5 Quick, Healthy Rhubarb Recipes You Can Make in 45 Minutes (or Less!) (2024)

FAQs

What's the healthiest way to eat rhubarb? ›

Rhubarb is a truly special ingredient. With its vivid pink colour and distinctively tangy taste, it can be stewed, poached, roasted and puréed in a range of dishes as well as drinks. Use it in a comforting crumble, a classic syllabub, a fruity chutney or a zingy kebab sauce – the possibilities are endless.

To keep it sugar free you could use a little stevia, for a low fructose option you could use either rice syrup or coconut nectar, or if you're a honey fan, a little raw honey would combine beautifully with the ginger and vanilla.

Wash rhubarb with cool tap water, but do not soak.

Kidney stones: Rhubarb contains a chemical that the body can convert into kidney stones. If you have ever had kidney stones, don't take rhubarb. Liver problems: Rhubarb can make liver function worse in people who already have liver problems. People who have liver problems should avoid rhubarb.

Thus, the formulation may be a potential preventive or therapeutic candidate for the treatment of chronic inflammation and arthritis. From these data it can be concluded that in contrast to Rheum species used in medicine, no risk is associated with the use of rhubarb as a food.

The harvest season for rhubarb lasts until the end of June. Until then, pick as many stalks as you wish. After harvest, allow the plant to keep all of its leaves, to build its reserves of energy for the next year.

Health benefits of rhubarb may include:

Aiding digestion. Lowering blood pressure. Reducing the risk of cancer. Reducing inflammation.

The bottom line

Since it may be high in oxalate, you should avoid eating too much of it and try to select stalks from low-oxalate varieties. If you are prone to kidney stones, it might be best to avoid rhubarb altogether. On the bright side, rhubarb is a good source of antioxidants, vitamin K, and fiber.

Rhubarb leaves are considered inedible due to their high concentration of oxalic acid. In fact, both the stalks and leaves contain oxalic acid, but the leaves have a much higher content. Oxalic acid is a natural substance found in many plants, including leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and cocoa ( 2 ).

Why is rhubarb a laxative? ›

Sennoside A and other dianthrone derivatives are reported to be the active ingredients causing rhubarb's laxative effect (6). They are metabolized by β-glucosidase of enterobacterial origin and are converted into rhein anthrone, which produces the purgative activity.

One of the most important properties of rhubarb is that it causes the pancreas to secrete insulin and hence reduces blood glucose level [22, 23].

We're seeing a lot of recipes where rhubarb is sweetened, maybe not with sugar, but with honey and also with maple syrup. It does really pair very, very well with other fruits, other berries, and then natural sweeteners such as honey. It's great in pies. My favorite is a good old-fashioned slab pie.

Then cut the stalks into small pieces. For the quick version, place the rhubarb in a saucepan together with some water, the vanilla pulp, a dash of lemon juice and maple syrup and let it simmer at medium heat until the rhubarb starts to dissolve. Stir occasionally and season with more maple syrup if necessary.

Solution: Soak the rhubarb in water to reduce the acid, simmer in orange juice and sugar (and don't stir too much) to retain texture and color, and layer with lightly whipped, sweetened cream for ideal flavor and texture and an attractive, unusual presentation.

Raw: Before you do any cooking with rhubarb, you ought to at least try it raw. (Note: Be sure to remove all the leaves, as they are poisonous.) Many suggest dipping the stalk in sugar or some other sweet, such as honey, maple syrup or agave nectar, to mellow its tartness a touch.

Cooking rhubarb petioles with water, trim or standard milk significantly (p < 0.05) reduced oxalate contents of the mixture by dilution (total oxalate mean raw 902.7 mg/100 g fresh weight, mean cooked 454.3 mg/100 g fresh weight).

Rhubarb is also a great source of vitamin K₁, which is important for blood clotting and bone health. A half cup of cooked rhubarb provides more than one-third of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin K₁, along with two grams of fiber (which helps prevent colorectal cancer), some calcium and vitamin C.

Rhubarb is not especially rich in essential nutrients, and its calorie content is low. However, it is a very good source of vitamin K1, providing around 26–37% of the Daily Value (DV) in a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving depending on whether it's cooked ( 2 , 3 ).