Blood Orange Varieties for Marmalade: Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinelli

A chef’s guide to Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinelli, and how each variety changes the finished preserve

Most people meet a blood orange in juice or a winter salad and think of it as one fruit: a red orange, slightly different from the everyday. However, spend a season working with blood oranges in a preserving kitchen and the differences become impossible to miss. They are a family of distinct varieties, and each one changes the flavour, colour, aroma and structure of the marmalade it becomes.

As a preserve maker, I choose the variety according to the style of marmalade I want to create. Tarocco works beautifully in softer, fragrant recipes. Moro contributes darker colour and a stronger citrus edge. Meanwhile, Sanguinelli brings concentrated fruit character and particularly striking pigmentation.

This guide compares the principal blood orange varieties, explains how they behave during cooking and shows why the name of the fruit on the jar genuinely matters.

What makes a blood orange a blood orange

The deep red colour of a blood orange comes from anthocyanins, the same family of natural pigments found in blackberries, red cabbage and certain red grapes. Anthocyanins are uncommon in citrus fruit, which is part of what makes blood oranges so unusual.

These pigments only develop properly when the fruit experiences a real difference between warm days and cool nights during ripening. That is why the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, with their fertile soil and dramatic temperature swings, produce some of the finest blood oranges in the world. The three classic Sicilian varieties, Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinello, are even protected under the Arancia Rossa di Sicilia PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), which restricts production to thirty-two municipalities across the provinces of Syracuse, Catania and Enna.

For the marmalade maker, anthocyanins also bring a subtle berry-like depth to the flavour. Blood oranges are sometimes called “raspberry oranges” for exactly this reason. It is this combination of orange brightness and softer red-fruit notes that gives blood orange marmalade its distinctive appeal, and it is why no other citrus marmalade tastes quite like it.

Tarocco: the elegant Sicilian

The Tarocco is widely regarded as one of the finest eating oranges in the world. Grown predominantly in Sicily, around the slopes of Mount Etna, it is prized for its exceptional sweetness, complex flavour and remarkably high vitamin C content. Many Italians consider it the best table orange of all.

Tarocco colour can be slightly unpredictable. Some fruit arrives with deeply pigmented crimson flesh, while other batches carry a gentler blush of pink and orange running through the segments. This variation depends on the season and the conditions of that year’s harvest. The Tarocco is sometimes called a “half-blood” orange because the pigmentation is less uniform than the Moro. That is part of its charm, and part of why working with it in the kitchen requires real attention.

What makes the Tarocco remarkable for marmalade is its flavour profile. It has a rich, rounded sweetness with subtle berry undertones, hints of raspberry and cherry, and a gentle floral quality that is genuinely difficult to find in other citrus. The juice is intensely aromatic and the peel, while thinner than a Seville orange, carries beautiful fragrant oils.

As a marmalade fruit, the Tarocco produces a preserve with elegance. The flavour is softer and more nuanced than a traditional Seville marmalade, with a warmth and depth that feels almost luxurious. It does not have the bold bitter backbone of a Seville orange, so it creates a very different style of marmalade: fruit-forward, aromatic and gently complex.

Our Tarocco Blood Orange Marmalade is built entirely around this fruit. The result is a marmalade with a beautiful amber-rose colour, a delicate citrus fragrance and layers of flavour that unfold slowly on the spoon. It has become one of our most loved marmalades, that rare thing that tastes both familiar and surprising at once.

Moro: the bold one

If the Tarocco is the refined one, the Moro is its bolder, more dramatic sibling.

The Moro is the most deeply pigmented of all the blood orange varieties. The flesh ranges from deep ruby through vermilion to a colour that can look almost black at the centre, and the rind itself often carries a vivid red blush. Originally from the citrus-growing area around Lentini in the Syracuse province of Sicily, the Moro is the youngest of the three classic Sicilian varieties and produces the most consistently intense colour of any blood orange.

The flavour of the Moro is unmistakable. It is stronger and more assertive than the Tarocco, with a noticeable tartness, a more pronounced bitter edge, and a distinctly raspberry-like quality that gives it real character. There is also a subtle earthiness to the Moro that lends it depth and complexity.

For marmalade making, the Moro brings drama. Its intense pigment translates into a preserve with remarkable colour: deep, glowing and quite unlike any other citrus marmalade on the breakfast table. The flavour is bolder and more robust than a Tarocco marmalade, with a citrus edge that holds its own beautifully against stronger pairings.

This is exactly why we chose the Moro for our Seville & Moro Blood Orange Marmalade. Blending it with traditional Seville oranges brings together the bitterness and structure that defines a classic Seville marmalade with the depth and colour intensity of the Moro. The two fruits complement each other quietly and beautifully. The Seville provides backbone and bright citrus character. The Moro adds richness, colour and a darker fruit complexity.

Sanguinelli: the deeply coloured late-season orange

Sanguinelli is a late-season Spanish blood orange recognised for its strong pigmentation, red-blushed rind and richly coloured flesh. It is less familiar in the UK than Tarocco or Moro, yet it has exactly the qualities that make a distinctive preserve.

Its flavour combines bright acidity with concentrated sweetness and a fuller red-fruit character. Compared with Tarocco, it is more vividly coloured and slightly more assertive. Compared with Moro, it is often rounder and less sharply bitter.

For marmalade making, Sanguinelli creates a fruit-led preserve with depth, fragrance and naturally dramatic colour. It is particularly well suited to limited seasonal batches where the variety itself is intended to remain the star.

Our limited-edition Sanguinelli marmalade story explains how we use this deeply coloured fruit in the preserving kitchen.

Sanguinello, Sanguigno and other blood orange varieties

Beyond Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinelli, several other blood orange names appear in citrus growing and preserving.

The Sanguigno (sometimes called Sanguigna) is a Spanish variety with gentler red pigmentation and a milder, sweeter flavour profile. Grown in parts of Valencia and Andalusia, it tends to have a thicker rind than the Sicilian varieties and is sometimes used as a blending fruit to add body and a subtle blush of colour.

You may also occasionally come across Sanguinello, Maltaise, Doblafina, Delfino and Ruby blood oranges. Each has its own character. However, Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinelli are the three varieties most relevant to the marmalades discussed in this guide.

Why the variety matters in marmalade making

When you are making jam, the fruit is usually the star and the differences between varieties, while important, are relatively straightforward. Sweeter strawberries make sweeter jam. Sharper fruit needs a little less sugar. The principles are familiar.

With blood orange marmalade, the variety you choose affects almost everything that ends up in the jar:

• the balance between sweetness, acidity and bitterness;
• the depth and stability of the natural colour;
• the aroma and texture of the peel;
• the way the marmalade sets in the pan; and
• the length and complexity of the finished flavour.

A Tarocco marmalade tastes elegant and softly complex. A Moro marmalade tastes bold and richly coloured. A blend of blood orange with Seville brings traditional marmalade structure with added depth and warmth. Each variety leads to a genuinely different preserve, and that is one of the things I find most fascinating about working with blood oranges. The same preserving method, the same copper pans, the same careful three-day process, and yet the results are so clearly shaped by the personality of the fruit.

This is also why generic “blood orange marmalade” can vary so much from one producer to another. Without knowing which variety has been used, you really cannot predict what is inside the jar. It is one of the reasons we name the variety on ours.

Colour, cooking and the question of expectations

It is worth saying something about colour, because blood orange marmalade attracts a lot of attention for the way it looks, and expectations do not always match reality.

The deep crimson colour of raw blood orange juice can fade or shift during cooking. Anthocyanins are sensitive to heat and to changes in acidity, and the long, slow cooking process that produces a properly set marmalade will always alter the colour to some degree. A marmalade made with Moro oranges may glow a beautiful deep amber-rose rather than the vivid red of the freshly squeezed juice. A Tarocco marmalade may have a warm, burnished copper tone with hints of rose rather than a bright pink.

This is entirely natural, and it is part of what makes blood orange marmalade so visually interesting. The colour is real and beautiful, but it is the colour of a cooked preserve, not a glass of fresh juice. Knowing this helps set the right expectations and appreciate the marmalade for what it actually is, which is rather more interesting than a simple “red marmalade”.

If you would like to read more about the chemistry behind setting, peel, pectin and sugar, our article on The Science of Marmalade explores all of this in more detail.

When is blood orange season?

Blood orange season in the UK is short and precious. Sicilian varieties begin to arrive from late December, with the Moro generally appearing first, followed by the Tarocco through January and February, and the Sanguinello carrying the season into March and sometimes early April.

This narrow window is one of the reasons blood orange marmalade feels like such a treat. It is genuinely seasonal work, made when the fruit is at its absolute best and put up in jars that capture the character of that particular harvest. If you would like to read more about how citrus season shapes our kitchen, you may enjoy our piece on Seville Orange Season: From Orchard to World’s Best Marmalade.

How to enjoy blood orange marmalade

Blood orange marmalade is, of course, wonderful on hot buttered toast, and that should always be the starting point. But the gentler, fruit-forward character of blood orange varieties makes them particularly versatile in the kitchen, and a good blood orange marmalade earns its place far beyond breakfast.

Try it warmed slightly and brushed over an almond cake, spooned through Greek yoghurt with a little honey, folded into the centre of a Victoria sponge, or used as a glaze for roast duck, ham or pork. The softer citrus profile pairs beautifully with dark chocolate, with mascarpone, with bitter leaves like radicchio in a winter salad, and with strong aged cheeses on a cheeseboard.

For a gentle introduction to baking with blood orange marmalade, our recipe for Blood Orange Marmalade Swirl Muffins is a lovely place to start.

A family of fruit worth knowing

Blood oranges are one of the most rewarding citrus fruits to work with in a preserving kitchen. Their flavour range, their colour, their aromatic peel and their subtle differences from variety to variety offer something genuinely different from the classic Seville marmalade tradition.

They do not replace the Seville orange. Nothing does, and our Seville Orange Marmalade remains the benchmark by which we judge everything else. But blood oranges sit alongside it beautifully, offering marmalade lovers a different kind of citrus experience. One with warmth, depth, drama and a character all of its own.

At The Artisan Kitchen, we are proud to make several award-winning blood orange marmalades, each built around a specific variety chosen for the qualities it brings to that particular jar. It is one of the most enjoyable parts of what we do, and one of the clearest examples of why the fruit you start with always matters more than anything else.

Further marmalade reading

• The Art of Balancing Citrus Bitterness in Marmalade
• The Science of Marmalade
• Seville Orange Marmalade Spotlight
• What Makes a Truly Great Marmalade
• The History of Marmalade

Written by Sarah Churchill, chef and founder of The Artisan Kitchen. Winner of 188 Great Taste Awards including 49 three-star awards.