Easy Stewed Rhubarb

Easy Stewed Rhubarb
This 3 ingredient stewed rhubarb is easy to make and is ready in minutes, making it a wonderful last minute dessert. It’s great served over vanilla ice cream, on pancakes or on it’s own!
In my yard I have a very small garden. Out city lot doesn’t see a lot of sun, so growing fruits and vegetables is very challenging, and honestly I haven’t had a tonne of success back there. One plant that has grown really well in my garden though, is rhubarb. In fact, my rhubarb plant is out of control, but in a good way. When I planted it a couple of years ago I wasn’t sure it would even survive in my garden (since not a lot seems to haha). But to my surprise it has completely taken over one section of my planter and this makes me very happy!
Rhubarb is such a nostalgic plant and recipe ingredient for me. Coming from the prairies, and with most of my family rooted in Saskatchewan, rhubarb was a staple ingredient in so many of the recipes I remember from my childhood. So I wanted to continue to have it as a staple in my home as well. And now with my own giant rhubarb plant, I have a lot of plans for it…jam, muffins, pies, loaves. Yum.
So on this rainy day, I put on my rubber boots and headed outside to cut some rhubarb stalks. Rainy days are perfect days for cooking. On the menu today is stewed rhubarb.

I’ve been dreaming all winter about making stewed rhubarb…yes, stewed rhubarb. Trust me, it’s a lot better than it sounds. It’s basically a sweet rhubarb sauce that you eat over ice cream or pancakes or anything you think rhubarb will taste delicious with. It’s great by the spoonful too! 😉 This recipe is actually a really great way to use up the mountains of rhubarb that you might end up with in the spring.

You can serve this stewed rhubarb warm, or not, but I have to say that it’s amazing warm over vanilla bean ice cream. SO good, even my picky 5 year old likes it! Mmmmm, tastes like comfort and sunshine.

This recipe makes about 3 cups, so what ever doesn’t get eaten gets frozen. I just put whatever amount I want into a ziplock bag, and freeze it for another day. It’s great for those times when you need a quick dessert idea.

Doesn’t that look delicious?

Easy Stewed Rhubarb
Ingredients
- 6 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon optional
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the rhubarb, sugar, water and cinnamon.
- Simmer over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until all the sugar has dissolved and the rhubarb has broken down.
- Let cool.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! It’s the perfect spring dessert idea.
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Easy Stewed Rhubarb
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The colour of the cooked rhubarb mostly depends upon the type of rhubarb used – a friend has plants that are called ‘strawberry rhubarb’ and the stalks are as red as can be…beautiful!
I stew rhubarb almost exactly like this except I make it a little less sweet and use alternative sweeteners. The only thing I do differently is that I start the cooking with a few tablespoons of cranberry juice instead of water. It really adds to the aroma, taste and appearance of the sauce. Every year I make rhubarb jam, chutney and pickles. It’s a family favourite for sure!
Having grown up in Saskatoon, rhubarb was a staple in our yard…. love it so much. Cooking a batch right now from my Mum’s garden!
Oh delicious! I hope you enjoy this recipe Kathy…it’s such a favourite of mine!
USB there supposed to be a lot of water in the pot?
Easy to do in the microwave also a handful of berries gives more flavor and color
Wondering if I could can this.
Hi Kari! Absolutely you can!
Making some right now for my mother in assisted living. They have put their house up for sale but it hasnt sold yet. So I went by today and picked some rhubarb for her. Nothing like the tastes of childhood.
That is so lovely Susan, I hope your Mother enjoys it. xo
Make sure you take a bit and plant it to keep your mom’s rhubarb in the family. I now live in Terrace BC and we’ve brought our family rhubarb from Sask to Vancouver then Surrey and now it’s been here for 27years! ?
Delicious and so easy to make. I like the tartness so I used less sugar, but I think the recipe as written is probably the perfect amount for most people.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe Vicki! I like the tartness as well…rhubarb is my favourite!
Thanks so much for this. You answered two questions in one, lol. The 1st being how to stew rhubarb, the 2nd being can I freeze it & you’ve answered both.
We always had stewed rhubard in hot custard. The sharper the better in my opinion, but my Husband is a wuss and needs the sugar ;o)
I remember having it as a child and the acid taking the coating off my teeth brace, lol.
Too funny! Rhubarb really is a strange fruit…so tart but sweet and SO good! I’m glad you found what you were looking for here!
Eek, I’ve run into a complication already.
Cup sizes.
Here is the UK we’re a bit ‘boring’ and use grammes for everything. I thought I would be able to find out how many went into a cup no problem. I didn’t realise you change it for different items. So far I have 227g for butter, 128g for dry goods & 201g for white sugar. (Brown sugar being different again!) How on earth do you cope? You have my sympathy and admiration. And any help you can give me for ‘cup sizes for dummies’ would be appreciated. Thank you.
On the subject of tart fruit. What about the joy of popping a freshly picked gooseberry into your mouth, biting through the crisp skin to the explosion of startlingly sour taste within? Yum.
My beloved husband tells me that I’m overthinking things, that it doesn’t matter what a ‘cup’ weighs. It is the ratio that is important. I hate it when he’s right, lol
Hi Valerie! I apologize for not responding to your comment yesterday! I was going to say the same thing…as long as the ratios are right, your stewed rhubarb should work out perfectly! Let me know how it goes!
I am a bit mathematically challenged and I cannot work out how much sugar and water I would need for 500g rhubarb. Please are you able to help me please?
Sarah
500 g rhubarb is approximately 2 cups. So with that in mind, you should use 1/3 cup sugar and about a tsp or two of water.