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Rhubarb Sauce

fresh rhubarb sauce over vanilla ice cream in a bowl
Photo Credit
Shutterstock
The Editors
Category
Sauces
Course
Other
Credit
Stella Van Vloten, North Easton, Massachusetts
Sources
Recipes with a History
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This old-fashioned rhubarb sauce is wonderful when spread on toast or English muffins, but it’s just as good drizzled on ice cream or yellow cake. Importantly, it’s an easy way to use and freeze rhubarb.

“I remember so well the time in the early 1920s spent with my aunt and two cousins in Salem Depot, New Hampshire, every summer. My aunt was a wonderful cook, and one of the things I remember most is the rhubarb sauce she made. After I was married in 1936, she gave me her recipe for “Rhubarb Sauce.” I have shared it with many friends, and everyone agrees: Follow the recipe to a T, and you will have the most delicious rhubarb sauce you have ever tasted.” 
—Stella Van Vloten, North Easton, Massachusetts

A few notes:

  • There are many varieties of rhubarb, and Victoria Cherry Rhubarb is one of the best, with deep red stalks.
  • You can try the recipe with less sugar or substitute an artificial sweetener if you wish, but we like the original recipe. 
  • If you over-sweeten your rhubarb you can counteract it by adding 1/2 tsp or more citric acid.
  • Some people used to enjoy rhubarb sauce, much like applesauce! You can add nutmeg to the top if you like.
  • You can store it in the freezer if you wish, and it’s convenient to have it on hand for unexpected coffee guests.
  • Otherwise, keep the rhubarb sauce in the fridge. It won’t last long!

For more rhubarb dishes, see our Best Rhubarb Recipes!

Ingredients
2 cups water
2 even cups sugar
3 pounds rhubarb cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
  1. Make a syrup with the water and sugar. Boil together a few minutes.
  2. Add rhubarb to syrup. Then, when it starts boiling in the center, watch closely and let boil just 1 minute.
  3. Now here is the trick that makes ordinary rhubarb sauce a Sauce Deluxe: Pour into a bowl or pan with a tight cover. Leave tightly covered until cold, and you will find a sauce very different from any you have ever eaten.
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The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

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Comments

D'aun Miles (not verified)

1 year 6 months ago

I would love to preserve this sauce. I think it would can well. Anyone tried?

Hi, D’aun. There is a note below from “Nancy” saying that she did successfully can this sauce. Make sure to always follow proper guidelines for food safety when canning. Here is a great article with lots of information on canning: How To Can Food At Home.

Mary C Colwell (not verified)

1 year 6 months ago

My great grandmother had a rhubarb plant that she divided and gave to my mom when my parents married. Mom is now 90 years old, & that rhubarb plant still delivers!

Anita Van Vloten (not verified)

1 year 8 months ago

My mother (Stella Van Vloten) was thrilled when Yankee first published this recipe (around 1996, I believe). It was also included in a cookbook published by Dave Maynard even earlier than that. She passed away in 1999, but I know that she is smiling down from above each spring when this recipe reappears in one of Yankee's publications! I still have her handwritten recipe notebook that includes this recipe from my Great-Aunt Selma. I wish I had children to bequeath this treasury of old recipes to when I'm gone. Thanks for publishing it once again - giving my mother credit for it, and making this old lady smile.

Nancy (not verified)

3 years 6 months ago

I made this rhubarb sauce. And I canned it. First, I followed the recipe exactly. I had 4 1/2 lbs of rhubarb so I adjusted the ingredients. It took hours for this batch to cool. I had to add some instant tapioca to thicken it to a consistency we like and I added more sugar. I reheated the sauce and put into hot 1/2 pint jars and used my water bath canner. I got 16 jars.

Marge Kosch (not verified)

7 years 7 months ago

My Mom made the exact same rhubarb sauce. Her rhubarb pies I miss the pie. Delicious no strawberries just rhubarb.