31 Rhubarb Recipes to Enjoy Before the Season Is Over
Though tart and slightly sour when raw, rhubarb is surprisingly sweet and versatile in these delicious recipes. Make the most of it with fresh cocktails, decadent desserts and meaty main dishes.
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Our Best Ideas for Rhubarb
Rhubarb is often treated like a fruit, although it is technically a vegetable. That’s because it’s extremely tart and often cooked with sugar (or other fruit) to balance out the flavor. It’s just as useful in savory dishes, however, as it is in desserts—which is why you’ll find a wide variety of ideas in this roundup. From meaty braised short ribs to summery fruit crisp, we love taking advantage of our seasonal bounty of rhubarb. Grab the thinnest stalks you can find (they’re more tender and less fibrous) and use them to make these amazing muffins, for starters. Each one is super light and fluffy, studded throughout with tangy bits of bright pink rhubarb. Before baking, the batter is sprinkled with a salty-sweet crumble, resulting in a hit of crunch with every bite.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Muffins
Grilled Rhubarb Brown Betty
Rhubarb, the delicious spring and summer treat, shines in this brown betty cooked right on the grill.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Rhubarb Brown Betty
Rhubarb Cookies
If you make one thing this rhubarb season, it needs to be these cookies. They are crunchy and salty on the outside and tender and chewy on the inside. They also have surprises like sweet white chocolate chips and crunchy chopped walnuts hidden in every bite. But the star of the show is the tangy, soft and beautifully pink rhubarb that is strewn throughout.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Cookies
Grilled Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote with Grilled Pound Cake
We start to see giant leaves and shoots of rhubarb in spring. What better way to celebrate the vibrant ruby colored stalks than to grill them in a foil pack? Paired with strawberries and a few other ingredients, the rhubarb cooks down into the perfect sweet and tangy compote for grilled pound cake.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote with Grilled Pound Cake
Rhubarb Cake
Greek yogurt is the secret to this rhubarb cake, producing a sweet and tangy batter. The crunchy topping — spiced with nutmeg and ginger — gives off serious coffee cake vibes. It's perfect for breakfast with a mug of tea and makes a showstopping and delicious dessert for a dinner party.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb Short Ribs
Dollop rhubarb jam on your short ribs midway through cooking. By the time the ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, the jam will have reduced into a deliciously thick and syrupy glaze.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Short Ribs
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Ina dresses up the classic spring combination of strawberry and rhubarb with a buttery oat topping and orange zest and juice.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Rhubarb Jam Bars
Although rhubarb and strawberries are a popular duo, Valerie skips the berries for these simple dessert bars. Valerie says it's because "I think rhubarb deserves to be its own star."
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Jam Bars
Rhubarb Gelatin with Cream
This is just the thing to make when spring rhubarb is plentiful, slender and pink. (The rosier your stalks, the prettier the dessert.)
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Gelatin with Cream
Grandma's Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
If you're a fan of good, old-fashioned pie, you'll love this recipe. It requires a bit of work to make but is completely worth it. The homemade crust is flaky and buttery, and the strawberry-rhubarb filling is perfectly sweet and delicious.
Get the Recipe: Grandma's Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb Spritz
Valerie’s rhubarb spritz is almost too pretty to drink! To achieve the perfectly pink color, she simmers rhubarb with sugar and lemon to form a syrup, which she combines with elderflower liqueur and chilled prosecco or club soda.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Spritz
Rhubarb Crumble
Serve this oat-and-hazelnut-topped rhubarb crumble warm, with freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Crumble
Baked Donuts with Blood Orange, Rhubarb and Blueberry Glaze
Molly’s baked donuts are almost too cute to eat! She tops each donut with a colorful glaze and pretty sprinkles.
Get the Recipe: Baked Donuts with Blood Orange, Rhubarb and Blueberry Glaze
Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Sweet strawberry and tart rhubarb are a pair that always harmonizes beautifully. Serve this cake with a dollop of whipped cream for the perfect spring dessert.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Rumbarb
You might love rhubarb in your pies, but follow GZ's lead and use it to make cocktails, too. He boils it down in a sweet syrup, then pairs it with a splash of pomegranate juice and two kinds of rum.
Get the Recipe: Rumbarb
Upside-Down Rhubarb Bread
Turn pretty, pink rhubarb into an incredibly elegant upside-down cake. Simply invert the cake onto a platter to show off the colorful design.
Get the Recipe: Upside-Down Rhubarb Bread
Coconut Pudding with Roasted Rhubarb
Molly balances the tartness of the rhubarb by roasting it with sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt, then serves the fruit directly on top of a sweet coconut pudding.
Get the Recipe: Coconut Pudding with Roasted Rhubarb
Raspberry Rhubarb Crostata
Ina’s beautiful crostata is the perfect treat to serve a crowd. It’s much easier to make than pie, but looks (and tastes) just as delicious.
Get the Recipe: Raspberry Rhubarb Crostata
Glazed Ham with Grape-Rhubarb Compote
Rhubarb isn’t just for desserts. When reduced to a sauce with grapes, mustard and just a few spices, it becomes a delicious glaze for tender, salty ham.
Get the Recipe: Glazed Ham with Grape-Rhubarb Compote
Strawberry-Rhubarb Slump
The name may be unfamiliar, but a slump is in the family of cooked or stewed fruit with raised dough on top; a cousin to the cobbler, a slump is topped with dumplings instead of biscuits. The effect is like pie, but easier to make.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Slump
Geometric Rhubarb Tart
Sliced strategically, a stalk of rhubarb turns into an angular work of art when artfully arranged on a frangipane tart filling.
Get the Recipe: Geometric Rhubarb Tart
Strawberry-Rhubarb Buckle
Similar to a coffee cake, Geoffrey’s strawberry-rhubarb dessert is topped with a cinnamon-sugar streusel and baked until golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream for a truly decadent spring dessert.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb Buckle
Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcake
Layer a mixture of cooked rhubarb and strawberries with vanilla cake and freshly whipped cream.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcake
Strawberry Rhubarb Margaritas
A simple syrup helps to cut the tartness of the rhubarb in this refreshing seasonally-inspired margarita.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Margaritas
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble
Strawberry, lemon juice and rhubarb come together in this rustic crumble. Add a dollop of whipped mascarpone topping for an elegant touch.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Rhubarb Custard Pie
Rhubarb, technically a vegetable, is known for its very tart flavor and the fact that only the stalks are edible. There are many varieties of rhubarb which account for how the stalks vary in color from a deep red to a pale green. Although the flavor is delicious on all kinds, this pie looks prettiest with the red-stalked varieties. Look for thinner stalks, they will be more tender and less fibrous than thicker stalks.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Custard Pie
Rhubarb Compote
Stew slightly sour rhubarb with sugar, honey and cinnamon until it's soft enough to spoon over vanilla ice cream.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Compote
Rhuberry-Basil Pink Lemonade
This isn't your ordinary pink lemonade, thanks to GZ's use of all-natural colorings and flavors: a rhubarb-steeped syrup and a strawberry puree laced with fresh basil.
Get the Recipe: Rhuberry-Basil Pink Lemonade
Strawberry Fruit Salad with Rhubarb Simple Syrup
This fresh fruit salad is well worth a trip to the farmer’s market. Assorted berries, mint and basil are tossed together and dressed with a sweet-tart rhubarb syrup.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Fruit Salad with Rhubarb Simple Syrup
Lemon Bundt Cake with Berry Rhubarb Glaze
For a special occasion, dress a simple Bundt cake up with a sweet rhubarb glaze.
Get the Recipe: Lemon Bundt Cake with Berry Rhubarb Glaze
Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
The key to Geoffrey’s classic upside-down cake? Before baking, he combines a mixture of rhubarb, sugar, honey, lemon and herbs. He sets half the liquid aside, then uses it as a syrup to drizzle on the finished dessert.
Get the Recipe: Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
