Grandma's Best Rhubarb Recipes - These Old Cookbooks

We are serving up Grandma’s Best Rhubarb Recipes just in time for rhubarb season. After seeing our rhubarb recipe round up, your family will be begging for more and asking to plant a rhubarb in your own yard.

Our Grandma always had a rhubarb plant growing in the yard, and she made the most delicious rhubarb recipes around. We are sharing all of Grandma’s Favorite Rhubarb Recipes just in time for rhubarb season, as well as some yummy rhubarb recipes from our friends.

This rhubarb recipe round up includes Rhubarb Muffins, Old Fashioned Rhubarb Coffee Cake, Grandma’s Rhubarb Pie, Rhubarb Bread, Grandma’s Rhubarb Streusel Dessert, Strawberry Rhubarb Jam with Jello from our own collection and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (2 versions), Farmhouse Rhubarb Crunch, Rhubarb Custard Pie, and Easy Rhubarb Cobbler from our friends.

Our Best Rhubarb Recipes roundup includes five recipes straight from our Grandma's recipe box as well as recipes from some of our friends.

Table of Contents

What is Rhubarb?

So what exactly is rhubarb you may ask? Even though rhubarb is typically prepared in dessert recipes similar to that of a fruit, it is actually a vegetable. Once you plant it, rhubarb comes back each year (called a perennial).

The plant has large green leaves that are poisonous if you eat them. The leaves contain oxalic acid, and this is not good to eat because it can lead to kidney failure. The edible part is the stalks (similar to celery). The rhubarb stalks are often green with a fibrous outer layer that is red.

If you tried to eat rhubarb by itself, you’d find out quickly that it has a very tart flavor. This is the reason that it is often baked in desserts with lots of sugar. You can typically find rhubarb in the spring or early summer months (April through June). Or, if you are having trouble finding fresh, look in the freezer section at the grocery store or try purchasing online.

We recommend freezing your own rhubarb so that you have plenty to last you the whole year. If you are wondering how to freeze rhubarb, it is actually a simple process.

How to Freeze Rhubarb

First, you have to decide if you want to freeze with or without blanching. The benefits of blanching first will be that the rhubarb will last longer in the freezer, and the color and texture will be better with the blanching process.

How to Freeze Without Blanching:

Wash the rhubarb stalks thoroughly, and dry completely. Cut the rhubarb into chunks, approximately 1 inch in size. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer on the sheet pan. Put in the freezer and leave until the individual pieces are frozen. This is called flash freezing. Once they are frozen, put them in a freezer resealable plastic bag or freezer containers and put back into the freezer. Flash freezing allows the pieces to come out individually instead of in a big clump so that you can use as much or as little as you desire.

How to Freeze With Blanching:

Wash the rhubarb stalks thoroughly, and cut into 1 inch chunks. To blanch, add the rhubarb chunks to boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately add to ice water to cool. Remove from ice water, and dry completely.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer on the sheet pan. Put in the freezer and leave until the individual pieces are frozen. Once they are frozen, put them in a freezer resealable bag or freezer containers and put back into the freezer.

Next time you see fresh rhubarb at the grocery store or your local farmers’ market, buy some and go home and try some of these classic rhubarb recipes from our Old Fashioned Rhubarb Recipe Roundup.