You'd think being a professional writer as well as lover of everything citrus and consuming vast quantities of the stuff that I'd be able to spell "marmalade". But you'd be wrong. Thankfully, before I went to work on this post, I Googled the word (like I should have done before I posted my homemade eggnog recipe only to find out it's "eggnog" not "egg nog") and found out it's marmalade with an a. Not marmelade with an e. And with that literary rant over, we can get onto the good stuff!
You guys fell head over heels for my healthy three-ingredient strawberry chia seed jam recipe, so I decided to carry on the theme and this time experiment with a healthy marmalade recipe based on chia seeds. Thankfully, chia seed jams and marmalades are so difficult to mess up that very little experimentation was required before I made the perfect batch of marmalade.
This marmalade recipe is a bit on the tart side - just like marmalade is meant to be. But if you love sweet stuff, I'd suggest you double up on the honey and use ¼ of a cup instead of 2 tablespoons. The texture will be exactly the same, you'll just end up with a wonderfully sweet and jam-like marmalade instead of the traditional bordering-on-bitter stuff.
Would you like to see more chia seed recipes around here? I know that chia seeds are packed full of amazing nutritional benefits which will give us all super powers if we eat them every day. That is why they're classed as a super food, right? But to be honest, apart from the strawberry jam and the orange marmalade, I rarely do anything exciting with them. I cannot stand the texture of them in chia seed puddings and the like, so I usually just add them into my morning oatmeal and soups.
But like I said, let me know if you'd like to see some chia seed recipes posted on the blog in the comments below and I'll find a way of getting them to you!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 oranges
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
Instructions
- Peel the oranges and put the insides into a small saucepan. Don't worry about chopping them up - the heat will break down the oranges completely.
- Turn the heat up to medium and cook the oranges for 10 minutes, until they start to soften.
- Add in the honey and stir. Cook the mixture for another 5 minutes, constantly mashing the oranges with the back of a spoon to help them break down.
- When the oranges have totally broken down and you've got a sauce-like consistency, turn off the heat and stir in the chia seeds.
- Pour the marmalade into a small sterilised jar and leave to cool to room temperature for at least two hours before screwing the lid on and storing in the fridge.
Notes
This chia seed marmalade will store well inside a sealed container in the fridge for up to one month.
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Krissy @ Pretty Wee Things
Hmmm, I have never been a fan of marmalade, but I think you have compelled me to give this a go.
Maybe I might like it now...I'll keep you posted. xx
Nicola Quinn
I'm glad I inspired you to give it a go, Krissy! 🙂
All that's Jas
I love chia seeds and never thought of putting it in a marmelade. This seems easy enough to try. Thank you for linking up at Thursday Favorite Things and hope to see you again!
Miz Helen
Can't wait to try this Chiz See Marmalade. Hope you are having a fantastic week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
ski
I was going to ask if the chia seeds are optional since I saw them added at the end; but then I read your strawberry jam recipe and realized it's probably for thickness. I'm wondering if flax seeds can work or an egg yolk or both can work in it's place?
Nicola Quinn
You're right, Ski - the chia seeds are added for thickness. I'm pretty sure an egg yolk wouldn't work and it would definitely affect the flavour in a bad way. I've just done a bit of research online and there seem to be loads of flax seed jam recipes, so flax seeds should definitely work in place of the cia seeds.
amy
Would this ok for canning (hot water method)
Nicola Quinn
I would love to help you out, Amy, but I've got zero experience with canning. Sorry!
Sherwood
I always thought marmalade had to have zest in it to be marmalade. Before I opted to make this, I looked it up. I was wrong--and I'm glad. I've been avoiding the stuff for most of my life because of a misconception. lol Of course, it's still tart-borderline-bitter, and that I might've been what I attributed tot he zest aaaand I made a double batch of this before realizing that was an intrinsic quality. I'll try it out for a few more days before I decide if I want to add more honey. After all, I questioned my cranberry chia jam at first before I grew to love it to pieces. I wasn't sure if this would pair well with peanut butter, but I did find some orange marmalade and peanut butter recipes so... it's not universally accepted as a gross combination? lol
Question: Is the resultant marmalade supposed to be all fibrous from the orange membrane (is that what it's called)? The recipe said the orange is supposed to "totally break down" in the cooking process. I'm not familiar with marmalade, so I'm curious if that's how it's supposed to be or if I just didn't cook it long enough. (I did cook it longer than the instructions said due to the orange being refrigerated and it being a double batch... and my being insecure.) It does look fairly stringy in your photos, but I just don't know!
Nicola
Hi Sherwood! You definitely did the right thing by increasing the cooking time because your oranges were cold and you were baking a double batch. I do remember my chia seed marmalade being a little stringy, but the longer you cook it, the less stringy it should be.
Sherwood
I'm thrilled to hear my improvisation was proper, simple as it was! Kitchen win. 😀 I'll keep that in mind for if I make this again! My marmalade has been very wet (puddles would form in the container), so I added an extra tablespoon of chia seeds just this morning to help sop that up. 🙂
Oh, I forgot to note that I used two different kinds of oranges, which makes the marmalade look pretty gross. lol I used 2 navel oranges, and the 6... generic oranges my roomie said I could have? lol I didn't catch what variety they were.
Christine
I made rhubarb chia jam with your other recipe everyone loved it so I will try this too.
Nicola
That's great Christine! It's fantastic when other people make their own tweaks and it turns out well.
Lewis murphy
Thanks for recipe
Nicola
You're very, very welcome, Lewis! 🙂