This rhubarb jam with orange is a treat I like to enjoy with plenty of my meals. I make this any time I have some rhubarb, as it isn’t something my family eats often. Once I turn it into jam, though, they all want a bit every day.
Make This Rhubarb Jam With Orange and Use It In Any Meal
This jam is a great treat for everyone!
To make plenty of this jam to last a while, I use about 2 and a half pounds of rhubarb. I love buying it when it’s fresh and in season, and then I make this jam to preserve it throughout the year.
Rhubarb is a sour vegetable on its own, but when cooked with sugar, it makes for a very tasty jam. This vegetable is also very nutritious, as it has vitamin K, vitamin C, folate, potassium, and calcium.
If you don’t have rhubarb, you can use raspberries, green apples, or quinces. These fruits all have a similar flavor of tartness that mimics rhubarb.
For a mix of sweet and sour, I decided to add orange zest to this jam. It is the perfect combination of bitter, tart, and a bit of sweet that when mixed with the rhubarb, adds its twist to the jam.
Finally, for this recipe, I use white sugar as it melts easily, but you can use brown sugar, caster sugar, or even honey.
When cooking, I add orange juice along with the water, sugar, and orange zest. I find that this makes the rhubarb absorb more of those orange aromas. It also creates a final product that is both sweet and sour in the perfect balance.
I cook my mix for about 45 minutes so that the mix turns thicker and I stir often to prevent scorching.
Once you have your hot mix ready, all that is left is to place them in your sterilized jars, process them, and let them cool down for at least 12 hours.
All that’s left for you is to enjoy this delicious jam as a breakfast addition to your toast, during lunch for a quick pick-me-up, or as dessert after dinner.
Rhubarb Jam with Orange
Ingredients
2 cups (256 g) white sugar
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) rhubarb, chopped
1/2 (120 ml) cup water
1/3 (80 ml) cup orange juice
Directions
- Mix all ingredients in a large saucepan.
- Boil until temperature reaches 220 F (104 C).
- Cook over medium-low heat for 45 minutes until the mixture thickens. Stir frequently.
- Prepare water-bath canner.
- Simmer jars until ready for use.
- Wash lids and rings with warm soapy water then set aside.
- Ladle hot jam into previously sterilized jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace.
- Remove trapped air bubbles by running a wooden spatula around the inside of jar.
- Wipe jar rim then apply lid and ring. adjust to fingertip-tightness.
- Process jars for 20 minutes (Adjust for Altitude).
- Turn heat off, let jars sit for 5 minutes to settle.
- Remove jars and cool for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, test the seal on lids by pressing down on the center, the lid shouldn’t wiggle and must feel nice and solid.
- Any unsealed jars must be refrigerated and consumed first.
