Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: This is such an easy recipe, and rhubarb sauce is a nice change from applesauce. Serve it as a simple dessert, or as a topping for pancakes, waffles, or yogurt.

How long it takes: 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sharp knife, saucepan
Servings: 4

Rhubarb sauce in a white dish.
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Fruit or vegetable, rhubarb is making a comeback. Found in many home gardens, a rhubarb plant is the plant that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving. It’s pretty impossible to kill a rhubarb plant — not that you would ever want to!

Rhubarb is a harbinger of spring. Just when we think winter is going to last forever, the snow melts, the ground warms up a bit, and up through the ground, pink knobs of rhubarb emerge. The stalks grow so rapidly, you can literally see the change overnight. Stretching toward the sun, long stalks with gigantic leaves beckon to be made into delicious spring time treats.

Low in calories, rhubarb is high in Vitamin K and fiber. It’s sort of like a spring tonic. Here in Michigan, it’s absolutely the first crop to be harvested in the spring, and it’s always so welcome.

Rhubarb is also known as a pie plant. This classic rhubarb custard pie by The Spruce Eats is just delish, and rhubarb coffee cake from The Best Cake Recipes looks incredible!

My mom always made rhubarb sauce with rhubarb fresh from her garden. It’s so easy and flavorful. Since it’s really quite sour on its own, you need to add a fair amount of sugar to make it palatable. Experiment a little until you find just the right balance of tart/sweet for you. 

Rhubarb sauce in an oval shaped white bowl, with a silver spoon.

How To Make Rhubarb Sauce

Think of rhubarb sauce like applesauce or peach sauce. It’s basically cooked fruit with a little sweetener, in this case, sugar.

Prep the rhubarb. Preparing the stalks to cook is easy. Simply cut off the leaves. Don’t be tempted to eat the leaves because they contain a substance that is toxic when eaten in large quantities. Wash the stalks thoroughly, and chop with a really sharp knife into one inch pieces. 

Cook it on the stove. Put the chopped rhubarb into a large saucepan, add a splash of water (not too much, rhubarb is pretty juicy on its own), and sugar. Cook over medium to low heat until the rhubarb chunks have broken down and formed a nice sauce. 

Make as much as you like. You can double or triple this recipe easily since there are only a couple of ingredients. It just depends on how much rhubarb you’re lucky enough to have. You could also add some strawberries. It’s a very forgiving recipe!

Light red rhubarb sauce in an oval shaped white bowl, with a spoon.

How to serve rhubarb sauce

Serve rhubarb sauce at room temperature or chilled. You can easily make a big bowl of it and keep it in the fridge for a week. It’s ready to eat any time you are.

Eat a bowl of rhubarb sauce for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Serve it as a delicious sauce for pancakes or waffles for breakfast. Stir it into plain yogurt. Top vanilla bean ice cream or pound cake with rhubarb sauce for dessert.

FAQs

Do you peel rhubarb for sauce?

There’s no need to peel rhubarb. Even though it may look kind of stringy, it will all cook down and be perfectly tender and edible.

Can I eat rhubarb raw?

Rhubarb is a vegetable that’s more commonly used as a fruit. You certainly can eat it raw but it is super tart and not very pleasant to just munch on. Add very thin slices to salads for a nice crunch and burst of flavor. Never eat the leaves because they contain a toxic substance.

More Rhubarb Recipes

Storage and Freezing Tips

Refrigerate: Rhubarb sauce can be stored in the fridge in a tightly covered container for up to a week.

Freeze: Rhubarb sauce freezes well. Put into freezer containers and freeze up to 6 months. It’s best thawed overnight in the refrigerator.

How To Freeze Rhubarb

If you have a lot of rhubarb, it’s very easy to freeze. Wash, dry, and cut into small pieces (about one inch). Spread on a sheet pan and freeze for about an hour until frozen. Then, move it to an airtight storage container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months. This method prevents the pieces from sticking together.

Recipe

Rhubarb Sauce

4.80 from 5 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Rhubarb sauce is so easy to make and it's a perfect way to prepare the first fruits of spring (or maybe I should say vegetable!). 
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Ingredients 

  • 4 cups roughly chopped rhubarb (about 1 inch pieces)
  • ½ cup sugar, more to taste
  • ¼ cup water

Instructions 

  • Put all ingredients into a large saucepan. Cook on medium heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until rhubarb chunks are soft and sauce is desired consistency.
    4 cups roughly chopped rhubarb, ½ cup sugar, more to taste, ¼ cup water
  • Taste and adjust sweetness. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Notes

  • Recipe can be easily doubled or tripled depending on how much rhubarb you have.
  • Rhubarb sauce can be refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for up to six months in a freezer safe container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
  • If desired, add a couple drops of red food coloring.
  • For strawberry rhubarb sauce: Substitute 2 cups sliced strawberries for 2 cups of the rhubarb.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup, Calories: 122kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 0.3g, Saturated Fat: 0.1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.05g, Sodium: 6mg, Potassium: 352mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 26g, Vitamin A: 124IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 106mg, Iron: 0.3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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4.80 from 5 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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18 Comments

  1. Amy Baumann says:

    Made your recipe this morning, and put some on my Toast,
    The only changes I made was I used 1/2 cup Stevia & 1/2 cup Sugar, also mixed in 1 T Corn starch dissolved in a scant 1/4 cup warm water. Cooked it on medium for 12 minutes Delicious

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      Glad you enjoyed it!

  2. Amy Baumann says:

    Look forward to making this sauce, love putting it on buttered toast or fresh biscuits. Sometimes I even spread it on freshly made pancakes

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      Yum! All such great uses.

  3. Laura J says:

    5 stars
    Delicious and easy!!

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      So glad you liked it!

  4. Diane says:

    5 stars
    Delicious! Just make it & it’s just like My Mama in-law made it. Going to freezer little containers. Thanks for bringing back memories of Mama.

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      So glad you liked it and it brought back memories – I love that! Thank you for leaving a review!

  5. Dory Smyth says:

    5 stars
    Thank you so much! The sauce is delicious!

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks for leaving a review!

  6. Shirley S says:

    This looks exactly like my mother used make it! Just rhubarb, some sugar and a little water. Making this rhubarb sauce today! Thank you Rachel!

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      I love that! I hope it brought back wonderful memories.

  7. cs3 says:

    Maybe you can’t count so I will do it for you 1) Rhubarb, 2) sugar, 3) water.

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      Thank you for this oh-so-very-helpful comment. I do indeed know how to count. I don’t count a splash of water as an “ingredient” because I assume everyone has that on hand and won’t have to make a trip to the store for it. I do hope you have a great day and that you find a way to spread kindness instead of negativity. Life is too short!

  8. Christa says:

    wow i haven’t had this in years. Sure glad i found this recipe

    1. Rachel Gurk says:

      Enjoy!

  9. Rachel says:

    Yum, my mom makes great rhubarb pie too. I actually just eat this cold with a spoon. I imagine it would probably be good over ice cream or even vanilla yogurt, but I've never tried that.

  10. Mary Franks says:

    I love rhubarb pie, my gram makes it. What do you do with the sauce? :-)