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    » Home » Recipes » Spring Fruit Recipes » Rhubarb Sauce

    Rhubarb Sauce

    Posted: May 24, 2018 · Updated: Oct 19, 2020 by Jenny McGruther · This site earns income from ads, affiliate links, and sponsorships.

    At its simplest, rhubarb sauce only needs three ingredients (rhubarb, a sweetener, and water) and a pot in which to stew them all together until the rhubarb loses its crispness and softens.  The splash of water prevents the rhubarb from burning before it begins to release its juices.

    Jump to Recipe

    Rhubarb sauce over yogurt in a white bowl garnished by sliced almonds

    If you have a little more time on your hands, or want to experiment with flavors, adding vanilla bean, citrus, ginger, or even cardamom can enhance the flavor of the sauce, giving it a more balanced, complex flavor.  In this recipe, I've used honey, lemon (zest and juice) and vanilla beans because it makes for a sauce that is at once simple in flavor enough to be versatile and complex enough to delight.

    Simmer the rhubarb about ten minutes, or until those tough and crisp stalks finally yield to the heat of the pot and soften.  You can leave the sauce as it is, or, blend it as I do with an immersion blender until it's velvety smooth.  The sauce will thicken ever so slightly as it cools.  And you can eat it right away, store it in the fridge up to two weeks, in the freezer for several months or can it, if you like.

    How to Use Rhubarb Sauce

    Rhubarb sauce, like all fruit sauces, is versatile.  You can serve it on its own as you might serve applesauce: warmed up with a spoonful of cream.  Or serve it stirred into custard, over homemade yogurt, drizzled over vanilla bean ice cream, or spooned onto sourdough pancakes.  You can also use it in savory dishes too, as a balance to roasted pork or grilled duck.

    2 quarts

    Rhubarb Sauce Recipe

    Pie is delicious, cake is wonderful, but rhubarb sauce is easy. When you're battling a mountain for rhubarb, you can make a simple sauce with little effort and a lot of reward.
    Prep Time5 minutes mins
    Cook Time15 minutes mins
    Total Time20 minutes mins
    Print Save RecipeSaved! Click to Remove Ads

    Ingredients

    • 2 pounds rhubarb chopped into 1-inch pieces
    • ½ cup water
    • ⅔ cup honey
    • Pinch finely ground real salt
    • 1 lemon juiced with rind finely grated
    • 1 vanilla bean

    Instructions

    • Toss the rhubarb, water, honey, salt, lemon juice and rind into a heavy, medium-sized saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape its seeds into the pot, and drop in the spent pod.
    • Bring the contents of the pot to a simmer over medium-high heat, and continue simmering the rhubarb until it melts, losing its form and breaking down. When completely softened, puree the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth. Transfer to jars.
    • The sauce will stay fresh in the fridge up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 6 months. You can also can this sauce as well.
    Rate this recipe!If you loved this recipe, give it a rating. Let us know what works, what didn't and whether you made any adjustments that can help other cooks.
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