If you're enjoying the citrus season and find yourself blessed with clementines, this Clementine Marmalade Recipe is a great way to use them!
A super easy orange marmalade recipe, it’s a great way to preserve those highly seasonal oranges.
Originally published February 22, 2014. Updated on 1/6/2024
It was cold out, I was feeling lazy - and hey, we had a ton of clementine oranges on hand (I may be *slightly* addicted to them)... so I decided that it would be "easier" to just make some.
What can I say... homemade marmalade is easy to make, and I really wasn't in the mood to go out - ESPECIALLY not for just ¼ cup of marmalade!
I'd been meaning to make marmalade from my favourite holiday treat for a few years now, so that also factored in... not that I really need to justify making fruit preserves!
After his first time trying homemade orange marmalade though?
Loves the stuff!
A candy thermometer is a good idea for making this. If you don't bring it to a high enough temperature, it won't set up right.
Conversely, if you bring it TOO high, it will set up more firm than you'd probably like for a spread.
Oh, and if clementines are no longer in season when you decide to make this, no worries - other oranges and citrus fruit (alone or in combination) also work well with this recipe!
What Makes This an Easy Marmalade
The nature of the oranges used - and the addition of lemons - is what makes this recipe especially easy.
To start off, using seedless oranges means you’re not picking through orange segments to remove seeds.
Then, there’s the matter of pith - the bitter tasting white part that citrus fruits tend to have just under the rind.
Clementines don’t have much pith, so we just use the whole fruit.
... this means there’s no messing around with a vegetable peeler, fussing to separate the orange rind from the pith.
Being able to just slice up whole oranges is the BEST way to make marmalade, IMHO - especially if you’re making lots of marmalade in a season.
Finally, the use of lemons boosts the amount of natural pectin in the mixture, and means there’s no need for adding a liquid pectin additive to the mix.
It’s just oranges, lemon, sugar, and water!
Ingredients
This easy marmalade recipe takes only a few simple ingredients - all 3 of them are easy to find in any grocery store!
I don’t have anything to add in terms of the Granulated Sugar so let’s talk about the fresh oranges and lemons.
Clementine Oranges
As I mentioned above, I designed this recipe using clementines - but don’t let that stop you from using this to make homemade marmalade from other varieties of sweet oranges.
Navel oranges are usually easy to find, and blood oranges would make a gorgeous marmalade.
Other varieties of tangerine type oranges - satsumas, etc - would work as well.
Whatever you use, just be sure to remove the seeds if they’re not seedless, and try to use something that doesn’t have much pith.
Fresh Lemons
I created this recipe using regular lemons. Meyer lemon MAY work - but I haven’t tried it.
It’s sweeter and its fruit juice is less acidic than regular lemons, and the pectin content may be different, too.
One of these days, I’ll try it. If you get to it before I do, be sure to comment below and let me know how it went!
More Pickling and Canning Recipes
Looking for more canned preservation recipes? Here you go - pickling recipes, jelly recipes, jam recipes, and more!
Blueberry Jam (Small Batch)
Cherry Jam (Small Batch)
Chow Chow Relish
Homemade Dill Pickles
Homemade Pickled Beets
Homemade Pickled Carrots, 2 Ways
Hoppy Dill Pickle Relish
Hoppy IPA Pickles
Mango Peach Jam (Small Batch)
Mixed Root Vegetable Pickles
Mixed Vegetable Pickles
Peach Jam (Small Batch)
Pepper Jelly
Roasted Corn Salsa
Roasted Corn Salsa Verde
Roasted Salsa Verde
Sweet Corn Relish
Sweet Mustard Pickles
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Easy Clementine Marmalade [Homemade Orange Marmalade]
Equipment
- 10 Clean, Sterilized Jam Jars with New Lids I like to have one or 2 extra, just in case.
- Jar Lifter, Canning Funnel
Ingredients
- 2 lbs seedless Christmas oranges
- 2 lemons
- 6 cups water
- 4 lbs sugar
Instructions
- Wash the oranges and lemons, discarding any stickers before doing so.
- Slice the oranges thinly - about ⅛ inch. You can do this with a sharp knife or a mandoline, or - as I did - cut the oranges in half, then put them through the food processor slicing disk.
- Note: You can cut them a bit thicker for a thick-cut marmalade, but it will take a little longer to cook, than thin slices do.
- Once sliced, cut each round into 4-5 pieces, place in a large pot.
- Zest and juice the lemon. Add lemon juice and lemon zest to the pot, along with the water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once water comes to a hard boil, reduce element to medium heat (or medium low heat, if you have a really hot burner), and simmer for around 45 minutes, or until the orange rinds are very tender.
- Add sugar, stir well with a wooden spoon to dissolve.
- Turn the temperature back up, bring the cooking liquid up to a full rolling boil.
- Continue to boil, stirring constantly until the orange mixture reaches between 220-224 degrees F on a candy thermometer - about 15-20 minutes.
- Ladle hot marmalade into hot, sterilized canning jars - have about 10 jam jars ready.
- Use a clean, wet paper towel or clean kitchen towel to wipe down the top of each jar.
- Affix sterilized lids and jar rims, and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. (Add 5 minutes for altitudes above 1,000 feet; add 10 minutes for altitudes over 6,000 feet.)
- Make sure there is enough water to keep the jars completely submerged in boiling water for the full 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove the hot jars from the water bath. Loosen the rims - to allow water to drain/prevent rusting - and allow to cool overnight.
- The next day, check all lids for a proper seal: they should have sucked down into a vacuum seal as the jars cooled to room temperature.
- Tighten all rims and store properly sealed jars in a cool dark place for later use; refrigerate any that did not seal for use in the coming weeks.
Patrick Bradshaw
https://celebrationgeneration.com/
Clementine Marmalade Recipe
Was this recipe not edited or checked for errors before being allowed to post it? Rather a Risky way to handle your type of business isn't it?
I'm speaking about the ingredients calling for 4 POUNDS of sugar!!
Marie Porter
Oh sweetie.
You might want to check that attitude when commenting about things you clearly don't understand. As entertaining as this comment was... It's really not a great look.
I suggest reading up on jam and jelly recipes, and/or even checking the ingredients on any you may have sitting in your fridge.
TL;DR:
Yes, 10 jars of marmalade takes 4 lbs of sugar to make.
Helga
Thank you for the hilarious display of ignorance you've shown off as proudly as a peacock! You could have at least done your homework and learned about jellies and jams and marmalades before making such an uneducated comment. Do you even EAT these items? 3/4 to 1 cup sugar for every 4 cups unreduced juice for jelly is pretty standard. This recipe, being a marmalade, actually is a bit less. Rather a risky business being ignorant.
Karine
Seems right to me- when I make jams and marmalades, I use a 2 kg bag of sugar with my 2.2 to 2.5 kg of fruit, and that gives me roughly 12 jars.
2 kg = 4.4 lbs
Marie Porter
You make SUCH good jam, too!
Ana N
I'm unclear why you're correcting her. While I haven't made this recipe yet, I have made similar jelly. And that's pretty accurate.
Sapphire Rosa
It’s marmalade, Patrick.
Alexandra Erin
Does 6.4 ounces of sugar in a jar of a fruit preserves strike you as an undue amount, Patrick? I know to a lot of modern thinking sugar is literal poison and calories are dangerous junk, but what makes a preserve a "preserve" is the presence of a preserving agent, such as a high concentration sugar solution. Without the sugar, you're just making a bad fruit stew that won't keep. Hope this helps!
Logan J
Full offense, but you do not know what you are talking about. Weight is a much more accurate way to measure for larger recipes such as this, and 4lbs is a very reasonable amount of sugar for a marmalade recipe.
Jojobinx
Wow, just WOW! I will be using this recipe at the weekend. Could you post the metric equivalent please (that comment is to the author)
As for the rude man..... no further comment other than to say that you are an absolute plank....
Mollyann Murphy
Hi Patrick, I have been making jams and jellies since I was well let's say 50 years younger than I am now. 4 lbs equals 8 cups not unusual for jams and jellies. I will admit 4lbs sounds like more than 8 cups but it is not. I don't think I need to break it down but just bc of your attitude...1lb. =16ozs. 8ozs. =1cup that makes 2cups per lb. and 4x2=8 get it now ? Oh and be nice it makes life a lot more pleasant 🙂
CC
If concerned about too much sugar, add less 🤷♀️ I made a half batch and used 3 1/2 cups, mine was Delicious 😋 Thanks
VGF
I just scrubbed my fruit and ground it all in the food processor, peels and all and continued with recipe. Clementines were $1.00/3lb bag and so I got enough to make 12 half pints. And yes, it takes an equal amount of sugar to fruit PATRICK.
Nat
In the midst of making two batches of your recipe (altered a wee bit) right now. Smells divine! I did one with clementine and ginger, and the other with cara-cara, lemon, and lime.
Side note; love the comments, here, hahaha! Don't mess with canners 😂
Kelly
Can't wait to try this recipe! I am curious if lime will work as well as lemon. Has anyone tried limes?
Marie Porter
It works just as well!
Vannah
Hey 👋🏼 I just wanted to say this was such a great recipe. I followed everything in the recipe given except 2 little details. I took about 2 of the cups of water and set it aside with 4 CHAI teabags inside. Added a little bit of homemade spiced vanilla once it was done cooking and it was DELICIOUS !!!! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Marie Porter
Thank you!