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Calendula jelly is a warm, honey-floral preserve with the sunny yellow-orange color of the blossoms it’s made from. It’s lovely on morning toast or set out on a cracker beside a cheese board, a little bit of the summer garden kept on the pantry shelf.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- What Does Calendula Jelly Taste Like?
- Choosing and Preparing Calendula
- Ingredients for Calendula Jelly
- Low Sugar Options
- How to Make Calendula Jelly
- Canning Calendula Jelly
- Altitude Adjustments
- Ways to Use Calendula Jelly
- Calendula Jelly FAQs
- Flower Jelly Recipes
- Calendula Flower Jelly (& Marigold Jelly) Recipe
- Jelly Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
I grow calendula in my garden every single year, and I can’t picture a summer without those sunny blossoms. Most of mine end up in calendula oil and skin salves, since it’s long been valued for soothing burns and minor irritation, but there are plenty of other ways to use calendula too.
Turning some of that bloom into a flower jelly was a natural next step. It runs like any other floral jelly, steeping the blossoms into a tea and setting it with pectin and sugar, and the result is a warm, honey-floral spread the color of the flowers themselves.
Notes from My Kitchen
Calendula is one of the plants I grow every year without fail. It blooms and blooms right up until hard frost, so there’s always a handful to pick, and the bright orange and yellow flowers are a cheerful thing to walk past on a summer morning.
Most of my harvest goes into salves, but turning some of it into jelly felt like the right thing to do with a flower this sunny. The warm, golden color of it on toast is welcome in the dark days of winter, a small way to keep a bit of the summer garden close at hand.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Calendula Jelly
- Recipe Type: Flower Jelly Recipe
- Canning Method: Water Bath Canning
- Prep/Cook Time: 30 Minutes (including steeping)
- Canning Time: 10 Minutes
- Yield: 5 to 6 half-pint jars
- Jar Sizes: Quarter Pint, Half Pint, or Pint
- Headspace: 1/4 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Calendula blossoms, water, lemon juice, sugar, and pectin
- Difficulty: Easy! You’re basically making a floral tea and setting it with pectin.
- Similar Recipes: The process is very similar to other summertime flower jellies made with edible blooms, including Chamomile Jelly, Bee Balm Jelly, and Nasturtium Jelly. If you grow edible flowers, it’s worth browsing the whole list of flower jelly recipes.
What Does Calendula Jelly Taste Like?
Calendula jelly has a warm floral flavor, close to the honey note you get in dandelion jelly but a touch more complex. There’s a faint spice to it as well, an ever-so-subtle hint of pine that comes from the resin in the flowers, similar to bee balm jelly.
The leading flavor is floral and honey-ish, so it’s more or less like eating a sweetened calendula blossom, warm and a little uplifting. Paired with that sunny yellow-orange color, it’s a cheerful thing to spread on toast in the middle of winter.
Choosing and Preparing Calendula
This recipe is built around true calendula (Calendula officinalis), sometimes called pot marigold, the sunny orange-yellow flower most people picture. It blooms generously from early summer until frost, so you can gather a few handfuls at a time without making a dent. You can use the whole flower heads or just pull the petals; both work fine.
You can also make this with garden marigolds, but only edible, culinary varieties such as signet or gem marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia) or Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida). Skip ordinary ornamental bedding marigolds, which aren’t grown for eating and can taste harsh. Whatever you pick, make sure it’s a flower you know to be edible, from a plant that hasn’t been sprayed.
If you grow calendula for more than the jelly, the Resina variety carries the most of the sticky resin the plant is known for, which also gives the finished jelly a little more of its faint spicy note. Pick the blossoms on a dry day when they’re fully open, and plan to use them the same day while they’re freshest.
Ingredients for Calendula Jelly
Calendula jelly uses the same basic formula as other flower jellies: fresh blossoms steeped into a tea, then set with sugar, pectin, and a bit of lemon juice for balance and safety.
- Calendula Blossoms: Use true calendula (Calendula officinalis), or an edible culinary marigold, picked from unsprayed plants. Whole flower heads or just the petals both work.
- Water: Use clean filtered water if your tap has a strong chlorine taste, since that can muddy the delicate floral flavor.
- Lemon Juice: The lemon juice balances the sweetness, helps the pectin set, and lowers the pH enough to make the jelly safe for canning. Use bottled lemon juice, which holds a steady acidity that fresh lemons don’t. For a more neutral flavor you can swap in citric acid powder at about 1 teaspoon in place of the 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
- Sugar: Regular powdered pectin needs a good amount of sugar to gel, so this recipe follows the current Sure Jell ratio of 5 cups sugar to 4 cups of calendula tea for an old-fashioned jelly that sets dependably. If you’d rather cut the sugar back, there’s a lower-sugar option in the note just below.
- Pectin: This recipe is built around regular powdered pectin, such as Sure Jell, which is reliable and gives a consistent set.
Low Sugar Options
If you’d prefer a less sweet jelly, reach for Sure Jell low sugar pectin instead and drop the sugar to as little as 1 to 2 cups. With Pomona’s Universal Pectin, bump the lemon juice up to 1/2 cup, since Pomona’s doesn’t include the added citric acid that most other pectins do.
Pomona’s is a 2-part low sugar pectin that comes with calcium water and behaves a little differently, so follow the mint jelly directions on the box. If it’s your first time using it, it’s worth reading through how to use Pomona’s pectin first.
How to Make Calendula Jelly
Making calendula jelly runs like any other flower jelly. You steep the blossoms into a tea, set it with pectin and sugar, and add lemon juice along the way. Don’t skip that lemon, since it balances the sweetness, helps the set, and lowers the pH enough to keep the jelly safe on the shelf, so it goes in even if you’re not canning.
Most of the time here is hands-off while the blossoms steep, so have your jars and lids ready before you start. That way you can move quickly once the jelly comes up to its boil.
Prepare the Blossoms
You’ll need 2 to 4 cups of fresh blossoms, depending on how strong you want the flavor. I like to pick them straight into a quart jar, since it holds about the right amount for the next step.
Pick over the flowers to remove any insects or debris. Since calendula is at its most fragrant fresh, do this the same day you harvest.
Make the Calendula Tea
Pour 4 cups of boiling water over the blossoms and let them steep for 15 to 20 minutes. The water will take on the color and fragrance of the flowers.
Strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer into a jelly pot, pressing gently on the blossoms. You’re aiming for about 4 cups of tea. If you come up short, top it off with water to bring it back to 4 cups.
Add Lemon Juice and Pectin
Stir 1/4 cup of lemon juice into the calendula tea. (The lemon balances the sweetness, helps the pectin set, and makes the jelly safe to can, so don’t leave it out even if these are headed for the fridge.) Bring the mixture up to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once it’s boiling, whisk in one box of powdered pectin until it’s completely dissolved, and let it boil hard for 1 full minute. The pectin goes in before the sugar, which is what lets the jelly set, so hold that order.
Add the Sugar
After that minute, add 5 cups of sugar all at once. (Do not add the sugar before or at the same time as the pectin, or the jelly won’t set up.) Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Bring the jelly back to a full rolling boil for exactly 1 minute, then pull it off the heat and skim away any foam with a spoon. Immediately ladle the hot jelly into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Canning Calendula Jelly
Canning is optional. If you’d rather not, let the jars cool completely on the counter and tuck them into the refrigerator for a few weeks, or the freezer for up to 6 months in freezer-safe jars.
For shelf storage, I like to run the jars through a water bath canner so the jelly keeps at room temperature year-round and I can enjoy that sunny flavor any time of year. Make sure you’ve used the full amount of lemon juice, since that acidity is what makes water bath canning safe. Have your canner, jars, and lids prepped before you start the jelly. After ladling into jars (leaving 1/4 inch headspace), wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth, set the lids, and tighten the bands to fingertip tight.
Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude as needed. Let the jars cool undisturbed on a towel for 24 hours, then check the seals. Refrigerate any that didn’t seal and use them first. Properly canned and sealed jars will maintain quality on the pantry shelf for 12 to 18 months. Refrigerate after opening.
Altitude Adjustments
For water bath canning, processing times increase at higher elevations:
- 0 to 6,000 feet: 10 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet: 15 minutes
Ways to Use Calendula Jelly
Calendula jelly’s warm, honey-floral flavor suits morning toast, biscuits, and scones, and its sunny color brightens a cheese or charcuterie board served on a cracker. It’s also nice stirred into plain yogurt or spooned over a simple cake.
Because calendula is a little resinous and spicy, it crosses over into savory territory too. You can make it as a savory herbal jelly, the same way I make chive blossom jelly, to serve alongside cheese or roasted meat. A few jars of the bright jelly also make a cheerful gift through the gray months.
Calendula Jelly FAQs
Yes, but only edible, culinary marigolds. True calendula (Calendula officinalis), or pot marigold, is the classic choice, and you can also use edible Tagetes types like signet or gem marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia) or Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida). Skip ordinary ornamental bedding marigolds, and always use flowers you know are edible and unsprayed.
Yes. Calendula has a resinous, faintly spicy side, so it works as a savory herbal jelly as well as a sweet one. Use the same method as a savory herb jelly, the way I make chive blossom jelly, and serve it with cheese or roasted meat instead of on toast.
The most common reasons jelly doesn’t set are adding the sugar at the same time as the pectin (add pectin first and boil for 1 minute before adding sugar), boiling the finished jelly for too long (over 5 minutes), or trying to double the batch size. If it doesn’t set after 24-48 hours, enjoy it as a floral syrup or read through my guide on troubleshooting jelly set.
Yes, but you’ll need to use a low-sugar pectin like Sure-Jell Low Sugar or Pomona’s Universal Pectin and follow the package instructions for mint jelly. If you use Pomona’s, increase the lemon juice to 1/2 cup, since it doesn’t contain the added citric acid that other pectins do. The yield will be lower with reduced sugar.
Flower Jelly Recipes
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Calendula Flower Jelly (& Marigold Jelly)
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
For the Calendula Tea
- 2 to 4 cups fresh calendula blossoms, Calendula officinalis, or an edible culinary marigold
- 4 cups water
For the Jelly
- 4 cups calendula tea, strained
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice, or 1 teaspoon citric acid
- 1 box powdered pectin, 1.75 oz, regular, such as Sure-Jell original or 6 Tbsp Bulk Pectin
- 5 cups granulated sugar, See Notes for Low Sugar Option
Instructions
- Pick over the blossoms to remove any insects or debris.
- Pour the boiling water over the blossoms and steep for 15 to 20 minutes, then strain into a jam pot. Measure the tea and add water if needed to reach the full amount.
- Stir in the lemon juice. It balances the sugar, helps the pectin set, and adds the acidity needed to safely can the jelly, so don’t skip it.
- Bring to a boil, then whisk in the powdered pectin until dissolved and boil hard for 1 full minute. (Do not add the sugar at the same time as the pectin, or before it, or the jelly won’t set.)
- Add all the sugar at once and stir to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil and boil hard for exactly 1 minute, then remove from heat and skim off any foam.
- Ladle hot jelly into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean, center lids, and apply bands fingertip-tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off the heat and let jars rest 5 minutes before removing. Cool undisturbed 12-24 hours before checking seals. Or, to skip canning, cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to a month or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Jelly Canning Recipes
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Hi Ashley,
When making calendula jelly do you pluck the individual petals from the flower like you would for dandelion jelly or do you steep full flower heads for this jelly?
I made goldenrod jelly this year( similar to dandelion jelly) and I only have you to thank for setting me on this adventure of trying new jelly/jam ideas!
With calendula jelly, you just use the whole flower heads. The flower heads are tasty with calendula, and a lot of the active beneficial compounds are in the flower head itself rather than just the petals. With dandelion jelly, the flower heads are bitter, but that’s not the case with calendula. Enjoy!
have you played around with the amount of blooms? 2 vs 4 cups or blooms? does it make it stronger if I use 4 cups of blooms?
It should make it a bit stronger if you use 4 cups, just like when you make any tea. I’ve found that the flavor in the blossoms actually makes the most difference. We tend to grow a calendula type called resina, which is the most potent of all the calendula types and it’s used to make a very resinous extract for use in medicine (thus the name). It has a stronger flavor than most of the ornamental varieties, thus 2 cups works well for that. If you have the showy, but less intense types, 4 cups might be better.