My kids love toast and jam for breakfast each morning. We typically stick with strawberry and raspberry, with the exception of my older son.
He loves gooseberry jam, so I try to pick up a jar when I find it because it can be particularly hard to track down.
On a sleepover visit to their grandmother’s house, the kids were introduced to orange marmalade.
She makes her own jams, so she was able to teach us how to recreate her recipe. Luckily, her pantry was stocked, so we were able to take a couple jars home with us.
The marmalade is also great incorporated into dinner recipes, like in our 20-minute marmalade chicken.
Try it however you wish, sweet or savory!
Equipment needed:
- 8 canning jars with rings and lids
- Funnel
- Canning tongs
- Ladle
- Large stockpot
- A zester or a microplane
- 5 medium oranges
- 2 large lemons zested and juiced
- 6 cups water
- 4 cups sugar
- Wash and dry the oranges and lemons.
- Make sure your jars and lids are washed and sanitized. Running the jars through the dishwasher is sufficient. You can also boil the jars if preferred. Place the lids in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes to ensure they are cleaned.
- Cut oranges in half and then into thin slices, discarding the white center of the fruit. Be sure to remove the seeds as you go.
- Place chopped oranges, lemon zest,and lemon juice, and water in a large pot. Set over high heat and bring to a boil.
- After the water comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Once the fruit has softened, raise the heat and bring to a boil for a second time.
- Add sugar and stir continuously.
- Once the mixture thickens, it can be transferred into the jars.
- Using a canning funnel, ladle the marmalade into the jars until all of the mixture has been distributed.
- Wipe the rims of the jars, top with the lids, and secure with the rings.
- Fill the large stockpot with water and carefully place the jars inside, being careful to not let them touch the bottom or each other (use a rack if necessary.)
- Boil for 10 minutes.
- Using canning tongs, remove the jars from the pot and allow to cool to room temperature for at least 24 hours before opening.
- Once open, store the jam in the refrigerator. Unopened, the marmalade will last for about 6 months.
For more homemade spreads, we have a great lineup of recipes. Try some of our favorites soon:
About Jennifer Swartvagher
Jennifer is an experienced journalist and author. Her work has been featured on TODAY Parents, The New York Times Blog, BlogHer, Scary Mommy, and scores of other parenting and cooking publications.
I’ve never had this before let alone a homemade version. This recipe looks really cool to try. Is this just a type of jam?
This is by far my favorite thing to put on toast or bagels or muffins. Yum. The picture was sitting there, looking so pretty and delicious, and then I noticed a chicken picture right next to it. This would be so good on chicken! See, you give me ideas when you’re not even trying to, haha.
I don’t think I’ve ever had this homemade. I never even thought about making it myself. This page is definitely a keeper.
A neighbor has an orange tree that she says was planted by the former owner, who was a chef. The oranges are too sour to eat, but apparently are perfect for marmalade, so I might have to get some from her, and try making this recipe. I love marmalade on toast with peanut butter, as well as on hard boiled eggs with butter.
I have sort of gotten used to the American PB & J custom, but wouldn’t marmalade be a bit sour for that to work? I do think it goes pretty well with cream cheese (another combo I learned since moving to the US) so I guess anything is possible (and of course a matter of taste).
It is good with peanut butter, although that’s not my preferred way to eat it. I generally like grape or strawberry jam with peanut butter.
You nailed it. It is fantastic with cream cheese, thus why I like it on bagels. This combination would also be really good for stuffed French toast. I think there is a recipe here for that.
Ah, yes, here you go: https://foodal.com/recipes/strawberry-marscarpone-stuffed-french-toast/
This sounds like a pretty cool idea to try, especially for my little cousins who love all types of jam. Would this work for other types of marmalade (I’m sure though with a slight tweak to the recipe)? I think I’ll probably take a day off and see if I can come up with similar recipes for other fruits. 😀 Thank you for this recipe!
I haven’t had marmalade in the longest time, and I’ve never tried a homemade kind before! I’ve made a few types of jams however, and this looks like it shouldn’t be too difficult of a recipe to give a shot, so I’ll have to try it out when I get my hands on some nice oranges. I used to have this tasty spread on toast almost every morning when I was living on my own, but now that I’m back home with the parents I have had to hold back because my father had some bad experiences with it.
Funny story actually;
When he was a child, my dad asked his mother for 5 slices of bread with jelly on it. She misunderstood, made him 5 sandwiches instead, and because they were the type of family that didn’t want anything to go to waste my father ate himself sick on them. That was nearly 55 years ago and he still dreads it to this day!
I love it though, so when I make some I’ll have to hide it from him. 😉
Next time I go home I must make sure to get my Mom to teach me how to make it. This post brought back so many memories. Her favorite recipe also includes ginger.
When I was a kid I had no interest in all there things, but now I realize what I was missing out on–not learning skills like making jelly and canning preserves.
This recipe looks perfect, much more simple than the recipe I used earlier this year.
It is amazing on homemade bread, my 1 year old can’t get enough of it!
I’ve also used it as a substitute for orange juice in an orange chicken and stir fry recipes, it was so delicious.
I’ve always heard of orange marmalade but never had it before. This looks like a pretty easy enough recipe to try.
I do so wish I liked marmalade!
Making it was one of my late father’s favourite pastimes and the smell of the sliced oranges, then the warm sweet smelll of them bubbling away gently in the pan was one of my strongest childhood memories. When he turned seventy he decided it was a better idea to make smaller batches in the microwave and keep the resultant marmalade in the fridge. Perhaps I should try it with a mix of sweet and sharp oranges. Now there’s an idea…
Orange marmalade is my favourite topping for toast. I really enjoy the tang against the creamy butter (always butter and always unsalted). My preference is for fine shred ad I’m not a huge lover of big lumps, but I don’t really understand the idea of shredles – that seems to completely defeat the purpose. I definitely want to have a go at this recipe!
I used to think that marmalade were simply made with two simple ingredients like the fruit and sugar. I suppose I can make a mango version with your recipe. I’ve never had it before and had always thought of it as similar to jam. I’m sure it would taste great with the local bread that we have and it’s high time I make my son have something fruity on his bread.
I love marmalade and made a strawberry version before. I will make this with my kids on the weekend when we love to try out new things to make, cook and bake.
This looks like an amazing recipe. Thanks for posting it. I really love making food but never had the guts to try making marmalade. I usually buy it in the store but with this recipe I am definitely going to try to make it at home. My kids love jams and I think this will make it even more special.
When I first read the title of this post I thought that it would be a really difficult thing, but it seems actually extremely easy to do. I also have never heard about orange marmalade except for one day when I was looking for a TV show to watch and it has the orange marmalade title, lol! And since I love orange (and marmalades in all their presentations) this seems a really good idea for breakfast or even for some snacks.
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
My mom is a big fan of marmalades, I will copy this down and give ti to her so she can try it out for the first time. I do not really know if she will like the orange marmalade, but I really believe she will love it instead. Thank you for sharing this!
After a couple of jams, I tried to make this marmalade, which was a bit difficult because things are a lil different here in the Netherlands. I used an orange which is made for its juice, hope I had the right kind. The sugar too was a guessing game. I used a kind of sugar especially made for making jams, which is supposed to give the jam or jelly its thickness. I couldn’t get this marmalade to thicken though. It is still cooling but I am afraid it might stay liquid. So I was wondering, how long do you cook it after you add the sugar??
Thanks for your question, Rinske! We’re hoping to post an update to this recipe soon, with more finely tuned directions.
Yes, juicing oranges should be absolutely fine. The type of sugar that I think you’re referring to has pectin added, which isn’t necessary for this recipe. And you’re right- thickening should continue as the jam cools. The timing may vary, but for this recipe you should add the sugar and continue stirring as it dissolves. Then, allow it to continue to boil without stirring. Watch it as it boils to determine when it’s reached the set point- the boiling will slow and mellow a bit, after about 30 minutes or so.
I had the same problem. I made this recipe and it had not jelled yet. I thought after it cooled it would jell, and I put them in the refrigerator to see if that would work. I have made other jams and had no problem. What can I do if it doesn’t get like jam? Can I pour it back to boil it again? I am disappointed! Please advise.
Carol Erickson
My daughter made orange marmalade that did not thicken , it was perfect syrup for waffles . I love orange marmalade on my crepes , nothing better !