This recipe has the perfect balance of sweet, bitter, and tart flavors and shows off the beautiful red color of blood oranges. One of my favorite things to can because you make it winter, when you actually want to stand in front of the stove. It’s my favorite thing for laying in between cakes.
Unlike jam, marmalade includes peels, which makes it slightly bitter to balance the sweetness. If you’ve never had blood oranges before, they are quite good. They’re less acidic than regular oranges and have a sweet, almost berry-like flavor. You want to take your time with each step to make sure you get the perfect consistency and balanced flavor.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
Get your blood oranges from December through April and make sure they are firm and have a good color. If you can only find regular oranges, try making my orange marmalade recipe instead. We’re using bottled lemon juice here for safe preservation. If you are a regular canner, you already have your supplies. If you’re new, I’ve left a link below to a waterbath canner and supplies kit.
This makes eight half-pint jars. If you’d like to double or triple this recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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Equipment
- Water Bath Canner
- 4-quart medium saucepan
- 8-quart pot
- Half pint jars + lids and rings
- Jar lifter
- Canning funnel
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of blood oranges, 8 small to medium-sized
- ½ cup bottled lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 box powdered pectin 1.75-ounce box
- 6 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon butter or margarine, optional to reduce foaming
How to Make Blood Orange Marmalade
If you’re above 1,000 feet, add 1 minute of processing time per 1,000 feet. Check out this article for specific elevations and timing.
Step One: Get Your Canning Stuff Ready
Wash everything with hot, soapy water. Get your jars simmering in hot water in your canner, lids and rings too, in a separate pot. You know the drill.
Step Two: Prep Those Oranges
Cut off the tops and bottoms, then peel them. I use a sharp knife and just work in sections. Way easier than trying to do it perfectly.
Step Three: Slice the Peels
Cut those peels into thin strips. You only need about 2 cups of peels, so don’t stress if you have extra.
Step Four: Cook the Peels
Throw the peels in a pot with the water and that tiny bit of baking soda. Cover it and let it simmer for 20 minutes. This is what makes the peels tender instead of chewy.
Step Five: Chop the Fruit
Get rid of all that white membrane stuff from your oranges (it’s bitter) and chop up the fruit. You’ll end up with about 4 1/2 cups.
Step Six: Start Cooking Everything
Put the chopped oranges and lemon juice in your big pot. When the peels are done, drain them and add them in too. Simmer this whole thing for 10 minutes with the lid on.
Step Seven: Add the Pectin
Add the pectin and stir it in really well. If you’re using butter, add that too – it stops the mixture from foaming up like crazy.
Step Eight: Get It Boiling
Crank the heat to medium-high and get it to a ROLLING boil. I mean really bubbling hard. Stir constantly for 2 minutes.
Step Nine: Add Sugar and Ginger
Add the ginger, then dump in ALL the sugar at once. Stir like your life depends on it and get it back to that hard boil for exactly 1 minute. Turn off the heat and skim off any foam.
Step Ten: Fill Those Jars
Fill your jars, leaving about 1/4 inch at the top, wipe the rims clean, and put the lids on.
Step Eleven: Process and Cool
Process them in your water bath for 10 minutes.
Let them cool completely before you check if they sealed properly. Press the center of each lid – if it doesn’t pop back up, you’re good.
Storing & Serving
Properly sealed jars will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 18 months, though the color may fade slightly. Once opened, refrigerate and use within 3 weeks.
This marmalade is great on toasted cranberry orange sourdough bread or spread over orange French toast. You can also make a quick chicken glaze by warming 1/4 cup of marmalade with a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
If you want to get fancy, you can also serve it on a charcuterie board with cheese – the slight bitterness pairs well with aged cheeses.
More Jam Canning Recipes
Fill your pantry with these jams and use these pretty printable jam labels.
- This plum jam recipe is very beginner-friendly and perfect for a late summer day.
- Another recipe to make in winter is Christmas jam. It smells amazing, and you can give it away as gifts.
- Spread this apple pie jam on a biscuit on an October morning. You won’t be disappointed.
- If you can’t decide which berries to use, use them all in this triple berry jam!
Printable Recipe
Blood Orange Marmalade
Equipment
- 4-quart medium saucepan
- 8-quart pot
- Half pint jars + lids and rings
- Jar lifter
- Canning funnel
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 3 pounds blood oranges 8 small to medium-sized
- ½ cup bottled lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 box powdered pectin 1.75-ounce box
- 6 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon butter or margarine optional to reduce foaming
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Instructions
- Prep jars and lids. Wash the jars with hot, soapy water. Place the jars in the waterbath canner with enough water to fully submerge them. Set the burner to medium and let the jars simmer in hot water. Wash the lids and rings, then place them in a small pot filled with water. Place over low heat and let them simmer.
- Prep oranges. Cut the top and bottom off the blood oranges. Remove the peels in small sections using a very sharp knife or a vegetable peeler.
- Slice peels. Cut the peels into thin slices and set aside. You only need 2 cups of sliced peels.
- Simmer peels. Add water, baking soda, and orange peels to a medium-sized saucepan or pot. Place the pot over medium heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
- Chop. Remove the membrane (the white part) from the blood oranges. Roughly chop the blood oranges into pieces. You should have about 4 ½ cups of fruit and juice.
- Simmer. Place the cut fruit and the lemon juice into a large 8-quart pot. Drain and place the peels into the pot. Cover and simmer the whole mixture on low for 10 minutes.
- Add pectin. Add the pectin and stir until well combined. If you’re using butter, add it now. This will reduce foaming that happens during the boiling process, but it's not necessary.
- Boil. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil for 2 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly throughout.
- Add ginger and sugar. Stir in the ground ginger. Add the sugar all at once and stir to combine. Bring the mixture back up to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, and skim any foam off the top using a slotted spoon.
- Fill jars and add lids. Move the jars from the waterbath canner to a heat-safe area. Top with a canning funnel. Ladle the hot mixture into the hot jars. Fill the jars with a ¼ inch of headspace. Wipe the jar rims with a moistened paper towel. Place the jar lid on top, followed by a ring. Tighten the rings so they are fingertip-tight.
- Process jars. Place the filled jars into the waterbath canner. Add a splash of white vinegar to the canner to prevent the jars from becoming cloudy (mineral build-up). Cover and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, process for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
- Cool and check seals. Turn off the heat, remove the lid from the waterbath canner, and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes before removing them. Move the jars to a heat-safe space and cool for 12-24 hours. Check the lids for a proper seal by pressing on the center. The center shouldn’t pop up. Store in a cool place for up to 18 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Love,
I am a huge fan of orange marmalade and this just sounds heavenly!