Simple, Three Ingredient, Rhubarb Sauce
This simple rhubarb sauce is sweet, tart, and perfect for topping ice cream or stirring into yogurt. With only 3 ingredients, it is also low in sugar (or sugar-free), and a fun way to celebrate spring!
Rhubarb Sauce Over Ice Cream
I’ve been cooking with rhubarb a lot lately. My garden is producing like crazy and it’s so much fun to stroll into your backyard for dessert!
Even better, I just acquired the easiest rhubarb recipe EVER, courtesy of my delightful and talented book club! It’s a simple rhubarb sauce that our hostess served over ice cream–and which my health-conscious middle daughter simply stirred into yogurt.
Rhubarb Sauce Sundaes
When we dipped in at book club, everyone raved about the sauce, and my family was equally impressed. In fact, the entire batch disappeared over Memorial Day weekend without ever actually getting served! Yes, this year I got no complaints at all from hungry kids about “nothing to snack on!”
In doing research for this post, I found similar recipes all over the internet. But most of them use a lot more sugar, which (as two groups of happy tasters proved) isn’t at all necessary. And it’s delicious made with maple syrup, in case you are eating local or doing one of the many no-sugar diets around. And you can even take this sugar-free by substituting a sweetener–I like allulose for sauces and syrups, since it has less tendency to crystalize.
Closeup
Since we have been eating so much rhubarb lately, I decided to look up the health value and share it with you. Per Self Nutrition Data, rhubarb “is low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Potassium and Manganese.” Yes!
Rhubarb does contain oxalic acid which can be a problem in large quantities and is why the toxic leaves, roots and flowers are avoided and just the stems used.
Mmmm!
Of course, I am not the only big rhubarb fan around. I always remember reading its praise in Barbara Kingsolver’s local eating saga Animal Vegetable Miracle. If I recall, it was an early North Carolina spring when Barbara set out to the farmer’s market. Her daughter had written a hopeful, “fruit??” on the shopping list and Barbara was decidedly not hopeful. But ultimately rhubarb fit the bill, to everyone’s delight.
It’s a sentiment I totally understand!
Welcome spring!
More Tasty Rhubarb Recipes
Rhubarb Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar or maple syrup or sweetener (see note)
- 1/4 cup water
- 6 cups rhubarb chopped--1 inch pieces rhubarb stems
Instructions
- Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved.
- Add rhubarb and continue cooking until it has broken down and sauce is thickened.
- Serve over ice cream or pound cake, or stir into yogurt.
i’ve never seen rhubarb used in this way! nice balance for sweet ice cream. 🙂
Can you Can rhubarb sauce with maple syrup in it?
I found this post https://ask2.extension.org/kb/faq.php?id=331404 which says that you can use maple syrup or sugar interchangeably in canning syrup recipes. It can change the gel in jam or jelly but that isn’t as much of an issue in syrup. If you are newer to canning, you might enjoy this booklet I found on berry syrup https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2079/2014/04/FS238E.pdf Now I’m thinking I should can some syrup thiis year!
I would go for the maple syrup option for sure. I wanted to plant rhubarb in my garden but I have dogs so cannot. It is highly poisonous to them and my Boxer likes to sample everything I plant 🙂
This reminds me of the rhubarb sauce I ate frequently as a kid. My mom seemed to always be making a batch. I miss making rhubarb desserts this time of year. It’s not available in a South Florida 🙁
You should bring some back when you visit!
I’ve never had rhubarb sauce, but it sounds so good! I could almost taste how it would enhance my ho-hum yogurt. I’m glad that this version has less sugar than others out there!
I always think that commercial yogurts are too sweet and prefer my own add-ins too Thao!
Really delicious !
Thanks Gloria!
The color is pretty and it must be as good as it looks since it disappeared so quickly.
Thanks Karen. Yes, I really do need to make another batch!
When Mark and I grew rhubarb in Maine, we made a compote similar to this and served it over blancmange… and even once with grilled quail! Lovely photos, Inger – love the pink hand towel and how it just makes me think, “Spring!”
You know it didn’t even cross my mind to serve it with something savory like meat. Thanks for the suggestion!