Rhubarb puree screams spring! Rhubarb kicks off the gardening season for us so that first harvest is super special. I think you’ll love it and you will be searching for ways to use this delicious sauce!

How do you make rhubarb puree?

Gather your rhubarb

I love to grow rhubarb in my garden! It’s one of the first things that pops its head through the ground in the spring and it’s always the very first thing we harvest in April or May. It makes me feel like my garden is producing something already!

If you are harvesting from your garden, just pull gently but firmly on the lower part of the rhubarb stalk. It comes right out of the ground! Alternately, you can cut off the bottom part of the stalk, but I feel like the first method preserves more of the rhubarb.

Once you harvest it, make sure to cut the leaves off and discard them right away. They are poisonous to humans and animals, so you’ll want to get rid of those.

If you have more rhubarb in your garden than you know what to do with, you should try making my rhubarb crisp without oats! I also need to get my rhubarb jam onto the blog. It’s so good and doesn’t require any pectin! It’s good old fashioned jam!

If you don’t have your own rhubarb and can’t get it from a friend, you can usually find it in the grocery store or the farmers market.

Wash and chop rhubarb

I usually wash my rhubarb using Trader Joe’s fruit and vegetable wash. Then I rinse it and store it in the refrigerator. For some reason, when stored in the fridge, it sometimes splits like this. That’s fine! Just chop it up like normal! Chop up about 4 heaping cups of rhubarb into 1/2″ chunks.

Throw everything in a pot

Add the chopped rhubarb and 1/2c – 1c. brown sugar into a pot. You can add as much or as little sugar as you’d like. If you prefer it on the tart side, go more toward 1/2c. If you like it sweeter, you can add more like 1c.

I always err on the side of tart. I figure I can taste it as it is breaking down and add more if it needs it. Since I can’t ever take it out, I try to add as I go.

Macerate the rhubarb

I usually stir the sugar and rhubarb together and leave it for about an hour. This starts to release the water from the rhubarb and will keep you from needing to add any additional water as you cook it.

Isn’t that crazy how juicy it gets from just tossing it with sugar!?

Cook until it looks like applesauce

I cook this on medium low and stir occasionally. I like mine super smooth, so I cooked it for about 1/2 hour until it was all broken down really well and looked like applesauce.

Puree after cooking

You can let this cool a little if you want before blending it. If you are impatient like me and blend it right away, just make sure to be VERY careful! I use my Vitamix and it makes it perfectly silky and smooth. I am sure a regular blender would do the trick – especially if you really cook it down.

Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge for about a week or so. I usually put it in mason jars like I store jam in. It works perfectly.

Serve!

Now you get to be creative and think of all the amazing ways to use the rhubarb puree! I can’t wait to hear what you all come up with!

How should I use my rhubarb puree?

We eat this so many different ways! We love to put a big dollop on top of vanilla ice cream. Trust me, the sweet of the ice cream and the tart of the rhubarb puree is AMAZING! It’s my very favorite way to eat it.

We ate it a couple different ways this time I made it, so I took pictures as I went to give you some ideas! I loved it on top of waffles with homemade whipping cream on top. You need to try my buttermilk whole wheat waffles. They are so good!

I also made a little charcuterie board for lunch today and put it on the side. I loved it with the honey goat cheese and with the brie! It was delicious and added just the right amount of sweetness to the cheese.

And yesterday for breakfast I layered the rhubarb puree with honey vanilla greek yogurt. It felt super decadent and delicious! I was not ready for how amazing this would taste!

I wish I had some of my granola on hand to top it off. If you did have that, it would just add so much with the smooth and crunchy textures!

Can I use frozen rhubarb to make this?

Yup! I usually chop my rhubarb and put it on a parchment lined tray – or a tray lined with a Silpat silicone baking mat. I put that in the freezer for a couple hours until the chunks are completely frozen. Then I store it in a zip top freezer bag.

When you individually freeze it, then it doesn’t clump together and it allows you to use a measuring cup to take out just what you need.Then when I want to use it in the dead of winter, I can just scoop out what I need.

You can easily throw the frozen rhubarb in the pot and start cooking it down. As it defrosts, it lets off a lot off water, so you may not even need to macerate it first!

Can I freeze rhubarb puree?

For sure. You could freeze the puree in ice cube trays and then pop the cubes out and store them in a zip top freezer bag. You could also freeze larger quantities in glass mason jars. Just make sure you leave enough head room so if it expands during freezing, it doesn’t break the jar.

Can I add other fruits to rhubarb puree?

Absolutely! This would taste amazing with apples or any type of berry.

*Strawberries are usually used with rhubarb and it gives it the most beautiful red color and extra sweetness.

*I also think it would be so good with blueberries or blackberries.

*I added frozen sweet cherries to my rhubarb jam last year to bump up the red color without adding a lot of expensive ingredients and it was delicious!

*If you could find some peaches in season, that would absolutely rock!!!

If you do add a sweeter fruit, I’d hold back on the sugar a little bit. You can always add more but you can’t take it away!