This easy sugar free orange marmalade recipe is zesty and full of flavour. Even better, at 2.1g net carbs per tablespoon it's suitable for low carb and keto diets.
I've lived in London for over half my life now and I've come to love many of the British staples, from English Breakfast to scones (I've linked to my keto versions of these wonderful dishes here!).
So, naturally, I also adore orange marmalade!
Regular orange marmalade contains astonishing amounts of sugar. It is not unusual for a recipe that requires 4 oranges to use 8 cups - almost 2 kilos - of table sugar!
The sugar helps preserve the marmalade, and also thickens it. But unfortunately it will also raise your blood sugar levels. Not a good choice!
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A Sugar Free Marmalade Recipe
Oranges contain a fair amount of natural sugar and carbs - about 12 grams of net carbs per orange. So, you could argue that there is no such thing as a sugar free orange marmalade.
Well, I'm asking you politely here to please not split hairs. I'm using the term "sugar free" because I have replaced the sugar in the recipe with powdered sweetener, which is zero carb.
This way, the only carbs and sugars you're consuming are from the fructose in the orange. There's also more fibre than you'd find in regular orange marmalade, because I'm using the ENTIRE ORANGE, including the skins. And fibre slows the absorption of glucose (sugar & carbs) into the blood.
And since one generous portion is 1 tablespoon, this adds up to no more than 2.1 grams per serving! Voila, you've got yourself a spoonful of sunshine to brighten up your keto breakfast.
IMPORTANT: My sugar free orange marmalade is not a clear jelly like the marmalade you may be used to. Because it contains all the fibre an orange has to offer, it's more like a jam. It's simply incredibly tasty, zesty and totally delicious!
Instructions
Let's make keto orange marmalade!
You start by scrubbing the oranges to remove all the wax. This will also improve the taste of the final product!
Then you chop off the tops and the bottoms or the oranges, where the skin is normally the thickest. Quarter the fruit, remove any seeds and slice into VERY THIN slices using a sharp knife.
Now, throw the slices into a metal saucepan, add the water and juice of 1 lemon. Bring to the boil and then simmer, lid on, for 2 hours.
After this, remove the lid, add the sweetener and turn up the heat to medium to bring the jam back to a boil. This now starts to reduce the liquid in the pan. Don't forget to start stirring frequently at this point!
(Note - now is the time to add in any flavours if you wish - a vanilla pod, a cinnamon stick, a little ginger or even a shot of whiskey.)
Basically, you want the temperature in the pot to go beyond 100 degrees Celsius, so the natural pectin in the orange pith - the white part of the skin - can release and thicken the orange jam so it sets nicely.
Recipe FAQs
I recommend that you use seedless oranges with a thin skin. The thicker the pith, the more bitter your marmalade will taste. Juicing oranges are normally thin-skinned. Ask your greengrocer for advice!
Don't use Seville oranges for this recipe. I know they are "it" when it comes to regular orange marmalade. But their skin contains more bitterness than that of regular oranges. You would not want to use as much skin as we are for this sugar free marmalade recipe. Seville oranges NEED A LOT MORE sugar than we are using here.
I used a powdered erythritol / monk fruit mix, but xylitol or allulose would work equally well here. I felt that 1.5 cups was sufficient, but you could increase it to about 2 cups if you prefer a sweeter marmalade.
Since I'm using the entire orange in this recipe, I'm aware some people may feel it's too intense. You know yourself best! If you have a real sweet tooth, consider not using the peel from ALL the oranges. So, if you're using 3 large oranges, simply discard the peel of one and only use the fruit.
How to know when marmalade is ready
Cooking times will depend on how hot your stove it. So if you're using a lower temperature than I did, your jam will take a little longer.
This is the rule of thumb: If your marmalade looks thick at the end of cooking, you KNOW it's ready. However, if it looks still a little thin, you can test it by putting a spoonful on a plate, which you put it in the fridge or freezer for a little bit.
If the top of the mix starts wrinkling when you touch it with a finger or spoon, it's set! Otherwise, reduce it a little longer.
Marmalade WILL continue to set for up to 48 hours after you stop cooking. So, be patient.
Storage
Fill your sugar free orange marmalade into clean glass jars and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to 6 months.
I do not recommend trying to can this marmalade. Regular marmalade has a long shelf life because of the sugar, which helps preserve it. The acid in the lemon (and the oranges) helps preserve this jam, but essentially, this is NOT a long life product.
Uses
Spread over keto buns or on a slice of toasted low carb bread. Spoon over sugar free ice cream or blend a couple of spoonfuls into my keto cheesecake fluff!
Orange marmalade also works exceedingly well with pork or chicken - use a few spoonfuls brush over chicken towards the end of roasting!
More Sugar Free Jam Recipes
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Recipe
Sugar Free Orange Marmalade Recipe
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds / 900g oranges (about 3 large organic oranges)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 cups / 480ml water
- 1.5 cup / 240g powdered sweetener ***see notes
Instructions
- Wash and scrub the oranges to remove the wax on the skins and cut off the tops and bottoms. Quarter, remove any seeds and slice as thinly as possible. Put into a saucepan together with the juice of 1 lemon and 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 hours with the lid closed.
- Take off the lid and increase the temperature to medium. Add the sweetener and let the marmalade bubble away and reduce, stirring regularly (especially towards the end). Adjust sweetener, adding more if required.
- Fill the marmalade into glass jars and store in the fridge.
Grace Aloia
Do u think powdered stevia would work in this application? If so, how would u suggest I go about making that substitution?
Katrin Nürnberger
Stevia would absolutely work in the recipe. There are two types of stevia sweeteners I am familiar with. There are stevia glycerite drops. 4-5 drops are normally equal to the sweetness of 1 teaspoon of sugar (or sweetener - I always use 1:1 sugar alternatives). Then, I tried powdered stevia which was blended with erythritol. Some brands were twice as sweet as sugar and others were a 1:1 sugar replacement. Make sure you check the sweetener bag and make your adjustments. I have never tried pure stevia powder, so I can't advise exactly how much of it you'd need.
Lawrence Mathon
Hello: Have you ever used the Robertsons Ma Made thin cut seville oranges in the 850 gram can to make a seville orange marmalade (6 lbs) of which 4 lbs is all white sugar. This would literally kill me as I am diabetic.. Any ideas on using erythritol or allulose for this recipe? If so, how much would I need to use (hopefully) as less as possible. Would adding a bit of alcohol and lemon juice help to increase the shelf life of the marmalade in the refrigerator? Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Lawrence, I discuss sweetener options in the recipe notes. I don't think the recipe needs any more lemon. The reality is that you can PROBABLY store it for much longer than 3 weeks. It is just that I have not tried it with this recipe. But I can tell you that I used my sugar-free cranberry sauce as a jam and it was open in the fridge and perfectly fine for several months.
Cynthia
So you cannot can this recipe? Why would that be?
Katrin Nürnberger
I simply have not tried it myself. Regular jams contain a lot of sugar, which preserves it. I do not know if the sweeteners have exactly the same properties. It may totally be the case, but you would have to experiment and see whether it lasts, and how long.
Debbie
Yum yum yum wow best marmalade ever thank you once again for a brilliant recipe
serena grive
Great recipe --- I adapted it! 2 oranges, 2 lemons, 2 limes ----from the garden (New Zealand). I needed a bit more "sugar" to avoid it being too tart. Sooo yum and maybe slightly less carbs!
Geoff Melville
Do you have a recipe for sugar free Lime Marmalade/jam. I have a Tahitian lime tree fruiting now. I am in South Australia.
Katrin Nürnberger
I think you can make it using the same method. You may need more sweetness though.
Colleen Mc
This is the first time in 7 years (start of keto) that I have had marmalade.....OMG ! It was sooo good, beyond my wildest expectations. Yes, sunshine on a plate, I'll go along with that.
BTW I cooked mine in a slow cooker, after 2 hours still thinnish- reduced further with 30 mins in a saucepan on high and added a little gelatine as I only had a small amount of allulose. ( have found that Erythritol does not crystallise with the addition of gelatine when jam making )
Thank you once again, I love your recipes.
Sonia phelan
Dear Katrin I have made your recipe with kumquats and monk fruit.
Something went wrong as a few days later I found large crystalline structures in my marmalade..
Is it the monk fruit that causes this? As I live in Australia some of the products available in the northern hemisphere are unavailable or very difficult to source..
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Katrin Nürnberger
What is in your monk fruit sweetener? Is it a blend of erythritol and monk fruit? Also, did you use powdered sweetener as per recipe? I use powdered erythritol blends a lot and you can get a bit of re-crystallisation because of the erythritol. However, it's never been so much that I've found it to be a problem. The only way to completely avoid re-crystallisation is to use allulose.
Katrin Nürnberger
I am sure you can do this recipe in the slow cooker. I don't own one myself, so you'd have to do a search on jam recipes and follow those instructions. I don't think using a microwave is a good idea.
Nurit Philip
Thank you