Mandarin Orange Jam (Easy Method Recipe) – Yum Eating (2024)

Easy to make Mandarin Orange Jam recipe using quick jam making method. The perfect alternative to a traditional orange marmalade, this jam is great on toast or to swirl into breakfast porridge, on top of pancakes or to sweeten your tea with.

I always make citrus marmalades in the winter, but when the Seville Oranges are out of season, I know I can make this amazing jam using mandarin oranges (or mandarines if you like) any time of the year.

Why I make this mandarin orange jam

• super easy to make
• can be made any time of the year
• very quick method & much easier than the traditional marmalade making method
• much lower on sugar than traditional marmalade recipes
• slightly runnier consistency – perfect for pancakes, toast or greek yoghurt etc

MARMALADE RECIPES

• Tangerine Marmalade (all in one easy method) >>
• Traditional Seville Oranges Marmalade >>

Notes on ingredients

Mandarin Oranges

Mandarin oranges, also known as mandarins or mandarines, are small citrus tree fruits that are small, easy-to-peel, usually without pips and also have a lovely sweet flavour.

If you don’t have mandarins, you can also use clementines, tangerines, and satsumas as these have very similar taste. You can also use some of the easy to peel citrus fruits from my seville oranges substitute list.

Wateror orange juice

You’ll only need enough water or orange to juice to make sure that the jam mixture won’t stick to the saucepan and won’t start to burn. If you have orange juice (or apple juice) it will give you more flavour than water, but water is absolutely fine too.

Sugar

I always use white granulated sugar with this recipe as the mandarins have quite a subtle flavour and darker sugars will interfere with the flavour. You don’t need to use any kind of special preserving sugar with this recipe a regular white sugar is perfect for this recipe. You can also use caster sugar, but it’s more expensive than granulated sugar, so I don’t tend to use it.

I like that this mandarin jam recipe is lower in sugar than other recipes, because it just confirms my little theory that marmalade can be actually good for you.

Lemonjuice

Mandarin Oranges together with the sugar can have quite a bland flavour on their own, but I find that a little bit of lemon juice does help to round the flavour. You could also use lime if you want to, but it will change the flavour quite a lot (will be much sharper jam).

Extra flavouring

The flavouring for this mandarin jam recipe is completely optional, but I always add some spice, like cinnamonor ground ginger or mixed spice mix to enhance the mandarin flavour. I sometimes also add vanilla essence or spice the jam with extra whisky, gin or rum.

MARMALADE RECIPES

• Orange Marmalade (lower sugar recipe) >>
• Grapefruit Marmalade (easy method recipe) >>

How to test your jam to see that it’s ready

Test the mandarin jam by putting a tea spoon full of jam on to a cold plate (which has been in the fridge for few hours). Leave it for a minute and try to slide your finger across the jam to see whether it will wrinkle.

If it has a bit of a skin on the top and looks firm, then you are ready to go. If the jam is stil runny, add more heat and boil for another 5 minutes. Then do the test again.

I always do this ‘wrinkle test’ to make sure that my jam and marmalade sets perfectly.

How to achieve a clear jam

I always recommend this method as part of my marmalade making tips, because it can be quite tricky to get a clear marmalade or jam. Sometimes you might end up with air bubbles and so called ‘scum’ on top of your jam as you finish boiling it. To disperse this (as the scum/air bubbles are not particularly pretty when they set in the jam jar), wait for the marmalade to cool down a little before potting up.

A teaspoon (or so) of dairy butter added to the marmalade as you take the saucepan off the heat also helps as well as simply scooping out the excess scum and throwing it away.

FRUIT CURD RECIPES

• Lime Curd >>
• Easy Apple Curd >>

How to prepare jam jars

If you want your Mandarine Orange Jam to last a long time, don’t skip this step! First of all wash your jam jars thoroughly with a washing up liquid to get rid of any dirt. Don’t worry about drying them. Just leave them to drip dry on a clean kitchen towel or a dish rack.

Heat your oven to about 100 C (about 180 F – gas mark 1-2) and place the jam jars on a clean baking tray (facing up). Put in to the oven about 10 minutes before you are ready to pot the marmalade, which is about the time that you start to boil your marmalade after the sugar has dissolved.

When you are ready to pot your jam take out the tray from the oven (keeping the jam jars on), fill with your jam, seal with lids, wipe and leave to cool down completely.

This process sterilises the glass jam jars, getting rid of any potential bacteria, which could be harmful later on and develop into the mould.

I also find that this is this a great way to make sure that the hot jam doesn’t get poured into a cold glass, as this might be too much of a shock and shatter the glass.

JAM RECIPES

• Quince Jam >>
• Grape Jam (without pectin) >>

Mandarin Orange Jam Storage & Shelf Life

This mandarin jam, if stored correctly, will last for a minimum of 12 months. Once opened, I always keep my jam in the fridge and ideally eat it within 2 weeks. It will last longer, but you might start getting mould or bacteria growing inside, so you need to double check that your jam is safe to eat, if you keep it for longer than 2 weeks in the fridge.

PIN THIS RECIPE TO KEEP FOR LATER

This recipe was originally written on 29 December 2023 and last tested and updated on 29 December 2023