DIY Easy Homemade Orange Marmalade (Jam) Recipe

Making an orange peel Jam or marmalade is a great option when you have a lot of fruit peels leftover laying around and you don’t want to throw them away.

I sure feel the same way when making a lot of orange juice and looking at all the peels forming a little pile, I really don’t want them going to waste.

Actually, orange peels and citrus peels, in general, can be used for so many things if you just keep them. From making tea, homemade essential oil, jam, sweets like orangettes, fertilizer for your garden, natural spot cleaning sponge and so many other things.

Today we will prepare the homemade marmalade with oranges, but you can make it with any type of citrus or other fruits too.

What I know about the Orange jam is that it’s one of the most popular jams in the Mediterranean region of Europe.

You can find it made in a few variants all across Greece, Italy and to some extent in Spain and France. And no wonder as these countries grow a large portion (about 20% of the world citrus production) of the oranges exported and consumed mainly in the rest of Europe and western countries.

It is really delicious smeared on top of a slice of homemade bread and as a filling for a cake, pasta frola or a sweet orange cookies.

In this recipe, we will see how to make a homemade orange jam made with bitter oranges (you can use sweet orange too), my favorite!

The same process can be used to prepare a jam of sweet oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits … almost any citrus fruit is would be fine. So, unleash your creativity and experience the joy of making your own homemade delicious jams! Ever tried making apricot jam at home? 😉

Personally, I like to prepare orange jam and marmalade using cane sugar and adding as much orange peels I can get to fill the pan while it’s cooking at medium heat. This way we will get a healthier orange jam with a more intense fruit flavor!

Did you know:

Orange peels and most other citrus peels have more than twice the vitamin C and other nutrients than the pulp/flesh of the fruit. So, make sure you keep your vitamin jam-packed leftover peels, because you can make so many useful (and delicious) things with them.

Have you tried making candied orange peels, check it out to find how to use all parts of the orange so noting goes to waste?

What Is The Difference Between Marmalade Vs Jam Vs Jelly vs Preserves

It all basically boils down to the texture of the preparation and whether there are fruit particles in it or it’s made very smooth (Jelly)

In short:

• Marmalade is the whole fruit cooked with sugar along with pieces of the peels or skin left from the fruit (mostly on purpose).  There will be noticeable pieces of the fruit in the marmalade.
• A Jam is the same as marmalade, but the fruit is cooked for so long that you can easily spread it on a toast.
• Jelly is a preparation of cooked in sugar fruit which has been strained from all larger peels skin or other particles to obtain a gel like texture.
• A preserves is a similar preparation to the mentioned above, but the fruit is left mostly intact and cooked in whole pieces.

So, after we know the difference between these spreads lets get to the orange marmalade jam recipe.

Below you find the recipe with detailed steps and ingredients you need to make the orange jam at home.

Easy Homemade Orange Marmalade (Jam) Recipe

What you need:

• The peels from several large oranges or if making larger batches use as much as you have
• 0.5-1 kg. sugar
• Large pan or pot

Method for making a jam from oranges

1. take your oranges and wash them thoroughly under water with a sponge. We use a sponge because the skin of the orange is very porous and with the sponge we get to clean better its pores from dirt and its natural wax layer.
2. peel the oranges with a potato peeler. Only peel the Orange part of the shell because the white part is bitter.
3. Cut the orange peels into thin slices ( julienne).
4. collect the peels from all the oranges and weigh them.
   – For a kilo of oranges I use 600 gr of sugar (may sound a lot but.it’s not.). In many recipes you can find 1kg of fruit and 1 kg of sugar, but I personally prefer that the marmalade has a more intense fruity flavor and that it’s is not too sweet.
5. Cut the fruit into small pieces or slices and put them in a pot over medium heat.
6. When the fruit begins to boil, lower the heat and let it cook for 20 minutes with the lid on.
7. Then add the sugar, the thinly cut peels slices and cook the whole thing for 40 minutes stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
8. After 40 minutes take a teaspoon of the still hot jam and put a drop on a cold plate slightly tilted down. If you see that it is too liquid let it cook a little more until you get the desired thick consistency.
9. put your orange marmalade jam in a jar, close it tightly and let it cool by placing the jar upside down.
10. And voila, our exquisite crafty, zero waste homemade marmalade (jam) is ready! 😉

Extra Tips For Making A Perfect Homemade Orange Jam

To make an orange marmalade or jam add the peels in the preparation while it’s cooked. For a Jelly, use only the orange flesh without the rind or peels and if needed strain it while hot for additional smoothness.

There are several approaches to making a sweet spread from your oranges or from the leftover peels. It just depends on what you want to make and what you have available.

You can take your leftover orange peels and juiced halves after you made a juice and blend the peels in a blender on high until you have a well smooth mixture. Add 1:1 sugar to this blended peels and follow the cooking steps above. Cook for 20 mins or until you have a thick substance.

Another approach is to boil the orange peels in water until softened then add the sugar and cook for long enough to get a thick texture. Let it cool overnight (optional, you can skip this extra step if you wish).

The next day bring it to a boil and cook at 220 degrees for 20 mins or until it thickens. Don’t use too high temperature as it will just make you caramelized orange peels instead of marmalade.

You can add things like vanilla bean, cinnamon stick or a piece of star anise to the marmalade or jam you made while it’s still hot. This will make your preparation even fancier than it already is.

Nutrient  | Amount | Daily Value

Total Fat 0.2g 0 %
Sodium 3mg 0 %
Total Carbohydrate 25g 9 %
Dietary Fiber 11g 39 %
Protein 1.5g 3 %
Vitamin D mcg N/A
Calcium 161mg 12 %
Iron 0.8mg 4 %
Potassium 212mg 5 %

Folate 30 mcg
Folic acid 0 mcg
Niacin 0.9 mg 6 %
Pantothenic acid 0.49 mg 10 %
Riboflavin 0.09 mg 7 %
Thiamin 0.12 mg 10 %
Vitamin A 420 IU 8 %
Vitamin A, RAE 21 mcg
Vitamin B12 0 mcg 0 %
Vitamin B12, added 0 mcg
Vitamin B6 0.176 mg 14 %
Vitamin C 136 mg 151 %
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.25 mg 1 %
Vitamin E, added 0 mg

Calcium, Ca 161 mg 12 %
Copper, Cu 0.092 mg 10 %
Iron, Fe 0.8 mg 4 %
Magnesium, Mg 22 mg 6 %
Phosphorus, P 21 mg 3 %
Potassium, K 212 mg 5 %
Selenium, Se 1 mcg 2 %
Sodium, Na 3 mg 0 %
Zinc, Zn 0.25 mg 2 %

Enjoy!

You may also like my homemade passion fruit jam I made a while back too.

I hope you like my recipes and would have a good time making them 😉