large lemon can yield roughly 3–4 tablespoons.
- Orange: Navel and Valencia are grouped because their practical juice-yield ranges overlap. UF/IFAS notes roughly 3–4 medium oranges per cup of juice, while published Navel work commonly places juice yield in the broad 35–45% range by fruit weight.
- Grapefruit: Cal Poly notes a grapefruit can yield up to about 2/3 cup. The calculator uses a wider planning range rather than assuming every fruit reaches that upper value.
Sources: UF/IFAS Tahiti lime · Illinois Extension lime · University of Guam citrus yield · K-State lemon · UF/IFAS orange · Navel orange study · Cal Poly grapefruit.