Rhubarb Sauce is the recipe that Maria makes every single spring the moment the first pink knobs of rhubarb push through the ground in her garden and she wants to do something genuinely beautiful and completely effortless with that very first harvest. She chops the bright stalks into one-inch pieces, tosses them into a saucepan with a splash of water and just enough sugar to create the most perfectly balanced sweet-tart harmony, and cooks everything over medium heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb has completely broken down into the most gorgeously vibrant and deeply fragrant pink sauce that smells exactly like the most warm and completely welcome spring afternoon.
The result is the most versatile and deeply satisfying sauce imaginable that can be spooned over pancakes, stirred into yogurt, poured over vanilla ice cream, or simply eaten by the spoonful with the most unashamed and completely justified directness.
Rhubarb Sauce is the most easy and beautifully versatile three-ingredient spring sauce made by cooking fresh chopped rhubarb with granulated sugar and water over medium heat until completely soft and broken down into the most vibrant and deeply tart-sweet sauce perfect for pancakes ice cream yogurt and so much more. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful rhubarb recipes and easy spring favorites from our kitchen every single week.
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Why You Will Love This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
This Rhubarb Sauce recipe is the spring kitchen staple that every person who loves rhubarb needs in their repertoire because it is so completely effortless to make, requires only three ingredients that are always on hand, and produces a sauce so genuinely versatile that it transforms an astonishing variety of ordinary breakfasts, desserts, and snacks into something far more special and deeply satisfying through the most uniquely bright and pleasantly tart rhubarb flavor that no other seasonal fruit can replicate.
Making rhubarb sauce rather than a jam or compote is also the most practical and most immediately rewarding approach to preserving rhubarb because it requires no canning equipment, no special technique, and the entire process from washing the rhubarb to tasting the finished sauce takes fewer than thirty minutes. Our Rhubarb Dream Bars make a beautifully equally rhubarb-forward and equally spring-vibrant companion for a complete and wonderful rhubarb recipe collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
- 4 cups Fresh Rhubarb, roughly chopped into approximately 1-inch pieces
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar, plus more to taste
- ¼ cup Water
How to Make This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Trim and discard the rhubarb leaves entirely as they contain a toxic substance and must never be used. Wash the stalks thoroughly under cold running water. Chop the cleaned stalks into roughly 1-inch pieces using a sharp knife.
Add all three ingredients — the chopped rhubarb, granulated sugar, and water — together into a large saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until the rhubarb chunks have completely broken down and formed the most beautiful sauce of the desired consistency.
Taste the sauce and adjust the sweetness by adding more granulated sugar a tablespoon at a time, stirring to dissolve completely, until the most perfectly balanced sweet-tart flavor for your preference is achieved, cara mia. Some prefer a very tart sauce. Others prefer more sweetness. Both are completely correct.
Serve the rhubarb sauce warm, at room temperature, or chilled. For an optional smooth texture, blend briefly with an immersion blender or transfer to a countertop blender. A chunky sauce is equally beautiful and equally delicious.
How to Serve This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Serve warm over a stack of the most beautifully golden buttermilk pancakes or over crisp waffles as the most completely extraordinary and genuinely seasonal spring breakfast sauce that makes every person at the table ask about it immediately.
Spoon generously over a bowl of plain vanilla ice cream for the most effortlessly impressive and deeply satisfying spring dessert that requires no additional preparation beyond making the sauce itself. Stir into plain yogurt or oatmeal for the most fragrant and beautifully flavored spring breakfast. Drizzle over a slice of pound cake or vanilla cheesecake for the most completely elegant and seasonally vibrant dessert sauce. Our Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream makes a beautifully equally rhubarb-vibrant and equally spring-perfect companion for a complete and wonderful rhubarb dessert collection.
How to Store This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The sauce keeps beautifully and is ready to enjoy at any moment throughout the week over any breakfast or dessert it complements.
Freeze rhubarb sauce in freezer-safe containers for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator for the most gentle and most texturally preserving thawing experience. To freeze the rhubarb itself before making sauce, wash, dry, and cut into 1-inch pieces, spread on a sheet pan, freeze for 1 hour until solid, then transfer to airtight freezer bags for up to 6 months.
Tips to Make This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Add only a small splash of water to the saucepan initially. Rhubarb is composed of approximately 97% water and releases an extraordinary amount of liquid during cooking, meaning additional water is rarely needed beyond the initial quarter cup specified. Too much water produces a thin and watery sauce rather than the most beautifully thick and concentrated result.
Start with the specified half cup of sugar and taste after the rhubarb has fully broken down before adding more. The natural tartness of rhubarb varies significantly between varieties and even between individual plants in different seasons, meaning the sugar quantity that produces the most perfectly balanced sauce requires tasting and adjusting rather than fixed measurement.
Helpful Notes for This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Red-stalked rhubarb varieties produce the most vibrant and beautifully deep pink finished sauce. If the rhubarb available is predominantly green-stalked, a couple of drops of red food coloring can be added at the end of cooking to produce the most visually appealing and deeply pink presentation without affecting the flavor at all.
The most beautiful strawberry rhubarb sauce variation requires only substituting 2 cups of sliced fresh strawberries for 2 cups of the rhubarb in exactly the same quantity and preparation method. The strawberries add natural sweetness and the most gorgeous deep red color to the finished sauce.
Variation of This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Maria made a version adding a cinnamon stick to the saucepan alongside the rhubarb and sugar for the most warmly spiced and deeply fragrant cinnamon rhubarb sauce that was completely extraordinary over vanilla ice cream. Teresa tried stirring a tablespoon of freshly grated orange zest through the finished sauce for the most bright and fragrant orange rhubarb sauce that was deeply beautiful.
For a ginger rhubarb sauce version, add a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger to the saucepan with the rhubarb for the most warmly spiced and vibrant ginger rhubarb sauce that is completely extraordinary over pancakes and waffles. Our Rhubarb Lemon Pie makes a beautifully equally tangy and equally spring-vibrant companion for a complete and wonderful rhubarb collection.
FAQs About This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe
Do I need to peel rhubarb before making sauce?
No, there is no need to peel rhubarb before making sauce. The stringy exterior of rhubarb stalks, while it may look similar to celery, completely breaks down and becomes perfectly tender during the cooking process. Simply wash the stalks thoroughly and chop into pieces without any peeling required.
Can I use frozen rhubarb to make rhubarb sauce?
Yes, frozen rhubarb works beautifully in rhubarb sauce and does not even need to be thawed before adding to the saucepan. Simply add the still-frozen pieces directly and cook as directed. Frozen rhubarb may require a slightly longer cooking time to fully break down and may produce a slightly thinner sauce due to the additional moisture released during thawing in the pan.
How do I make the sauce sweeter without adding too much sugar?
Add the sugar gradually in tablespoon increments after the rhubarb has cooked down and taste between each addition. Alternatively, combine the rhubarb with 2 cups of sliced fresh strawberries which add natural sweetness and reduce the overall sugar required while producing the most beautiful and deeply flavorful strawberry rhubarb sauce.
Conclusion
This Rhubarb Sauce is the most completely easy and genuinely beautiful spring seasonal sauce that makes every breakfast and every dessert and every ordinary yogurt or bowl of oatmeal feel genuinely and completely special through the most vibrant and deeply tart-sweet rhubarb flavor that is so uniquely spring and so completely irresistible in every single spooned and deeply satisfying serving. We hope it brings the same deeply joyful spring warmth and the same completely satisfied table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa
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Rhubarb Sauce The Most Easy 3 Ingredient Sweet Tart Spring Sauce You Will Make
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings approximately 2 cups 1x
Description
The most easy and versatile Rhubarb Sauce made with only 3 ingredients by combining 4 cups roughly chopped fresh rhubarb with 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water in a large saucepan cooking over medium heat stirring frequently for 15 to 20 minutes until completely broken down and sauce-like tasting and adjusting sweetness then serving warm at room temperature or chilled over pancakes ice cream yogurt pound cake or by the spoonful. A completely perfect 3-ingredient spring rhubarb sauce recipe.
Ingredients
4 cups Fresh Rhubarb roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar plus more to taste
1/4 cup Water
Instructions
1. Trim and discard rhubarb leaves entirely. Wash stalks thoroughly. Chop into roughly 1-inch pieces.
2. Add chopped rhubarb, sugar, and water to large saucepan.
3. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently 15 to 20 minutes until completely broken down and sauce-like.
4. Taste and adjust sweetness adding more sugar 1 tbsp at a time as desired.
5. Serve warm at room temperature or chilled.
6. Optionally blend briefly with immersion blender for smooth texture.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sauce, Condiment, Spring
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 122
- Sugar: 26g
- Sodium: 6mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: rhubarb sauce, easy 3 ingredient rhubarb sauce recipe, simple sweet tart rhubarb sauce spring, best rhubarb sauce for pancakes ice cream yogurt
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