Reduced sugar marmalade recipe – Yum Eating (2024)

This is my favourite traditional orange marmalade recipe with reduced sugar (50% less sugar). I’ve made it as a smaller batch recipe using just a regular saucepan.

I’ve also included plenty of flavour options for you to try with my basic recipe.

I’ve used the traditional method of shredding the orange peel and leaving it overnight to develop stronger pectin, but you can also use the ‘whole fruit method’ which is described in detail in my grapefruit marmalade recipe.

MARMALADE RECIPES

• Tangerine Marmalade (all in one method) >>
• Mandarin Orange Marmalade (super easy method) >>

Why make this recipe

• Reduced sugar recipe (50% reduced sugar) – healthier marmalade option than the traditional recipe
• Can be made as a ‘whole fruit method’ or
• Traditional method of shredding peel before boiling the sugar and fruit syrup
• Smaller quantity suitable for large saucepan (no need to use marmalade making pot)
• Makes a great handmade gift for your friends and family
• Perfect for using as a cooking ingredients to replace Orange Marmalade

The challenges of making low sugar marmalade

The sugar ratio in the traditional bitter oranges recipe is usually one part orange and two parts of sugar. For example, I use 2 kg of sugar for 1 kg of Seville Oranges or other seville oranges citrus fruit substitute.

The problem with trying to make truly low or sugar free marmalade is that you need the sweetness of the sugar to partly offset the bitterness of the oranges and the structure of the sugar to help you to set your marmalade.

So, trying to make completely sugar free marmalade is practically impossible. Most recipes seem to switch the regular beet or cane sugar with other types of natural or not so natural sugars, but sugar is still sugar, isn’t it?

The compromise is to make marmalade with less sugar and swap some of the bitter oranges (Seville Oranges) for sweet – regular oranges or satsumas or tangerines.

This way, you are using natural sugar occurring in the oranges and the tangerines and then adding just enough sugar to help the marmalade to set.

How to adapt a traditional orange marmalade recipe

I’ve started to experiment with this recipe by cutting the original recipe sugar in half and swapping half of the Seville Oranges for sweet Navel oranges (or use any other regular type of oranges, satsumas or tangerines).

I found that I had to boil the marmalade for a little bit longer before the marmalade mix started to get thicker. This is normal, as we are using less sugar.

An alternative method would be to use just regular, sweet oranges and not bitter Seville Oranges. This is entirely your choice but bear in mind that the more Seville

Oranges you use and the less sugar you use, the more likely it is that you’ll end up with slightly bitter tasting marmalade.

Pro tip

Make sure that you don’t discard the pips and pulp as this is what will help to set your marmalade.

Ingredients

Seville Oranges

You can buy Seville oranges (in the UK) in the major supermarkets towards the middle of January and the beginning of February.

If you decide to swap some or all of the oranges for sweet oranges, you can make this low sugar marmalade recipe any time of the year.

I usually use one bitter orange and two regular ones – making it up to about 500 grams or 1 pound (1/2 kg).

You can of course use grapefruits or sweeter tangerines or clementines.

Pro tip if you are using different thickness of citrus peel

If you use smaller citrus fruit with the large ones, be aware that the large fruits will need longer for their peel to get softer, whereas the tangerines or clementines will take much less time.

What I tend to do, is to start softening the large fruit peel first and when it gets to about half way to being soft I add the peel from the smaller fruit with a thinner peel.

Lemon

I would say that lemon is optional in this recipe; as we are using 50% less sugar, the Seville Oranges are quite bitter on their own, so you might not need any lemon at all.

If you prefer a very sharp flavour, then by all means use 1/2 lemon or more if you like.

Sugar

You are welcome to use any kind of sugar you like or prefer. I usually use regular beat or cane sugar, but you can also use other natural sugars.

Since we are using less sugar in this recipe, I’ve experimented with dark or brown sugar, which turned out really well! The brown sugar gave the marmalade a darker colour and more flavour. I think using brown sugar with this recipe is probably my favourite way of making it.

Brown or dark sugar is also less processed, so if that’s something you are concerned about, brown or dark sugar is definitely a good option.

Some sugars such as coconut might be a little too stong – flavour wise – but any coconut sugar substitutes would work brilliantly.

I’ve never tried this recipe with man-made sugars, but my educated guess is that the structure of the man-made sugars won’t really help you to set the marmalade.

Marmalade making equipment

• Large saucepan or marmalade making pan – this is a smaller quantity recipe so you don’t need to have a traditional jam making pan (although you can use one)
• Jam thermometer
• Small plates (kept in the fridge for testing the jam later)
• 3-4 sterilised jam jars with lids

How to make reduced sugar orange marmalade recipe

The first step (at least 24 hrs before you want to make your marmalade)

Make sure you wash your fruit first and use oranges closest to the 500g. I find that this is only about 3 medium oranges, but it depends on the size.

If you prefer your marmalade to be zingier, use a whole lemon, or just half a one or a small one.

Cut all the fruit lengthways in quarters and using a spoon scoop up all the pith and collect all the orange pips.

Keep any orange juice for later.

Cut all the orange peel in either thin slices or thick ones, depending on what you prefer. This is a fairly tedious job, but I find that doubling up the orange quarters (sort of stocking them up) and then cutting them, saves a bit of time.

Tie all the collected pith and pips into a muslin bag and place in a non-iron or steel bowl (I use a large plastic bowl), with the water and the thinly shredded peel.

Cover and leave for approximately 24 hrs to ensure that the pectin is released and your marmalade sets well in the end.

RECIPES WITH ORANGES

• Blood Orange Cupcakes >>
• Orange Flummery Pudding >>

Second step – the next day

The next day, transfer the marmalade mixture to a large saucepan and simmer gently on medium heat until the orange peel is soft and the water content is reduced by about half.

You can test if the peel is right by tasting it. The orange peel will also look slightly see-through and will sort of go more opaque.

When the peel is soft, check that you have about 500ml of water/liquid left. If not, simply top up the water with more water or the orange juice you collected yesterday.

Take out the muslin bag with orange pips and discard.

The next step is to add the sugar and let it dissolve properly. Check on the back of a soup spoon that all the sugar crystals have dissolved before you move to the next step.

Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the marmalade to boil and boil for about 10-15 minutes or until you reach the setting point.

Check your setting point using a cold plate and a spoonful of the marmalade.

Once you are satisfied that your marmalade will reach the setting point, take it from the heat and leave it to stand for about 10 minutes. This will help to distribute the orange peel more evenly once potted.

Divide between 4-5 jam jars, seal and let to cool down properly before storing away in a dark, cold place. Use within 12 months (or two years maximum).

Ideas for marmalade flavours

I love the basic Seville Marmalade and you can’t really go wrong with leaving the recipe as it is, but if you want to add a hint of flavour to the existing recipe, here are my suggestions (add the flavouring/extra ingredients right at the end when you’ve tested the marmalade and taken it off the heat).

Whisky Marmalade – add 3-4 tablespoons of whisky depending on how strong you want the flavour to be

Christmas Marmalade – add 1-2 teaspoons of Mixed Spice or cinnamon and 2-3 tablespoons of brandy or whisky.

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