In addition to its culinary uses, rhubarb is rich in antioxidants and is believed to help soothe digestive issues and reduce inflammation. So, whether you’re cooking with this vividly coloured veg for its punchy taste or for its health benefits or both, we’ve scouted out some of the most irresistible recipes for rhubarb lovers.
Sticky Ribs In Rhubarb, Ginger And Chilli
Delicious Magazine
Rhubarb is a wonderfully versatile vegetable, suited both to the savoury and the sweet. Here it bridges the two, with the most flavourful rendition of sticky ribs that we can remember having had the pleasure of devouring – and in the most unseemly of manners, too. The invention of the great Gill Meller, the rhubarb gives it a lovely fruitiness, while the ginger adds to the rich and complex taste. We absolutely love this, both for now and for serving outside as we go into spring and summer. Get the recipe.
Mini Strawberry-Rhubarb Galettes
Country Living Food
Image: Brian Woodcock
Pretty as a picture, this beautiful recipe heaps pink on pink: rhubarb and strawberry jam provide the perfect sweet/sour ratio atop these easily whipped up galettes. If you’re hosting a spring lunch, they make for the ideal puddings: impressive to behold and to devour, yet simple to make. Get the recipe.
Rhubarb And Pistachio Syrup Cake
Delicious Magazine
Ben Tish, chef and author of five books, is the brains and taste buds behinds this knock-out beauty. Fragrant, moist and sticky, we love the Middle Eastern-style zing of the lemon, the tartness of the rhubarb and the texture courtesy of the pistachio. Perfection. Get the recipe.
Rhubarb Gin
BBC Good Food
If you want to prettify your gin and give it a sweet-yet-tart twist, try this ten-minute recipe (you will need to make it well advance – four weeks, to be precise, for it to infuse properly). A slow burn but well worth the wait. Get the recipe.
Rhubarb And Vanilla Jam
BBC Good Food
We love a jam-making session; it reliably transports us to days long ago spent in the company of our granny. It also allows us to eke out the taste of a season, long after it is over. This delicious rhubarb number makes a brilliant alternative to strawberry jam or marmalade on the breakfast table. Get the recipe.
Rhubarb And Custard Eton Mess
Olive Magazine
Ready-made meringue and custard make this an absolute winner: it’s tasty, it’s easy, and no one need know we didn’t make it from scratch. Get the recipe.
Rhubarb And Ginger Upside-Down Cake
Olive Magazine
An upside-down cake is always a thing of beauty. But none can compete with the rhubarb take on the classic: can you imagine a more beautiful pud? Get the recipe.
Rhubarb Sorbet With Pistachio Brittle
Jamie Oliver
You need pleasingly few ingredients to make this sorbet; it is as simple as can be. It also just so happens to be one of the most refreshing concoctions ever to have emerged from our kitchen – plus it pairs perfectly with the pistachio crunch. Heaven. Get the recipe.
Toasted Marshmallow And Rhubarb Cake
Nigella
As Nigella points out, this cake may require a little labour, but it’s so fantastically joyful to behold, taste and create that the extra effort it is entirely worth it. As she says, ‘It is splendidly celebratory, but not dauntingly difficult. You need a bit of elbow grease and a blow torch, but making it feels more like play than work to me; I can’t tell you how much I enjoy teasing out the snowy spikes of marshmallow-meringue and then scorching them… For now, I simply can’t stop making this.’ Get the recipe.
By Nancy Alsop
March 2023
