Easy Orange Marmalade
This orange marmalade is delicious, versatile, and so easy to make. During the holiday season, jars of marmalade and other jams, jellies, and preserves make thoughtful homemade gifts.
I used volunteer trifoliate oranges for this recipe, as they really went wild producing fruit this year. I think it is amazing that wild oranges grow in this region, and the rootstock is perfect for grafting other citrus fruits like Meyer lemons! The grafting works beautifully. You can watch my son and me graft here.
By the way, whatever types of oranges you enjoy, you can feel good about eating them and using them in recipes like this one. Oranges are famous for their vitamin C content, but they also include potassium, folate, and other nutrients, too. They can help lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. I love to put juicy orange slices in a chopped salad with pecans.
After you juice the oranges for your marmalade, save the peels to make candied orange peels!
Easy Marmalade Recipe, Step by Step
Simplicity-wise, this marmalade recipe is a winner with just four ingredients:
- orange juice
- sugar
- natural pectin
- water
Navel oranges or another variety of orange will work fine, but freshly squeezed juice is best.
Mix together all the ingredients except the pectin in a saucepan or pot. Bring to a boil at high heat, add the pectin, and bring the mixture back to a boil. Boil at medium heat for another minute.
I use the boiling water bath canning method to make shelf-stable marmalades, jams, and preserves. Start by sterilizing the jars, bands, and lids, following the instructions in my canning and freezing post. Fill the prepared jars, being sure to leave 1/2 inch of headspace at the top for large cans and 1/4 inch for small jars. Wipe the rims. Proceed with water bath canning. Store the marmalade jars in a cool, dry place.
If you plan to eat up the marmalade quickly, you can just allow your filled jars to cool to room temperature and then put them into the refrigerator or freezer. Orange marmalade will keep in the fridge for about 10 days or the freezer for 3 months.
Variations on Homemade Orange Marmalade
For the fruit juice, you also could use another citrus fruit like lemons or grapefruit.
You can grate a little orange rind or zest lemon into the marmalade mixture. This will give you a more bitter marmalade, but some people like the bitterness as part of a traditional marmalade flavor. Peels also add some texture to the soft gel for that perfect marmalade consistency.
What is orange marmalade good on?
Of course, you can slather orange marmalade over toast or biscuits for a tasty breakfast.
Dollop a spoonful on top of cream cheese as part of an appetizer tray.
This marmalade is also great as a sauce and marinade for meats — and wonderful as a glaze for a holiday ham!
Mix together marmalade and whole grain mustard to make a spicy-sweet sauce for dipping fried shrimp or chicken wings.
Mixing orange marmalade into BBQ sauce, or make your own BBQ sauce by heating the marmalade in a saucepan with onions, garlic, and mustard.
Easy Orange Marmalade Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh orange juice I used Trifoliate oranges for mine
- 4 ½ cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 package powdered pectin
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan stir together orange juice, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil on the stove. Once the mixture reaches a boil, add the pectin and bring it back to a boil. Allow the orange mixture to boil at medium heat for a minute longer.
- Ladle the mixture into the sterilized cans and proceed to can using the boiling water bath method.
