Candied orange slices are firm and sweet! They are a delicious snack or can be used in baking or simply over sour cream or yogurt. They last forever in the fridge and are a great way to preserve oranges if you find yourself with too many.
Growing up, there was always a huge jar of delicious candied orange slices in the fridge. We’ll reach in it with a fork, and fish a slice of sugary orange. We never added it to anything, just ate it right off the fork and had to resist the urge to reach in for another one.
This might not be your usual candied orange slices recipe where the orange is dried and covered in sugar… This recipe probably came with my grandma from Morrocco many many years ago and passed down to my mother, myself, and now to you.
Candied Orange Slices Recipe…
These candied orange slices are cooked in a sugary syrup that is thick and sweet. We are going to use the whole orange, peel included, and the result is going to be firm orange pieces that are sweet and sticky. I make a jar of those candied orange slices every fall just for us to enjoy, however, you can also consider this recipe a great way to preserve oranges if that’s your goal (or check out my orange jam recipe).
Ingredients…
- Oranges – use 5 medium-large oranges (about 2 pounds). The kind of oranges that you use doesn’t matter, just make sure that they are fresh and not overripe.
- Sugar – weigh your fruit, we’ll use half of the weight of the fruit in sugar plus one cup.
- Fresh lemon juice – from one medium lemon.
Kitchen Tools…
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Grater
- Large mixing bowl
- Pot for boiling
- Deep pan for cooking
- Spatula or wooden spoon
- Jar or another storage container
How to Make Candied Orange Slices…
Step one – prep the oranges. Since the orange part of the peel is very bitter, use a grater to remove it. Make sure to divide it into 1/2 teaspoon measurements and freeze it. You can add it to baked goods as you would do with lemon zest. Next, cut the top off the oranges.
Step two – soak the oranges. Place the oranges in a large bowl and fill it with water. Let the oranges soak overnight. If you can, change the water once or twice during the soaking.
Step three – boil the oranges. Add the oranges to a pot and fill it with water to cover the oranges. Set on the stovetop and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat just a bit (keep a rolling boil) and boil the oranges for 20 minutes.
Step four – slice the oranges. After 20 minutes of boiling, remove the oranges from the hot water and set them on a cutting board to cool. Then slice the oranges however you like. My mother’s recipe says to quarter them so I did, but I later decided to cut them into smaller pieces. It’s really your choice, you can leave them in large pieces or cut them into smaller pieces.
Step five – cover with sugar. Add all the slices into a large mixing bowl and cover them with a cup of sugar. Let the oranges rest with the sugar on top of them for six hours. You’ll notice that they soak all the sugar and secrete some liquid which we want to keep.
Step six – cook the oranges. Add the orange slices to a wide and shallow pot and add the rest of the sugar. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then, lower the heat to medium, cover the pot and cook for an hour stirring frequently. Uncover the pot and squeeze the juice of one lemon right into the pot. Then cover the pot again and cook for an additional fifteen minutes.
How to Store Candied Orange Slices…
You can add all of the candied orange slices into a large jar and store in the fridge (you should get almost a quart from this recipe). I divided mine into smaller half-pint jars because I gifted some of the jars to friends. If you have some syrup in the pot, make sure to add it to the jar too. These candied orange slices will last in the fridge for 12 months or even more!
How to Serve Candied Orange Slices…
- As candy – stick a clean fork in the jar and get yourself a slice. Just eat it right off the fork when you are in the mood for a little sweetness.
- Over sour cream – oh man, this might be my favorite way! Scoop some sour cream into a bowl and add a few orange slices on top. It’s an absolutely delicious desert.
- With yogurt – add yogurt (here is how to make yogurt in the crock pot, or how to make yogurt from raw milk) to a bowl, some homemade granola on top and a few candied orange slices. It’s an easy breakfast.
- On toast – spread some homemade pumpkin seed butter or raw tahini on toast, and a couple of pieces of oranges and enjoy next to your coffee.
- Add them to beef dishes – I’ve never tried this but I think that these will work really great in any kind of roasted beef dish.
- In baked goods – if you are making any kind of baked good that calls for oranges, try replacing fresh oranges with these candied ones. They work really well in baked goods.
Frequently Asked Questions…
Yes, you can. It will work great with grapefruit. I’ve never tried it with lemons though…
Definitely! You can add a few whole cloves and cook them with the oranges. Or you can add the seasonings when you add the lemon juice. Add cinnamon, ground clove, nutmeg or anything else that you think will add a special taste.
If you happen to squeeze many oranges for their juice and you want to do something with the orange peels, you can follow the same recipe just add a little bit of water (a cup or two) when you cook the oranges to allow them more time to cook and soften.
Yes, however, I don’t recommend processing more than 4 pounds of fruit at a time. Just follow a ratio of one part fruit to one-half part sugar plus one or two cups for the six hours that the oranges need to rest covered in sugar.
This is a special recipe that brings back a lot of childhood memories for me! These candied orange slices are delicious and there are many ways to use them. I hope that you’ll give them a try!
Other Recipes You’d Like…
- Candied Jalapeno Recipe
- How to Preserve Whole Lemons
- How to Preserve Lemon Peels
- Kiwi Jam Recipe
- Grapefruit Marmalade Recipe
Candied Orange Slices
Candied orange slices can be used in many different ways or simply as candy.
Ingredients
- 2 lb oranges
- 1 lb sugar plus one cup
- Juice from one lemon
- One tablespoon of seasonings like cinnamon is optional (see notes)
Instructions
- Prep the oranges. Since the orange part of the peel is very bitter, use a grater to remove it. Make sure to divide it into 1/2 teaspoon measurements and freeze it. You can add it to baked goods as you would do with lemon zest. Next, cut the top off the oranges.
- Soak the oranges. Place the oranges in a large bowl and fill it with water. Let the oranges soak overnight. If you can, change the water once or twice during the soaking.
- Boil the oranges. Add the oranges to a pot and fill it with water to cover the oranges. Set on the stovetop and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat just a bit (keep a rolling boil) and boil the oranges for 20 minutes.
- Slice the oranges. After 20 minutes of boiling, remove the oranges from the hot water and set them on a cutting board to cool. Then slice the oranges however you like. My mother’s recipe says to quarter them so I did, but I later decided to cut them into smaller pieces. It’s really your choice, you can leave them in large pieces or cut them into smaller pieces.
- Cover with sugar. Add all the slices into a large mixing bowl and cover them with a cup of sugar. Let the oranges rest with the sugar on top of them for six hours. You’ll notice that they soak all the sugar and secrete some liquid which we want to keep.
- Cook the oranges. Add the orange slices to a wide and shallow pot and add the rest of the sugar. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then, lower the heat to medium, cover the pot and cook for an hour stirring frequently. Uncover the pot and squeeze the juice of one lemon right into the pot. Then cover the pot again and cook for an additional fifteen minutes.
- Store. You can add all of the candied orange slices into a large jar and store the jar in the fridge (you should get almost a quart from this recipe). If you have some syrup in the pot, make sure to add it to the jar too. These candied orange slices will last in the fridge for 12 months or even more!
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions...
- Can I follow this recipe with other citric fruits?
Yes, you can. It will work great with grapefruit. I’ve never tried it with lemons though… - Can I season these candied oranges?
Definitely! You can add a few whole cloves and cook them with the oranges. Or you can add the seasonings when you add the lemon juice. Add cinnamon, ground clove, nutmeg or anything else that you think will add a special taste. - Can I use just orange peels and not the whole orange?
If you happen to squeeze many oranges for their juice and you want to do something with the orange peels, you can follow the same recipe just add a little bit of water (a cup or two) when you cook the oranges to allow them more time to cook and soften. - Can I adjust the quantities of the ingredients?
Yes, however, I don’t recommend processing more than 4 pounds of fruit at a time. Just follow a ratio of one part fruit to one-half part sugar plus one or two cups for the six hours that the oranges need to rest covered in sugar.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: One half pint jarAmount Per Serving: Calories: 588Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 40mgCarbohydrates: 152gFiber: 6gSugar: 140gProtein: 2g
Hi! I’m Lady Lee. I help homesteaders simplify their homesteading journey while still producing a ton of food! I am a single mother of four, I was born in Israel and raised in an agricultural commune called a Kibbutz. Now I homestead in central NC.
It has been several years since you posted this recipe. No idea if anyone is even going to see my comments LOL!
A couple of things to note; I am going to bet that removing the orange peel is not to get rid of the bitterness. After all, we keep the peel. The bitterness is in the pith (the white part). And this brings me to the soaking. This is also why it is soaked for so long and water changed at least a couple of times. I tasted the water after the second soak, and it was so awful. I should have done a third soak.
I currently have a batch on the stove. It has been simmering for about a half an hour. I gave it a little taste, hoping upon hope that it was not wasted. It is still overwhelmingly bitter. Perhaps a different variety of orange would have worked better? I was given a huge basket of oranges. HUGE! I have no idea as to what kind they are. I kept thinking ‘gosh thanks…but what am I going to do with all of them?’ Thank goodness for Pinterest!
I need to update this post with new information! I’ll get to it soon enough hopefully.
Yeah, a different variety of oranges, another soak, or just wait all the way to the end. Maybe you won’t feel the bitterness after they were cooking with sugar.
I also have a orange jam recipe here on the blog that you can use the oranges to make. And on YouTube I have a grapefruit marmalade reipe. You can follow that same recipe with oranges.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Lee! I am definitely going to try this recipe, thank you! I wanted to also let you know that although I’ve canned over the years, I had never heard of the upside-down way. Very interesting and I will definitely try it your way when I do make this! Also, this may be a silly question but is the whole point of letting the oranges sit in water overnight is that they are in the water for say, twelve hours total? And if so, since I am home all day, couldn’t I just change the water twice during the day? Thank you, Lee. I love following you here and on Facebook.
You mean that instead of leaving them overnight you’ll just soak them during the day? Totally possible. It doesn’t matter as long as they are in water for a few hours (let’s say, at least 8). It is so yummy! You’ll like it.
I have done a lot of canning in the past. These Days, I do easy. We have raspberry bushes, and I found found recipe that doesn’t require pectin for jam. Works very well, I can do small batches with just a couple of jars. I also make clementine marmalade, no pectin, and a short cooking time. Thank you for this one I will definitely try’s it.
You know you can use lemon seeds instead of pectin? They have pectin naturally in them. You just throw a few into the jam 20 minutes before it’s done cooking.
For some years I searched for old canning recipes because I wanted to get away from supermarket products, such as boxed pectin. Two words popped up in a product like this but the one that really sounded like the true “word link” is “Conserve”. Derived from two Latin words, “con” which means ‘together’ and “servare” which means ‘to keep’=conservare ‘to preserve”. Then in late Middle English: from Old French conserver (verb), conserve (noun). What makes your product truly link as a “Conserve” is that it is completely processed and preserved in “Sugar”. Frog Hollow Farm in California has their own thoughts about this, they have to deal with the FDA in product & labeling and apparently there are some tight lines and they share this information in their article “What is A Conserve? Why Is It Different from a Jam, Jelly or Marmalade”. I don’t share their view on “Conserve”, it sounds more like a chutney which you’ll notice they don’t even go into. Check out their pricing also. It’s not cheap stuff. ……………You did a wonderful write-up on this and I can’t wait to try this out myself. I have just one question? Knowing that turning the jar upside down is not a safe way to seal the jar why did you not water bath process your finished product? Years ago I poured hot sealing wax on my jars. I’m that old!
I could have water bath them easily, I should probably add this in the post. I never did the flipping thing and was just curious if it will work since it’s much less work than the water bath. It did work. You know, for me, in the situation I am in in my life right now, every little trick that saves you even the tiniest amount of time is very useful. I am going to keep one of the jars sealed and check if it stays sealed for a long time just like when you water bath.
Also, you know lemon seeds have natural pectin in them? Instead of using pectin from the store you can just throw a few lemon seeds in the jam about 20 minutes before it’s done cooking.