Last Updated on February 16, 2024
Ready for some of the best healthy rhubarb recipes on the interwebs? No idea what rhubarb is or what to use rhubarb for? Here’s why to get to know this terrific plant, which can be used in soooooo many delicious recipes with rhubarb all season long. Find out how to cook rhubarb with some of these mouth-watering uses for rhubarb.
If you’re not familiar with this veggie that’s used like a fruit, you will be by the end of this post, one of the most viewed on HealthyGreenSavvy.
Here’s why I grow FIVE SEVEN rhubarb plants in our tiny urban lot and why you may want to get to know this cool seasonal vegetable. Plus more than 40 of the best healthy rhubarb recipes from around the blogosphere!
What is Rhubarb, Anyway?
Rhubarb is a giant perennial vegetable (a relative of buckwheat) that thrives in a range of climates. It has big beautiful leaves that, by the way, are poisonous, containing toxic amounts of oxalic acid. What we eat are the (not poisonous) stalks, which are notoriously sour. Here’s more on poisonous rhubarb leaves and what you can do with them since you won’t be using them in rhubarb recipes!
Sour grass (also known as wood sorrel or oxalis, so named because of its oxalic acid content), like many other vegetables and other foods you eat often, also contains oxalic acid. Moderate amounts are fine for most people, though people with kidney conditions, gout, or arthritis are sometimes advised to limit their consumption of oxalic acid.
Though technically a vegetable, rhubarb’s sourness means it’s mostly used with copious amounts of sweetener that work against its healthy nutritional profile. But working a veggie into a healthied-up quick bread recipe is still a good move.
1 cup of fresh, unsweetened rhubarb (about 2 medium stalks) has only 25 calories and is a good source of potassium, which many of us are deficient in. It also has an array of vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols to support your health. (source)
Just go easy on the sugar, k? (Here’s how muchsugar per day experts advise.)
How to Use Rhubarb (& Why You’d Want to)
Rhubarb was not really on my radar until I attended a workshop on dehydrating food,where Mary T. Bell, author of several books on the subject, passed around samples of something she called “rhubarb lace,” a fruit leather made from rhubarb.
It was A-M-AAAAAA-ZING.Before that I had no idea you could even make your own fruit leather, never mind one from a peculiar seasonal vegetable.
Rhubarb leather is the reason I grow rhubarb, hands-down the number one use for rhubarb in our house. After that workshop, I sought out rhubarb divisions and started growing it everywhere I could in our not-so-big yard.
Rhubarb leather is absolutely delicious and takes the place of candy as a special sweet treat for my kiddos and me. I’ve simplified Bell’s recipe a little over the years and reduced the amount of added sugar (as well as strawberry-flavored jello, which you totally don’t need, and absolutely don’t want in your healthy treats!)
Check out the easy recipe for homemade fruit leather made from rhubarb, and I bet it’ll soon become one of your top uses for rhubarb also!
In my opinion, rhubarb leather is reason enough to grow huge quantities of rhubarb, but there are plenty more ways to use rhubarb if you’re not convinced! If I could send you a taste of our rhubarb leather through this screen, though, I know you would be a convert as well.
Since I now have such an abundance of rhubarb, I’ve had the pleasure of trying it in numerous other relatively healthy rhubarb recipes. Some of my favorite uses for rhubarb are included below.
Because in some climates they’re ripe around the same time, rhubarb and strawberries are often paired, so you can also make strawberry-rhubarb sauces, breads, or crisps. I prefer to devour my strawberries plain, so they don’t make it into our baked goods, and the rhubarb’s great on its own.
–> Note that if you want to use rhubarb all summer long, you need to pick your plants somewhat regularly or the stalks will get tough.
Ways to Use Rhubarb
If you’re making recipes with rhubarb, cooking and blending the sauce will make tougher stalks usable, but they’ll have more stringiness than when you cook more tender stalks. I’d test out rhubarb late in the season if the plant hasn’t been picked regularly before serving your favorite rhubarb recipes to guests!
Extend the season for enjoying these yummy rhubarb recipes by freezing cut rhubarb chunks, which can be used in baked goods or cooked for rhubarb sauce or leather any time of year. We harvest a lot of rhubarb early on and pop much of it in the freezer for later use.
Here’s the lowdown on the simplestfood preservation methods to help preserve your rhubarb harvest. Note that if you’re using frozen rhubarb in one of these rhubarb recipes, you need to measure it before thawing as it loses a lot of liquid once it thaws. Here’s what to know about freezing rhubarb so you have the best-tasting rhubarb to use in these rhubarb recipes.
You can also can cooked rhubarb. Here are instructions for canning stewed rhubarb from Homespun Seasonal Living.
Canning, freezing, or dehydrating rhubarb will help you enjoy this eating seasonallyall year long.
Amazing Uses for Rhubarb: Delicious & Healthy Recipes with Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a great replacement for or addition to berries in healthy quick-breads or muffins (recipes pretty much interchangeable), and makes delicious rhubarb crisps and crumbles perfect forearly summer potlucks. Here’s my nearly fail-proof easy rhubarb crisp recipe. SO good!!
If you have a sour tooth, rhubarb is very tasty diced fresh with just a light sprinkling of sugar.
The sauce used in the leather recipe can also be eaten like apple sauce or as an ice cream topping. It’s really delicious and surprisingly addictive. Try rhubarb sauce over pancakes or swirled into some homemade yogurt.
Some folks even make homemade barbecue sauces and drinks, both alcoholic and otherwise, with rhubarb. Check out the healthy rhubarb recipes below for some incredible ideas for using this wonderful seasonal veggie.
Grow or Buy Your Rhubarb?
Growing rhubarb is *really* easy, will save you quite a bit over buying, and keep you in rhubarb for all these fantastic rhubarb recipes. Plus rhubarb is a gorgeous addition to your garden.
You can buy rhubarb at farmers’ markets and grocery stores, but it’s so easy to grow rhubarb, I can’t imagine paying for it. Here’show to grow rhubarbin your garden.
It’s a readily divided perennial, so you might find a friend with one they’ll share with you so you don’t even need to buy the plant. Read more on how to getplantsfree in this post.
I started with just a couple little divisions from another gardener, and now I have seven giant bushy plants filled with big stalks ready for all our favorite rhubarb recipes, and for sharing with other gardeners!
If you don’t want to grow it yourself, one of your neighbors likely has enough rhubarb to spare for a crisp. Not everyone goes as nuts over rhubarb as I do. Yet. Seriously, try the rhubarb leather and you’ll be a convert, too!
If you keep picking it all summer, it shouldn’t get tough. Test out what you’ve got if you’re over a month into summer weather and your plant hasn’t been picked consistently.
Note that if you’re dealing with a shadier garden, rhubarb is one of the more than 40 vegetables that grow in shade!
Ready to dive into some luscious yet healthy rhubarb recipes? Here are some of the best healthy recipes with rhubarb to get you started!
Healthy Rhubarb Recipes: Use Rhubarb in Drinks
Rhubarb’s tartness makes it unbelievably refreshing in cool summer drinks, one of the many excellent uses for rhubarb. Best of all, you can get rhubarb juice and cooked rhubarb from the same stalks. Who doesn’t love 2 for the price of 1?
Honey Rhubarb Water Kefir Soda (Raising Generation Nourished)
Refreshing Rhubarb Slush(HealthyGreenSavvy)
Fermented Strawberry Rhubarb Soda (Learning and Yearning)
Rhubarb and Honey Soda (And Here We Are)
2-Ingredient Rhubarb Juice (HealthyGreenSavvy)
Rhubarb Mead (Practical Self-Reliance)
Rhubarb Cherry Wine (Common Sense Home)
Homemade Rhubarb Wine (Practical Self-Reliance)
2 Ingredient Instant Pot Rhubarb Juice (All the Nourishing Things)
Rhubarbade(Common Sense Home)
Healthy Rhubarb Recipes:Savory Rhubarb Dishes
While most people are familiar with uses for rhubarb that involve a good deal of sugar, rhubarb can be used in some lovely savory recipes as well.
Carrot Rhubarb Soup (Tasting Page)
Rhubarb Vinaigrette (Dinner with Julie)
Spiced Rhubarb Chutney (This is So Good)
Rhubarb Apricot Chutney (Perfect Pantry)
Rhubarb Salsa (Traditional Cooking School)
Fermented Rhubarb (Fermentools)
Healthy Rhubarb Recipes: Use Rhubarb in Muffins and Breads
Tart rhubarb chunks are a natural for all sorts of tasty muffins and quickbreads. Try these nourishing recipes and find more favorites ways to use rhubarb.
Rhubarb Orange Quickbread(Strength and Sunshine)
Gluten Free Dairy Free Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins (Just Take a Bite)
Rhubarb Honey Cobbler (Eat Beautiful)
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble, Honey Sweetened & Gluten-Free(Common Sense Home)
Grain-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler (Recipes to Nourish)
Rhubarb Banana Bread (Kim’s Cravings)
Raspberry Rhubarb Bread (Eating Well)
Vanilla Rhubarb Yogurt Blue Cornbread (Strength and Sunshine)
Healthy Rhubarb Recipes: Sauces & Breakfasts
Rhubarb doesn’t have to be dessert! Try these yummy sauces and breakfast ideas for rhubarb.
Rhubarb Compote (Tasting Page)
Rhubarb Sauce (HealthyGreenSavvy)
Strawberry Rhubarb Butter (Grow Cook Forage Ferment)
Rhubarb Apple Sauce (Just Take a Bite)
Homemade Rhubarb Sauce (Learning and Yearning)
Rhubarb Chia Jam (Cookie and Kate)
Honey Rhubarb Granola(Raising Generation Nourished)
Rhubarb Quinoa Breakfast Porridge (Just Take a Bite)
Healthy Rhubarb Recipes: Use Rhubarb in Luscious Desserts!
If all you’ve ever had rhubarb in is pie, be sure to try some of these other creative ways to use rhubarb in delicious desserts.
Paleo Instant Pot Strawberry Rhubarb Custard (All the Nourishing Things)
Strawberry Rhubarb Creamsicles(Raising Generation Nourished)
Cherry Rhubarb Jello (Just Take a Bite)
Rhubarb Sorbet (Paleo Hacks)
No Churn Honey Rhubarb Ice Cream(Raising Generation Nourished)
Rhubarb Pecan Ice Cream(Just Take a Bite)
Rhubarb Gelato (Food 52)
Traditional Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Maple Cream (Butter for All)
Rhubarb Upside Down Cake(Adamant Kitchen)
Strawberry Rhubarb Yogurt Cake (Sassy Kitchen)
Need more inspiring uses for rhubarb? Here are a gazillion from some pinners who also love rhubarb!
I ran a search including the word “healthy” but I don’t think everything there qualifies. Try substituting whole grain flours where you can, use butter or coconut oil instead of margarine or canola, and be as sparing as you can with the sweeteners. You can also try subbing in some apple sauce so you can cut down on sugar.
What are your favorite uses for rhubarb? Share your favorite healthy rhubarb recipes in the comments!
Pin to save these amazing uses for rhubarb for next time you have rhubarb on hand!
Find more inspiring ideas for healthy food, gardening, and natural remedies from across the blogosphere: Follow on Pinterest to see all my awesome discoveries!
Growing some of your own food is just one strategy for eating healthy on a budget. Find lots more in my e-book, The Savvy Guide to Eating Healthy on a Budget.
Additional uses for rhubarb photo credits: Jeremy Keith, stu_spivack, Whitney,Katherine, Meal Makeover Momsvia Flickr
Susannah
Susannah is a proud garden geek and energy nerd who loves healthy food and natural remedies. Her work has appeared in Mother Earth Living, Ensia, Northern Gardener, Sierra, and on numerous websites. Her first book, Everything Elderberry, released in September 2020 and has been a #1 new release in holistic medicine, naturopathy, herb gardening, and other categories. Find out more and grab your copy here.
