12 Unique Marmalade Recipes (Orange, Lemon, Lime & More) - Citrus Spot (2024)

Recipes

ByElise

When you think of marmalade, you probably think of the usual plain orange variety. While orange marmalade is delicious, there are so many other flavours of marmalade to enjoy. Our collection of unique marmalade recipes includes delicious marmalades made with oranges, lemons, limes, kumquats (cumquats) and even grapefruit. And while all have a citrus fruit base, many of these unique marmalade recipes add other flavours that add a whole new dimension to this traditional breakfast spread.

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Making marmalade is easier than you think

It’s easy to buy a jar of marmalade from the shops or even from your local farmers market. But there is something very satisfying about making your own from scratch. And if you have a big crop of citrus, making marmalade is also a great way to use up your surplus fruit so it doesn’t go to waste. Homemade marmalade also makes a thoughtful gift.

If you are new to making marmalade at home, I recommend that you start by reading our simple small batch lime marmalade recipe. This post has lots of easy tips for beginners including how to:

  • sterilise jars for storing your marmalade; and
  • easily test when your marmalade has reached it’s setting point without using a thermometer.
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Another recommendation for marmalade making is that you use homegrown or organic citrus. If you decide to use store bought citrus, be aware that it often has been treated with citrus wax to maintain freshness and appearance. It’s best to remove fruit wax from any citrus you are going to use in your marmalade recipes.

For the seasoned jam and marmalade cooks, jump right in and try some of the delicious marmalade recipes in this collection. They aren’t as much effort as you might think!

Easy Small Batch Lime Marmalade

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This easy lime marmalade is the ideal beginner recipe to start your marmalade making journey. Make your own small batch of delicious slightly tart but sweet marmalade with fresh limes.

Our recipe has step by step instructions for easy preparation and cooking. It also gives handy tips on sterilising jars and a simple way to test if your marmalade has reached setting point ready for adding in jars.

Lemon Marmalade Recipe

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For another easy marmalade recipe, try this lemon marmalade made with just 2 ingredients: fresh lemons and sugar.

Like our lime marmalade recipe, there’s no need to spend hours peeling and removing removing pith from the citrus first. And the result is a delicious traditional sweet and tart marmalade, just made with lemons rather than oranges.

Ginger Orange Marmalade

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Orange and ginger are a tried and true flavour combination, and go together perfectly in this ginger orange marmalade. This marmalade recipe is is traditionally made with Seville oranges, which are slightly bitter, but you can substitute any oranges of Seville oranges aren’t available near you.

Orange Cranberry Marmalade

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For a twist on plain orange marmalade, try this orange cranberry marmalade recipe from Art of Natural Living. The orange and cranberry flavour combination works perfectly.

This recipe a slightly different technique, using a vegetable peeler to remove the thin outer layer of orange peel to cook and later thinly slice. All of the white pith is discarded, unlike other recipes which use the pith for it’s natural pectin. The result is a marmalade that has a smooth consistency and less bitter flavour, much like jam.

Easy Orange Marmalade (With Chia Seeds)

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If you are trying to avoid refined sugars, you’ll love this easy orange marmalade recipe. Made with just 3 ingredients, it uses maple syrup in place of refined sugar and chia seeds to help the marmalade to gel in place of adding pectin. The oranges in this recipe are also blended, so it looks quite different to traditional marmalade.

This is definitely a unique take on classic orange marmalade but very tasty.

Calamansi Lime Marmalade

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For something a little more exotic, you’ll love this Calamansi lime marmalade recipe. What’s a Calamansi lime? It’s a small hybrid citrus fruit, most likely a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange. Calamansi lime is also known as a Calamondin or the Philippine lime, and is often used in Filipino cooking. It has a delicious sweet and tart taste and is prefect for making tasty marmalade spread.

Kumquat Marmalade with Bergamot

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Kumquat (or Cumquat as we call it here in Australia) is often grown for ornamental reasons. These small bit size citrus fruits look gorgeous, but they are also delicious. This delicious recipe for kumquat marmalade with bergamot is full of flavour.

Bergamot is an Italian citrus fruit with a unique aroma and taste. However, it can be hard to find. If you can’t source bergamot locally. just substitute regular lemons in this recipe.

Lemon Honey Marmalade

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This sweet and tart lemon honey marmalade is made with just 3 ingredients. As it has no added refined sugar added, this recipe is AIP (Autoimmune Protocol) and paleo friendly. If you aren’t a fan of traditional bitterness of marmalade, you might like this recipe. It has some extra steps such as removing all lemon peel pith and cooking the peel multiple times to reduce the bitter taste.

Grapefruit Marmalade with Vanilla

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Grapefruit is another delicious option for marmalade. This grapefruit marmalade with vanilla uses fresh vanilla pod seeds and a touch of cinnamon to add beautiful flavours to the tangy grapefruit. The grapefruit also gives this marmalade a beautiful rich colour.

Scottish Drambuie Marmalade

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Looking for a traditional orange marmalade with a twist? This Scottish Drambuie marmalade recipe uses two oranges, a lemon and a grapefruit and some tasty Drambuie liqueur for a unique marmalade flavour.

Lemon Ginger Marmalade

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For another ginger flavoured marmalade, try this lemon ginger marmalade recipe. This is quite different to the simple lemon marmalade recipe at the top of this post as it uses added pectin to help the marmalade gel.

This recipe makes a beautiful bright yellow marmalade and the ginger adds a spicy lift to the lemon flavour.

Rhubarb and Orange Jam

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For something very unique, try this rhubarb and orange jam recipe. Is it a jam or a marmalade? Marmalade uses the rind of citrus fruit, so this recipe fits the bill as a marmalade with it’s orange rind pieces.

This simple recipe requires no added pectin due to the natural pectin in the rhubarb. It also can be lightly spice with cinnamon and cloves if desired (yes please!).

More citrus recipes and inspiration

I hope this collection of marmalade recipes has convinced you to try your hand at marmalade making if you haven’t before, or that you’ve found a new flavour combination to try.

If you love cooking with citrus, you’ll love our collection of recipes featuring different types of citrus. Try our easy mandarin orange salad with turmeric dressing. Or for something sweet, you’ll love our blood orange loaf cake. Ben sure to check out our essential kitchen tools and gadgets for cooking with citrus too.

For more citrus inspiration for your kitchen, home and garden, don’t forget to subscribe.

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FAQs

What fruit makes the best marmalade? ›

4 tips to make your marmalade great

But first, you gotta pick the right fruit. Historically, and even today, the best fruit for the job is a Seville orange, a sour-bitter variety that's used as a souring agent in many Caribbean and Latin American cuisines in lieu of lemons or limes.

Why do you soak oranges overnight for marmalade? ›

Tie the muslin square into a little bag and add it to the bowl. Make sure everything is immersed in the water. Leave to soak overnight or for several hours if possible. This helps to extract pectin from the fruit and soften the peel, which will reduce the amount of cooking.

Do you leave the pith in marmalade? ›

Many marmalade recipes will have you remove the peel, boil it once, twice, or three times, and then separate the tasty and colorful zest from the bitter white pith. However, you can also remove the pith at the start. Use a sharp peeler or paring knife to carefully cut off the zest from each piece of fruit.

What is the world's best marmalade? ›

Tim Nind's Seville Orange and Ginger Marmalade, Dalemain Award Winner 2023. Selected from a wide variety of entries from all over the world, Tim Nind's Seville Orange and Ginger Marmalade has been crowned the winner of the 2023 Dalemain Marmalade Homemade Double Gold Award.

Which sugar is best for marmalade? ›

Caster sugar is the one to avoid. The crystals are too fine, which is great for baking but they will dissolve too quickly when making marmalade. Granulated sugar is a good choice. The large crystals will dissolve quickly and cleanly, resulting in a clear, amber liquid that best shows off your perfectly floating peel.

Is marmalade healthier than jam? ›

Marmalade and jam have similar nutritional properties making them pretty much the same in terms of healthiness.

What cuts bitterness in marmalade? ›

If the aftertaste is too bitter and you can't remove the bitterness from the jam, prick the oranges and boil them for about 40 minutes, drain and cover with cold water. Soak them for 12-15 hours and change the water from time to time.

Why add lemon juice to marmalade? ›

Adding acid in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice is important for two reasons: First, it makes for a more well-balanced jam, returning some of the acidity lost with the addition of sugar. Second, pectin needs acid to properly activate, or firm up.

Why did my lemon marmalade turn brown? ›

Don't let the marmalade turn brown: If the marmalade is turning brown while you are cooking it, you are likely overcooking it and the sugars are beginning to caramelize. Remove it from the heat immediately if this happens and then next time you make marmalade, aim for a lower setting temperature.

Why did my orange marmalade turn brown? ›

If the marmalade is old, and well past the sell by date, it may have oxidised, and turned a darker colour. This does not noticeably affect the taste when used.

What happens if you boil marmalade too long? ›

Don't overcook your marmalade

Lady Claire Macdonald, food writer: While you're testing your marmalade to see if it's set, take it off the boil. Otherwise you risk boiling away the water content, and ending up with a dark, over-thick marmalade that's dry and rubbery.

Why put butter in marmalade? ›

To prevent scum forming on the top of your jam, add a knob of butter to your fruit at the same time as you add the sugar, we recommend 20 grams per 1 kilogram of fruit. Note: Scum is nothing sinister, it is only air bubbles that are created during the cooking process, they will not ruin your jam/marmalade if they form.

Can you reboil marmalade if it doesn't set? ›

As you have made a successful batch I doubt that it is because you didn't squeeze the muslin bag sufficiently so it's likely that it wasn't boiled enough. The size of the oranges shouldn't make any difference. You can re-boil it. You will need to empty the marmalade into the pan and add the juice of a lemon.

Why is my lime marmalade cloudy? ›

It's important to skim the scum off the marmalade to avoid it turning cloudy, but do it towards the end of the cooking time as continual skimming can be wasteful. Leave the marmalade to stand, off the heat, for 15 minutes after setting point is reached to ensure the shreds are evenly distributed.

How do you reduce the bitterness in marmalade? ›

If you use oranges with the peel, and you want to eliminate the bitterness, prick them with a fork and soak them for three days in a pot full of water, which you will change every day. In this way the oranges will lose the bitter part that many do not like.

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