DIY Easy Orange Marmalade

Making your own marmalade is surprisingly easy and requires very few ingredients. I used 1 large navel orange for this batch but look forward to making it again when the small sweet mandarin oranges comeback in season as well. Do you think it is funny that Walmart has Sunkist navel oranges here? I sure do.

Homemade Orange Refrigerator Marmalade

• 1 large or 2 small oranges
• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup water

1. Wash the orange(s) well, and cut off the top and bottom, but do not peel. This actually has nothing to do with my disdain for peeling things unnecessarily, you need the peel for the recipe to work right. The peel has natural pectin in it that will help the marmalade thicken. Without it you will have runny marmalade.
2. Cut orange into eight or more pieces, and place in the blender with the sugar and the water. Blend well.*
3. Transfer to a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Boil for 15–20 minutes until well thickened.
5. Remove from heat, and allow to cool. If you have any undesired chunks of orange in the marmalade, you can scoop them out at this point.
6. Transfer to a glass jar, and refrigerate for storage. I have read that this type of marmalade can be kept in a cold refrigerator for up to 6 months, but I have never had it last long enough to test that myself.

*You may have noticed by now that I love my blender, as it makes so many things easier. You can make marmalade without a blender by cutting the unpeeled orange into very small pieces, boiling, and then mashing with a potato masher. This is a little more work and makes it a little chunkier, but it will still very good. I have made lots of marmalade successfully using this method, and some people even prefer chunkier marmalade.