Strawberry rhubarb sauce is a sweet and tart sauce that makes the perfect topping for ice cream, pancakes, angel food cake, and whatever your favorite is.
Strawberry rhubarb sauce is super simple to make. It is the perfect way to use strawberries and rhubarb from your garden.
I love the combination of strawberries and rhubarb. They give this sauce a sweet and tart taste that goes with ice cream, French toast, pancakes, and whatever you love to add a compote to.
Helpful tips
- I would not recommend frozen fruit for this recipe; only use fresh fruit.
- Only use strawberries that are ripe. This will enhance the taste of the sauce.
- Peel the rhubarb before cutting it up for this recipe. It will remove some of the stringy parts of the rhubarb.
- Remove all of the leaves from the rhubarb. The leaves are poisonous and should never be used.
- The longer you cook the sauce, the softer the fruit will become. I like the sauce, so it is soft, so you will see in the pictures that the fruit is very soft. If you prefer bigger pieces of fruit, cook for a shorter time. If cooking for a shorter time, the sauce may not be as thick as you see in my pictures.
- The sauce will thicken more as it cools.
- Cool the sauce before refrigerating it.
- Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Ingredients
- Strawberries – For the best-tasting sauce, use ripe berries.
- Rhubarb – Use the tender stalks for this recipe. Never use any part of the leaf; it is poisonous.
- Lemon Zest – Use only the yellow part of the outer lemon.
- Sugar – This will help sweeten the sauce.
- Water -This can prevent the fruit from burning on the bottom of the pan before it starts to release its juices. The evaporating water can help the fruit become more concentrated and thicken naturally.
Steps for making this strawberry rhubarb topping
Steps one and two
Add the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, lemon zest, and water to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat slightly and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.
More delicious sauce and topping recipes
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Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound strawberries quartered
- 2 cups rhubarb sliced
- 1 Zest from lemon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce the heat a little and continue to cool for 15 to 20 minutes, until the fruit is soft and the sauce has started to thicken.
- Remove from the heat and cool. Refrigerate before serving.
Notes
- Use only fresh fruit for this recipe; I would not recommend frozen fruit.
- The strawberries should be ripe for the sauce to have the best taste.
- Use rhubarb that is tender. I always peel the rhubarb before cutting it into pieces. This is an option, but it does help with eliminating some of the stringy outer layer.
- The more that the sauce is cooked, the softer the fruit will become. If you like bigger pieces of fruit in your sauce, cook for a shorter time. If cooking for a shorter time, the sauce may not be as thick.
- The sauce will thicken as it cools.
- Cool the sauce completely before storing it in the refrigerator.
- The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to one week.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on June 29, 2017. It has been updated with new content and pictures on June 5, 2025.
A classic combo and the ice cream must be really tasty with this homemade sauce.
Oh does this sauce look delicious, I could eat it by the spoonful. How wonderful to be able to grow your own rhubarb.
Love the sweet tart and now to find some rhubarb!
Oh, I bet a spoonful of this would be amazing over a nice bowl of vanilla bean ice cream! I might just need to make that happen. The sweet and tart combination here is making my mouth water!! 🙂