Rhubarb Sauce Recipe

A spoon pouring rhubarb sauce over a serving of vanilla ice cream.

This Rhubarb Sauce Recipe is a 3-ingredient condiment, perfect for sweet and savory food. It has an amazing balance of sweet and tart that’s achieved in 20 minutes or less.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Servings: Servings

Calories: 55kcal

Author: Karin and Ken

Ingredients

4 cups rhubarb ½-inch pieces
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
Red food coloring Optional

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Continue stirring, preventing from it burning.
Rhubarb will begin to soften. Gently smash the rhubarb until it forms a sauce.
This will take about 12-15 minutes.
If the sauce is a bit too thick, you can add a little bit more water.
Also, if you prefer a sweeter sauce, add a bit more sugar

Notes

Try it in the slow cooker! I add all the ingredients for this rhubarb sauce to my slow cooker and let it cook on high for 2–3 hours or low for 4–6 hours. Once the rhubarb is nice and soft, I mash everything together and let it cool before serving or storing it.
I keep a spoon handy to stir continuously because this sauce has a short window between perfectly done and scorching. If you stir it often, it won’t burn on the bottom of the pot.
Fresh rhubarb you find after July is usually late season, and the stalks tend to have tough, fibrous strings. They don’t break down as easily when cooking, so I recommend peeling them with a vegetable peeler before making your rhubarb sauce.

Nutrition