Name: Candied Kumquats
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 cups of roughly chopped kumquats (roughly 1-1½ lbs.); 1 cup of water; 2 cups of sugar

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Candy Citrus Kumquat

Super easy recipe for candying kumquats, those mini citrus you can eat whole. Great as a sweet condiment for meat and cakes.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

It’s raining kumquats. Literally. My friend Garrett found a fully loaded kumquat tree on his campus and now we are quite flush with them.

A few days ago Garrett brought a jar of these candied kumquats over and we’ve been nibbling on them ever since. Ridiculously easy to make, candied kumquats are half condiment, half candy.

You can use them on salads, pork, chicken, cheesecakes, or even with chocolate ice cream. Or you can do what I do, which is to sneak a couple out of the fridge and just eat them straight. Sticky gooey goodness!

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Candied Kumquats Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups of roughly chopped kumquats (roughly 1-1½ lbs.)
1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar

Method

1 With a pairing knife roughly chop the kumquats. Discard any seeds you can that are easy to get too, but they're edible so don't fret if some get chopped up or stay in the fruit. Feel free to leave any small kumquats whole.

2 Heat the water and sugar over high heat until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes. Add the kumquats and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 Drain the kumquats through a sieve set over a bowl. Return the syrup to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the syrup. Combine the kumquats and 1/4 cup of the syrup together.

Serve or jar and refrigerate. Can be stored for up to two weeks.

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Links:

Kumquat Salsa here on Simply Recipes

Garrett's Kumquatinis

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.

23 Comments / Reviews

Candied Kumquats Cancel reply

yiannakis

Shall i remuve the pulp along with seeds?
- March 30, 2020
- · Reply
Show Replies (1)
- Sara Bir
  
  No, you definitely want to keep the pulp in there. Just remove as many seeds as you can.
  - March 30, 2020
  - · Reply
Jane

Perhaps my kumquats had been on the tree too long because when I cooked them for only ten minutes, the results smelled and tasted way too strong almost like turpentine. I rinsed them in cold water and cooked them on low heat for an hour and a half adding syrup solution. They are now much softer and tastier. the next time I get kumquats I am going to remove the pulp entirely and experiment with what the skins have to give on their own.
- October 6, 2019
- · Reply
Dana

It takes 45 minutes to properly candy kumquats till translucent.
- · Reply
Show Replies (1)
- Jane
  
  Yes or longer
  - October 6, 2019
  - · Reply
Annette

These are awesome and so easy to make. I cut the recipe in half and just cooked them until the syrup got thick. Delicious! I’ve been eating them just as is, but can’t wait to try them with waffles!

xxxxxyyyyy
- · Reply
Kelly

These are amazing. Served with a blueberry galette and some lavender whip! Your recipes never disappoint. :)

xxxxxyyyyy
- · Reply

Margaret

I’ve made this a few times, and adapted it over time to simmer the kumquats for about 15 mins, not 10, and without separate reduction of the syrup, to make it even simpler. It’s a simple and very accessible recipe, absolutely delicious. Thank you. Great with chocolate and olive oil mousse or with Greek yoghurt.

xxxxxyyyyy
- · Reply
Tcielo

Does anyone know if I can water bath can them when completed? I have an abundance of these little gems and want to preserve them for as long as I can… I’ve already made several jars of marmalade
- · Reply
- Rachel
  
  Did anybody respond/did you figure it out? I just got a ton of Kumquats and would love to can them
  - · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  My guess is that this recipe would lend itself well to water bath canning. There’s a lot of acid in the kumquats and there is plenty of sugar in the recipe. Both the acid and the volume of sugar help preserve the kumquats.
  - · Reply
Paul

Thanks for the reply. I’m using your recipe as we ‘speak’.

Paul
- · Reply
Paul

That campus wouldn’t be San Diego State would it by any chance. When I was there ’74 to ’78, there was a kumquat tree on campus that made LOTS of kumquats.

Paul
- · Reply
- Elise Bauer
  
  In this case it’s Sac State, or CSU Sacramento.
  - · Reply
Jon

Love this simple recipe Elise, this was my first effort with kumquats and it is delicious! Will now explore other kumquat options such as marmalade, and cooking these little gems with microwave. At some point I’ll try blending in other citrus or ginger/cloves/cinnamon.
Thank you!
- · Reply
Joan mace

This is a great recipe. You can also add, dried fruit and a hint of fruit liquer. *note* No need to peel, and you can rough chop, our slice. Depending on the size of fruit, you may want to remove larger seeds.
- · Reply
Trivia

These are remarkable! Strangely, I would never have thought of using kumqauts to candy, but I guess it makes perfect sense. I relate the fruit to when I was little and living in Florida. My dad’s mother had a kumquat tree in her backyard and we’re run out barefoot to collect as many as we could, eating them there.

I made them with cloves and cinnamon stick, and I gave them to my parents to try. We all have the mutual opinion of “Yum.” Thanks so much for the recipe!
- · Reply
Janie

I love these halved in a favorite cup of tea with honey for a soothing drink. I bet a speck of Grand Marnier (orange liquer) would be awesome in it as well. :o)
- · Reply
Liz

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We’ve had a kumquat tree for about 10 years, and every year we’re inundated by buckets upon buckets of kumquats. Sometimes we struggle to give them all away, but now we have a reason to keep some!

I made this recipe and added a little clove and cinnamon. The kumquat skins aren’t nearly so bitter and the syrup is incredible. I have a feeling that I’ll be using this simple recipe over and over.
- · Reply
Liz

Do they need to be peeled first? My only real experience with kumquats in the past is being pelted with them (by my much older step-brother)as a kid – somehow I think eating the candied ones would much more enjoyable!
- · Reply
Pieg!rl

Makes a soothing tea for the throat, especially with honey!
- · Reply
Marina

Hi, I love kumquats and can’t wait to try this recipe out! When heating the water and sugar, do I have to keep stirring constantly? Does the same apply for after when simmering the syrup? Thanks!
- · Reply
Garrett

I am going to also add that if you want, you can add spices such as cinnamon, cloves or star anise to the cooking syrup if you want to fragrantly spice these.

I recently added some of these to a chicken tagine. Very, very tasty!

I plan to use some for some cocktails later. Yum!
- · Reply

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Candied Kumquats

Super easy recipe for candying kumquats, those mini citrus you can eat whole. Great as a sweet condiment for meat and cakes.