A bright, lightly bitter, easy-to-make, orange and grapefruit marmalade that's sweetened with honey for depth and balance. The result is great for everything from topping cakes to stirring into your bowl of morning oats.
Marmalade is the citrusy winter equivalent of jam. Partly because it's essentially jam made with the peels, juice, and flesh of citrus. Yet marmalade is refreshingly tart, a little bitter, and a welcome pop of brightness for the dead of winter.
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Marmalade originated as a quince paste in Portugal but took its modern form after its introduction and commercial production in Scotland in the late 1700s. Although we don't equate citrus with Great Britain, marmalade has an interesting history and popularity in the United Kingdom.
😍 Why You'll Love This Marmalade
- A great way to enjoy and preserve fresh winter citrus. The taste of fresh citrus will last you for weeks as marmalade.
- It's a small batch recipe that doesn't require canning. It makes about three cups that you can store in the fridge.
- It's made partly with honey for a better flavor and a more balanced sweetness.
There are plenty of ways to use marmalade besides topping your morning toast. You can stir some into a muffin, pancake, or cake batter. You can also use it as a cake topping. Or try stirring a spoonful into your oats.
🍊 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make this homemade marmalade recipe.
- Oranges: You can choose any variety of orange you want. Standard navel oranges are fine, though it's fun to try varieties such as blood oranges or Cara Cara oranges if you're making this in winter, when more kinds of citrus are in season and available in stores. Both varieties are slightly sweeter and less acidic, which helps balance the grapefruit.
- Grapefruit: One pink or red grapefruit is all you need.
- Lemon: Adds brightness and helps the marmalade set.
- Sugar: Sweetens and sets the marmalade. I prefer unrefined cane sugar.
- Honey: Offers flavor, depth, and a more subtle level of sweetness than you would get from using sugar alone. I like to use local honey when possible. Since I can't get citrus locally, it's nice to have at least one component of the recipe produced close to home.
Check out the recipe card below for the complete ingredient list and quantities. ⬇️
🍋 Variations
- Thyme: For a hint of earthy herbal flavor that complements the citrus and balances the sweetness. Add the leaves of 5-6 fresh thyme sprigs towards the end of cooking. Or you can throw a few sprigs into the pectin bundle.
- Change up the citrus: Try different varieties of oranges and grapefruits, or Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons. Why not try adding a lime while you're at it?
- All honey: If you want to replace the sugar with honey, use 1 cup of honey in place of the 1 ½ cups of sugar. Just know that you'll have a softer marmalade.
🔪 How to make orange and grapefruit marmalade
- Step 1: Peel the zest off the oranges, grapefruit, and lemon. Try to limit the amount of white pith you include.
- Step 2: Roughly chop the zest into small pieces.
- Step 3: Put the zest in a pot and cover with water. Simmer for 20 minutes
- Step 4: Meanwhile, remove the pith and any remaining peel, as well as any seeds and membranes, and set them aside. Roughly chop the citrus.
- Step 5: Add the citrus fruit to a heavy-bottomed pot and roughly mash.
- Step 6: Wrap the pith, seeds, and membranes in cheesecloth. Tie it up to make it a bundle.
- Step 7: Add the cooked peel and liquid to the pot of mashed citrus. Then pour in the sugar.
- Step 8: Add the honey. Stir to combine, then set the cheesecloth bundle into the pot.
- Step 9: Cook at a steady simmer for 20 minutes. Then remove the bundle with tongs and discard.
- Step 10: Continue simmering the marmalade for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until it has reduced, darkened in color, and become less watery and more syrupy. Let cool, then store in clean jars in the fridge for up to a month.
✨ Top Tips
- When removing the peels from the citrus, be gentle with your peeler and remove only the peel and not the white pith.
- The pectin bundle may seem like extra effort, but wrapping up all those pieces of pith and seeds in a bundle will really help the marmalade to set. So it is worth the effort.
- If you want to test the set of the marmalade before you finish cooking it, use the freezer plate method. I didn't include it here because this is a small batch fridge marmalade and I don't think it matters too much.
🍳 Equipment
- Cheesecloth: Used to bundle up the pith and seeds and heat them in the marmalade, which helps increase the level of pectin. You can find a package of cheesecloth for a few bucks at most grocery stores.
- Heavy-bottomed pot: Such as a Dutch oven. The thicker bottom helps keep the marmalade heated more evenly and prevents burning.
🥡 Storage
This homemade marmalade will keep in the fridge for up to four weeks, perhaps longer, depending on how often the jar is taken out and how clean your utensils are.
If you would like to store the marmalade for longer, you could freeze the jars for up to six months. Just be sure to leave some space in the jar in case of expansion.
This recipe isn't tested for long-term, shelf-stable storage. Though it could be adapted to be so. Please consult a marmalade recipe designed for water bath processing, such as this small-batch marmalade from Food in Jars, to ensure you use the correct ingredient ratios and follow best practices.
🍰 How to use orange marmalade
There are so many ways to use marmalade. Here are a few ideas:
- Pour it over this orange cake with cream cheese frosting
- As part of the sauce of this orange tempeh and asparagus
- On halloumi toast
- Spread on apple rhubarb muffins
- As a filling for these pancake balls
🙋🏻♂️ FAQ
You can use less sugar in marmalade, especially if the recipe is not being canned. However, less sugar will change the texure and final quantity of the marmalade. You can expect to get less and it will have a thinner consistency.
The peel is part of what makes marmalade marmalade. It impacts both the flavor and texture of marmalade and is one of its defining characteristics.
Marmalade is made with citrus, citrus peel, and sweetener. Jam, on the other hand, is made from whole fruits (such as berries, plums, or peaches) and sweetener.
It depends on your recipe. This recipe does not require additional pectin and instead uses the pith and peels, which are high in pectin, to thicken the marmalade.
🍞 Pairing
Try pairing this citrus marmalade with these recipes:
📖 Recipe
Orange and Grapefruit Marmalade
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: about 3 cups 1x
Description
A bright, lightly bitter orange and grapefruit marmalade sweetened with honey for depth and balance.
Ingredients
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 large pink or red grapefruit
- 1 lemon
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups honey
Instructions
-
Prepare the citrus peels. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the outer peel from the oranges, grapefruit, and lemon, avoiding as much white pith as possible. A little pith is fine, but keep most of it on the fruit. Roughly chop the peels and place them in a small saucepan with 3 cups of water.
-
Simmer the peels. Bring the peels to a gentle simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until softened and aromatic. Remove from the heat.
-
Make a pectin bundle (optional but recommended). While the peels simmer, cut away the remaining white pith from the citrus fruits. Separate the fruit into segments, removing any tough membranes and seeds as you go. Gather the discarded pith, membranes, and seeds and tie them loosely in a piece of cheesecloth to form a small bundle. This bundle releases natural pectin, helping the marmalade set.
-
Prepare the fruit. Roughly chop the citrus segments and add them to a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Mash lightly with a potato masher or your hands to release some juice.
-
Combine the marmalade base. Add the sugar, honey, chopped peels with the liquid they cooked in, and the pectin bundle (if using) to the pot with the fruit.
-
Cook the marmalade. Bring the mixture to a steady simmer over medium-low heat. Give it a stir every once in a while. Cook for about 25 minutes, then remove the pectin bundle.
-
Finish. Continue cooking for about 10 more minutes, or until the marmalade has thickened, is darker in color, and no longer appears watery.
-
Store. Spoon the hot marmalade into clean jars. Let cool completely, then cover and refrigerate. The marmalade will continue to thicken as it cools and will keep in the fridge for several weeks.
Notes
When removing the peels from the citrus, be gentle with your peeler and remove only the peel and not the white pith.
The pectin bundle may seem like extra effort, but wrapping up all those pieces of pith and seeds in a bundle will really help the marmalade to set. So it is worth the effort.
If you want to test the set of the marmalade before you finish cooking it, use the freezer plate method. I didn't include it here because this is a small batch fridge marmalade, and I don't think it matters too much.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Preserves
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: English
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