Orange and Pepper Jelly is a unique, tasty blend of orange marmalade with red pepper jelly. It’s the best of both worlds. Add a habanero pepper for a spicy kick!
Everybody has a favorite jam or jelly. Mine’s marmalade. A few years ago, I was introduced to pepper jelly and was immediately hooked. I had a hard time deciding which one I liked better, so I decided to combine them both into Orange and Pepper Jelly. The flavors are a really good match and complement each other so well.
In addition to a red bell pepper, I used a red chili pepper in this recipe but it did not turn out spicy at all. I wanted to share this with my kids so I kept it mild. If you want a really spicy kick, add a habanero pepper. That will add some zing to your breakfast toast 🙂
How to make Orange Pepper Jelly
I looove biting into those orange rind chunks in marmalade. You will need 5 oranges for this recipe. Use a peeler or a knife to remove the rind off of two oranges, then slice them into thin strips. It’s okay to leave some of the white membrane as that is where a lot of the pectin is – that is what thickens the jelly. But don’t leave too much of it on or it will make your jelly very chunky. After cutting the rind that you need for slicing, cut the rest of the white membrane off the orange.
Remove and discard the rind from the rest of the oranges.
Cut the oranges into sections, then cut those sections into quarters.
Voila! A bowl full of quartered orange segments:
Next, we’ll cut the red bell pepper and the red chili. We’re only going to use half of a red bell pepper in this recipe, and a whole red chili. Cut the peppers into thin strips, then mince them.
Pour 3/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into a pot. Turn on the heat to medium-high. Add the chopped chilies and peppers, the sliced orange rind and the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Bring to a boil.
As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, then add the cut orange sections and 1 1/4 cups of sugar.
Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan to keep it from burning. Let it simmer…and simmer…and simmer.
As soon as it starts to thicken up, turn down the heat to low. Take about half a teaspoon of the jelly and set it aside. Give this “test jelly” a few minutes to cool down (I stick it in the fridge to cool it off quickly), then give it a taste. In addition to the taste, you’ll also want to test the consistency of the jelly. Some prefer the jelly to be a little runny, and some like it a bit thicker and firmer.
The reason you’ll want to do this test is that when the jelly is warm, it’ll always be a bit runny but once it cools off, it will harden up.
If the “test jelly” is still too runny for your taste, let it keep simmering over the stove and test it every 5 minutes or so. Once the “test jelly” is at the consistency you like, take the rest of the jelly off the stove and put it into Mason Jars.
Store the jars of Orange and Pepper jelly in the refrigerator. Serve with your favorite white or whole wheat bread, and of course, lots of butter 🙂
This recipe makes about 1 pint, depending on the size of the oranges you use. If you wish to increase the batch size to can the jelly, you can certainly do so. The processing time in a water bath is 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
Orange and Pepper Jelly
Ingredients
- 5 oranges
- 1/2 a red bell pepper minced
- 1 red chili minced
- 1 lemon zest and juice only
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
Instructions
- Peel or cut the rind off of two oranges. Slice the rind into thin strips.
- Remove and discard the peel and the most of the white membrane from the rest of the oranges.
- Cut the oranges into sections, then into quarters.
- Pour the water and apple cider vinegar into a pot and turn on the heat to medium high. Toss in the chopped chilies, peppers, sliced orange rind, lemon zest and lemon juice into the pot.
- As soon as the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, then add the cut orange sections and sugar.
- Allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan to keep it from burning.
- As soon as it starts to thicken up, turn down the heat to low.
- Test the consistency of the jelly by setting aside about half a teaspoon and allowing it to cool.
- If the jelly is still runny, let it simmer a bit longer and keep testing every 5 minutes or so.
- Once you are happy with the consistency, put the sauce into a jar (or jars). Let it cool completely.
- Enjoy with your favorite white or wheat bread..and lots of butter 🙂
william
Monday 23rd of January 2023
I've been challenged to work up a dessert using sweet, sour, and spicy. could this recipe be adjusted to use a serrano pepper instead of a chile?
Thank you very much!
Char
Tuesday 24th of January 2023
Yes, absolutely! You can replace the red chili with any other kind of fresh chili :)
Crystal
Tuesday 10th of December 2019
I have a group of friends that I get with for every season and we do a day of preserves. I was wondering if these measurements are correct in saying it only yields 1 pint? We have a farmer in our group that is supplying us with over 150 oranges this season and were looking for new recipes and came across yours and all agreed it looked amazing!
Char
Tuesday 10th of December 2019
Hi Crystal! I'm so honored that you and your friends are considering trying this recipe! Wow! 150 oranges! The oranges that I have access to (here in Malaysia) are rather small so you would probably get a bit more than a pint with larger oranges. Also, I tend to prefer a thicker marlade so I let it reduce/thicken quite a bit. I think that a slightly runny consistency would also yield you more marmalde. I hope that helps! Please keep me updated if you choose to use this recipe! Would love to hear how it turns out!
Karen
Tuesday 29th of January 2019
Thanks for the inspiration for this! I make marmalade and pepper jelly, but never thought of combining them! I made it with some late harvest mandarins which needed pith removed as do oranges. It’s a beautiful color with the red bell pepper, Serrano and habanero!
Char
Tuesday 29th of January 2019
Oh yum! That sounds so good! It's Chinese New Year season here so we've got a ton of mandarin oranges. Going to have to make a batch or two with those. Thanks for the inspiration as well! I saw your photo on Instagram and the colors are so pretty! Thanks again for giving this recipe a try!
Char
Wednesday 1st of August 2018
Hi Susan! I leave some of the white membrane on the orange on as that contains pectin, so I don't use additional pectin. However, if you prefer to cut most of the membrane off, you can certainly add the pectin. This recipe makes just one large jar :) Enjoy!! :D
Susan
Wednesday 1st of August 2018
Char,
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
I will follow your recipe without the store bought pectin and will double it as I want to make 1/2 pt. jars. I will let you know how they turn out.
Enjoy your day.
Susan
Tuesday 31st of July 2018
Hi,
I love pepper jellies and also orange marmalade! When I saw your recipe I knew I had to make it, can you please tell me if I can use a waterbath for your recipe as I don't have enough room in my refrigerator? Also, I planted jalapeño plants this year and want to know if I can substitute these for the chili pepper. I appreciate any help or advice you can give me.
Thank you!
Char
Tuesday 31st of July 2018
Hi Susan! Thanks for your message! Yes, absolutely - you can use the waterbath to can this. You can also certainly use jalapeno. I think that will add a really nice flavor to it. Keep me posted! I hope you enjoy this recipe :)