“Love love love this recipe. And soooo easy! ” ~Jennifer
I’m madly trying to get the most out of the short rhubarb season. The other day when I asked my produce guy for some he went in the back and brought me out a HUGE armload of stalks. We’re leaving town this week so I need to preserve it for later. And I’ve always loved old fashioned fresh fruit butters, I love the smooth, silky texture, and I love the way the flavor is intensified.
Fruit butters don’t require sugar like traditional jams, and so the essence of the fruit comes through stronger. The only reason I used a little sugar in this recipe is that rhubarb is super tart. You can do this with lots of different fruit, from apples to peaches and plums. Berries too, but you’ll want to strain out the seeds. I have an incredibly silky Cranberry Butter recipe that you can make in the slow cooker. And in summer, don’t forget to make a batch or two of my amazing Peach Butter!
With no pectin, and very little, if any, sugar, this is an easy way to preserve fruit. You can blend varieties, or just stick to one. You can add spice or flavoring, too. I added cardamom to my rhubarb, but next time I’m going to use a vanilla bean.
More reasons to hoard rhubarb!
Rhubarb is such a unique flavor, and it’s around for such a short time, I go a little crazy with it during the season:
- Rhubarb Jelly
- Rhubarb Curd
- Rhubarb Bread
- Strawberry Rhubarb Smoothie
- Rhubarb Crisp with Cardamom and Vanilla
- Easy Rhubarb Breakfast Cake
- No Bake Rhubarb Dream Bars
“Just made this and it was soooo good! Delicious while still warm over vanilla ice cream! Mmmmm!” ~ Linda
Easy Rhubarb Butter
Ingredients
- 1 lb rhubarb, which is approximately 3-4 cups chopped
- 1/2 cup sugar
- squeeze of fresh lemon
- optional: 1/4 tsp cardamom, or cinnamon, or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean
Instructions
- Rinse the rhubarb and trim the ends Slice it into 1 inch pieces and put in a heavy bottomed pot along with the sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of water and the lemon juice, and stir to combine.
- Heat, stirring constantly, until the rhubarb starts to give off juice and the mixture comes to a boil. Boil gently for about 20-30 minutes, until the rhubarb is very soft and mostly broken down.
- Puree the mixture, in batches if necessary,. Be careful when pureeing hot liquids, as they can ‘explode’ up through the spout of the processor or blender.
- Put the puree in a clean pan back on the stove and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it gently bubble away until reduced and thickened about another 20 minutes, Stir often, and be careful not to let the fruit scorch. If you are using the spice or vanilla bean, stir it in now.
- Spoon the finished butter into a glass jar. Let cool, then cap and refrigerate. It will thicken further as it cools. You will have about a cup.
Notes
- If you want to make a larger batch, you can freeze this, and you can also can it. I just keep it in the fridge, it will be scarfed up within a couple of weeks.
- There is no firm rule about how long to cook the pureed fruit. The longer you cook it and reduce it down, the thicker it will be. It’s a matter of personal taste.
Nutrition
Can you use frozen rhubarb in this recipe.
Yes.
Does this recipe work with sugar substitute?
I don’t see why not. You can make it without sugar entirely (but I don’t recommend it because the rhubarb is so tart.)
FYI the rhubarb season is not short … if you pull the stalks from the root rather than cutting it, it grows back!! I have a supply from May to October 🙂
I do the same thing and people are so amazed I have rhubarb in the fall!!
Love love love this recipe. And soooo easy! Thank you for sending along so many wonderful recipes. I used 1/8 tsp cardamom. And that was enough to give it an extra punch of flavour. ??
Can this be canned?
This recipe was not developed for canning, but the National Center for Home Food Preservation says to can stewed rhubarb for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/rhubarb_stewed.html
Stellar use for rhubarb from the garden. Cooked down to a cup it is thick, richly flavoured but not intense or overpowering. It is delicious! Thanks for the recipe. Going to make a bigger batch tomorrow to can for winter enjoyment.
Thanks Andy!
love the sound of rubarb butter ,will make asap
Would you happen to know the specifications for canning this? I would love to make some and ship ot to my aunt.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends canning stewed rhubarn (which is essentially what this is) for 15 minutes in a hot water bath canner:https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/rhubarb_stewed.html
Have you ever tested this recipe in a slow cooker? I make my other fruit butter in there so I’ll probably try it, but it would great to know if you’d advise against it for any reason ?
No I haven’t but I don’t see why it won’t work.
Hi, I just across your recipe. It sounds so wonderful! I’m going to try my best to make it. It will be my first time ever making any kind of butter, so ?
I do have one question though please, before cutting the rhubarb into the 1 inch pieces, do you have to peel the outside off first? The stringy part like celery has. I apologize, I don’t know how else to explain it.
Thank you in advance ?
Hi Shirley, no you don’t have to peel any strings off the rhubarb. You’ll blend the butter at the end, so it will be silky smooth no matter what. I sometimes strain my fruit butters and curds, so you can do that too.