Too much rhubarb? Today I want to share with you one of the simplest and most summery recipes ever: My easy homemade rhubarb sauce. 

When rhubarb season comes around, the ol’ plant is multiplying, and fresh rhubarb is abundant, this might be the best way to use some of your rhubarb harvest. It’s a tangy sauce to satisfy every rhubarb lover with minimal effort!

This easy recipe is pretty much one of the simplest to make on the planet, and I think you’ll find it to be one of the best things to tuck away into your back pocket for any summer day that needs a little something sweet. 

What is rhubarb?

I’m guessing if you’re here that you already know, but just in case not– rhubarb is technically a vegetable that grows in long pink or green stalks with huge leafy tops. It is a perennial plant, which means it comes up every year, and it grows “Like a weed!” – Easily and generously. 

The texture and look of rhubarb is a like a dense, pinkish version of celery, while the flavour is quite tart and robust. Rhubarb is often served as a fruit (which is how I will refer to it), as it resembles and compliments those flavours.

Best ways to use rhubarb:

Honestly, I love rhubarb for a million things. Here are a few ideas for you how you can use it:

• Muffins
• Cakes
• Jam
• Pies
• Sauces
• Drinks
• Honestly, whatever magic you can think of!

Uses for this easy rhubarb sauce recipe:

This delicious sauce is wonderful used in so many different ways. 

• Topping on scones, with whipped cream
• Pound cake topping
• Angel food cake topping
• Filling between the layers of your favorite cake (as in this summer sponge cake)
• Cupcake filling
• Ice cream topping (or try topping a bowl of this yummy sauce with vanilla ice cream!)
• Topping for cream of wheat
• In fruit smoothies
• Yogurt topping (use plain Greek yogurt or a simple flavor, like vanilla yogurt)
• In place of apple sauce
• As jam
• A delicious rhubarb pie filling (see recipe notes)
• …However else you can imagine using it!

Yup, it’s pretty great.

Sweetening your rhubarb sauce

As a general rule, I like to make my recipes with a little less sugar than some, although the naturally tart flavor of rhubarb does make it necessary to make sure you have enough sugar. If you want to go sugar-free, try using honey or maple syrup to sweeten your rhubarb sauce, but bear in mind that you may want to add a little more thickener if you do opt to sweeten it that way.

Also – disclaimer – I’ve never made this specific recipe that way (although I’m confident it would work), so please- if you make it using an alternate sweetener, let me know in the comments what you thought! I’d love to hear your review.

If you want more of a sweet sauce, you can taste the recipe and just add sugar to taste. The recipe should thicken about the same, even with the addition of extra sugar.

Can you use green rhubarb for this recipe?

If the rhubarb is ready to harvest, yes! Some rhubarb varieties present as more green, which tastes the same (it just might not be as pretty). If you have green rhubarb but you want a more pink color, try making this recipe with 1/2 rhubarb and 1/2 red raspberries or strawberries, to make the color more red or pink. 

Strawberry rhubarb sauce is a classic favorite, and can be made with exactly the same proportions in this recipe (subbing 1/2 the rhubarb for strawberries as the only difference). 

A note on preserving rhubarb

Rhubarb grows like a weed, and when you have a lot of it in the summertime, you want to take advantage of it.  Now, since most of us don’t need it all at once, it’s usually best to preserve it.  This is probably most simply done by freezing it.

How to freeze rhubarb:

You can freeze rhubarb by pulling up the stalks, cutting off the ends and leaves, washing them, and then cutting them into little 1-inch pieces, as I have done in this post. Once that is done, you can put it into freezer bags or a freezer-safe container to freeze it, pulling it out and using it frozen as you need it (no need to thaw ahead of time). Rhubarb is easy to break up and measure when it’s frozen, so you don’t worry about pre-measuring anything before it goes into the freezer.

How to can rhubarb:

You can can rhubarb pretty easily but cooking it down with a bit of water and then canning it using my Basic Canning Method. You can even prepare this rhubarb sauce recipe and can it while it is hot, which is simple way to save time in the future, especially if you’re baking pies with it!

Can you freeze rhubarb sauce?

Yes, although it will not thaw with the same texture (it will separate), so you will need to re-heat it to bring it back to its former state. Make sure to store frozen rhubarb sauce in an airtight container. 

How to make easy homemade rhubarb sauce

This fruit sauce recipe is made with 4 simple ingredients. It is definitely a favorite way of mine to enjoy the tangy flavor of rhubarb through the summer! 

The process of making it is quite simple (see the recipe card below for exact measurements).

Cook the fruit with water and sugar

The first step is to cook your chopped rhubarb and sugar on medium heat (or medium-high) heat until soft and the sugar dissolves. A little bit of water is used to allow the rhubarb chunks to let off its juices without burning the fruit and sugar. 

Thicken the sauce

Once the rhubarb is cooked, you can thicken the sauce. I use a mixture of cornstarch and water to do this, and it only takes a couple of minutes to get the sauce to thicken.

​Cool

Once the sauce is thick, you can pour it into a separate heat-proof bowl or airtight container to cool. Serve this delicious recipe as a topping for just about any dessert!

You will need:

• Ingredients (see recipe card below)
• Cutting board
• Chef’s knife
• Small heavy bottomed saucepan
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Glass measuring pitcher
• Heat-proof silicone spatula
• Heat-proof glass bowl
• Plastic wrap
• Tea cup and saucer (for photographs)   

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

Rhubarb pairs well with lots of different fruit, but it is always my favourite thing to pair it with sweeter varieties such as strawberries, applies, blueberries, or oranges. Here are a few of my favourite rhubarb pairings you can check out for inspiration:

• Rhubarb Apple Pie
• Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp
• Rhubarb Sour Cream Muffins

That’s all for today! As always, if you make this, leave me a comment or tag me in your photos on Instagram @naomicakesofficial! I’d love to see how you use and enjoy this recipe!

I’ll leave you with this question: What is your favourite way to eat rhubarb?

Back next week!

–Naomi

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