Rhubarb is one of my favorite seasonal items to experiment with. Most commonly rhubarb is used in sweet recipes, but without too much poking around you will see that sweet recipes are not my thing. I prefer to use it in more savory applications, like this homemade rhubarb barbecue sauce recipe.
Rhubarb is out of season here, but I was able to get some while it was in season, and luckily it freezes very well. If you can’t find fresh rhubarb any more this season, look for it frozen, it will be just as good.
As far as barbecue goes, this sauce is on the sweet side for me. However, the sweetness balances the tart and tangy rhubarb so the flavor is balanced. I added sriracha to tame the sweetness with just a touch of heat. I also tried this recipe with louisiana-style hot sauce and the sriracha is the better choice.
After experimenting with different vinegars as well, balsamic is really the way to go. I tried apple cider vinegar and white balsamic and always added some of the red balsamic because the flavor is just better!
Ways to use this Homemade Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce recipe:
- I am not a meat-eater, but I image it would be delicious on grilled and smoked meats.
- Vegan Option: Try it on these Classic BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches.
- BBQ Grilled Shrimp is going to be the next way that I use this sweet and tangy sauce.
- BBQ Meatballs are a classic thinking-outisde-the-box idea for BBQ sauce. Here is my vegetarian meatball recipe if you would like 🙂
- BBQ tacos anyone? You could try shrimp tacos, jackfruit tacos, tofu or tempeh tacos, or any other protein you enjoy.
- Spread it on top of a meatloaf or my lentil loaf recipe.
- ½ cup diced onion
- Splash olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups diced rhubarb
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup each: ketchup and brown sugar
- 2 TBS balsamic vinegar
- 1 TBS sriracha
- 1 TBS Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp salt
- Saute onion in olive oil until it starts to turn translucent. Stir in garlic and rhubarb and cook covered until the rhubarb is soft, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in water, ketchup, brown sugar, balsamic and sriracha. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Mix in Dijon and salt. Taste test adding more sriracha if necessary. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
