Homemade Rhubarb Sauce with 3 Options for Sweetening

One of the delights of spring is rhubarb, right? We would harvest a stalk or two from a neighbor’s yard as children, sprinkle it with sugar, and nibble away. The combination of sweet and tart was a treat for our tastebuds.

We have a large, healthy patch of rhubarb. A friend kept asking me last year why I never harvest my rhubarb. Are you kidding? I take and take and it just keeps giving and giving.

My second favorite way to prepare it is to turn it into homemade rhubarb sauce. My first is homemade rhubarb ice cream! We love the rhubarb sauce on yogurt, and I freeze jars of it to have throughout the year. A half cup added to pancake batter is a great way to enjoy it, as is any way that you would serve applesauce.

Unlike apples, rhubarb is just too tart to make an unsweetened sauce. I’ve sweetened it with organic cane sugar, maple syrup, and raw honey, all with success.

The maple taste of the syrup didn’t overpower the rhubarb sauce at all. I only use honey in recipes where it stays raw and I figured out a way to do that with my homemade rhubarb sauce. I’ve included all the options below.

See this article for information on why you want to keep your honey raw – it also contains lots of recipes that use raw honey.

Homemade Rhubarb Sauce with Organic Cane Sugar

4 cups sliced rhubarb stalks
3/4 – 1 cup organic cane sugar
1 tablespoon water

Combine rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 15 – 20 minutes until the rhubarb is soft. Puree in a blender. Yields about 3 cups rhubarb sauce. Refrigerate or freeze. To can: Ladle hot rhubarb sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust lids, and process 15 minutes in a water bath canner.

Homemade Rhubarb Sauce with Maple Syrup

4 cups sliced rhubarb stalks
3/4 – 1 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon water

Combine rhubarb, maple syrup and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 20 – 30 minutes until the rhubarb is soft. Puree in a blender. (Because you are using a liquid sweetener, the cooking time is longer than with sugar). Yields about 3 cups rhubarb sauce. Refrigerate or freeze. To can: Ladle hot rhubarb sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust lids, and process 15 minutes in a water bath canner.

Homemade Rhubarb Sauce with Raw Honey

4 cups sliced rhubarb stalks
1 tablespoon water
3/4 – 1 cup raw honey

Combine the water and rhubarb in a saucepan. Do not add the honey at this point. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 15 – 20 minutes until the rhubarb is soft. Puree in a blender. Add the rhubarb sauce back to the pan and continuing cooking until thicker than applesauce. Cool until it is warm (cool enough to eat without burning your mouth). Now add your raw honey. This will bring the rhubarb sauce back to a normal consistency, and you’ve kept your honey raw. Yields about 3 cups rhubarb sauce. Refrigerate or freeze. Canning not recommended.