Rhubarb Sauce for Canning – New Ways to Use Your Rhubarb
When rhubarb is in abundance, it’s a great time to preserve some of the bounty. This spring I made up two types of rhubarb sauce for canning; a batch of savory rhubarb Victoria sauce (left), which is basically a rhubarb barbeque sauce, and some rhubarb-orange compote (right). Unique and flavorful, these recipes are great for gift giving or to save a bit of springtime for your own use.
Rhubarb-B-Q Rhubarb Sauce
(Victoria Sauce)
from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving
Ingredients
8 cups chopped rhubarb
3 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 medium)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
Directions
In a large, heavy bottomed, stainless steel stock pot (I used my 8 qt), combine rhubarb, brown sugar, raisins, onion and vinegar. Mixture will initially get watery, then rhubarb will soften and break down and the color will darken.
I know that my kids would not be excited to see raisins in their meat sauce, so at this point I hit it with an immersion blender. Be careful not to splash yourself! Simmer until thick. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Add spices; cook 5 minutes longer. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a water bath canner.
Yield: about four 1-pint jars.
PrintRhubarb-B-Q Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 cups chopped rhubarb
- 3 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 medium)
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed, stainless steel saucepan, combine rhubarb, brown sugar, raisins, onion and vinegar. Mixture will initially get watery, then rhubarb will soften and break down and the color will darken.
- Blend with an immersion blender, if desired, for a smooth sauce.
- Simmer until thick. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.
- Add spices; cook 5 minutes longer. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a water bath canner.
- Yield: about four 1-pint jars.
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Rhubarb-orange compote ingredients with some fresh and some frozen rhubarb
Rhubarb-Orange Compote
from Preserving for All Seasons
In Preserving for All Seasons, Anne Gardon says, “This tangy compote can serve many purposes: to fill crepes and pies, to flavor muffins or to combine with cottage cheese or ricotta to make a refreshing breakfast.”
Ingredients
3 oranges, preferably organic
8 cups rhubarb, in chunks, fresh or frozen
4 cups sugar
pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
Directions
- Grate orange peel. (I like to use my microplace zester.) Then peel orange with sharp knife, removing the white layer. Chop the pulp, removing seeds as you go.
- Combine all ingredients in heavy saucepan and bring slowly to a boil, while stirring. Reduce heat and cook until thick (20 to 25 minutes).
- Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a water bath canner. Alternatively, cool and freeze.
Yields about 4 cups.
PrintRhubarb-Orange Compote
This tangy compote can serve many purposes: to fill crepes and pies, to flavor muffins or to combine with cottage cheese or ricotta to make a refreshing breakfast.
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 3 oranges, preferably organic
- 8 cups rhubarb, in chunks, fresh or frozen
- 4 cups sugar
- pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
Instructions
- Grate orange peel. Then peel orange with sharp knife, removing the white layer. Chop the pulp, removing seeds as you go.
- Combine all ingredients in heavy saucepan and bring slowly to a boil, while stirring. Reduce heat and cook until thick (20 to 25 minutes).
- Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Alternatively, cool and freeze.
Nutrition
- Calories: 3487
- Sugar: 846
- Sodium: 47
- Fat: 2
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 2
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 891
- Protein: 12
- Cholesterol: 0
You may also enjoy:
- Rhubarbade, a lightly sweetened drink that you can make with rhubarb
- Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with Almond Flour
- Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake
If you need tips for growing rhubarb, check out The Complete Guide to Growing Rhubarb.
Was wondering if this could be cooked by using a crock pot?
Tamara
Sure, a crock pot is fine for cooking down the sauce.
I have made victorian sauce for years, but never used it for bbq sauce. I used it more like a salsa for meat. It is to die for with venison and any kind of pork.
Thanks, Cindi.
I think this is better than any BBQ sauce I’ve ever had. Just made a pot. I did break the laws of canning and added garlic, a dried pasilla pepper (they taste like raisins and I was a wee bit short), 2 chipotle peppers and some spanish smoked paprika. Amazing. If I tasted it blind I wouldn’t guess rhubarb was in this at all, in fact you could cut back on the sugar (if you feel safe breaking the laws of safe canning) for a tart-er sauce. Will be making this one again and again.
THANK YOU for sharing.
Glad you liked it. Another option for those tweaking the recipe a little more would be to freeze the finished product – no worries about breaking the canning rules.
Is it possible to reduce the amount of sugar in the recipes?
Yes, the sugar could be reduced, but then the recipes may not be safe for canning and should be frozen for storage instead.
OMG! The Rhubarb-B-Q sauce is quite possibly the tastiest thing I’ve ever canned! Thanks for sharing!
Yeah! So glad that you like it!
The Rhubarb B Q Sauce looks great………..what recipe do you use this for???
It makes a good sauce for pork or chicken.