Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce Canning Recipe
20. August 2025Every year my neighbor gives me rhubarb from his wife’s rhubarb patch. The first time he gave me rhubarb, I had no idea what to do with it. I had only eaten rhubarb once before when I was a kid. It was a strawberry rhubarb pie! I was left thinking the pie would’ve been better if there wasn’t rhubarb in it! It was tangy and firm while the strawberries were soft and sweet. It was not something I really enjoyed. So I avoided trying rhubarb again for many years.
I’m not one to decline free homegrown produce though, so I graciously took the rhubarb and turned it into strawberry rhubarb butter. It was delicious! For the next free batch of gifted rhubarb, I made Wild Maine blueberry rhubarb butter. That was even better! But once I had canned dozens of jars of butter, I thought it would be good to try something different.
Then I came across this Victorian Barbecue Sauce recipe in “The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving” . I thought it sounded like a completely different recipe to try. My husband and I never eat barbecued food though, so he didn’t think this was such a good idea. But luckily, the end result proved him wrong. The final rhubarb sauce is fruity, tangy, and a little zippy (but not hot) with the spices. It’s great on grilled or roasted meat and even vegetables served over rice. It’s definitely a nice change of pace from fruit butter and jam.
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Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce
Recipe adapted from “The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving” ©2025 CanningCrafts
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Preservation method: Water bath canning (or steam canning)
Difficulty level: Easy
YIELD: Makes about 4 pint jars (or about 8 half pint jars)
Head space: 1/2 inch (1 cm)
Processing Time: 15 minutes (for both pints and half pints)
- 8 cups chopped rhubarb (I used about 12 big stalks sliced into quarter inch pieces)
- 3 ½ cups brown sugar, loosely packed*
- 1 ½ cups raisins, coarsely chopped (chop, then measure)
- ½ cup onion, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup white vinegar (5% acidity)
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon pickling salt
* NOTE: You can reduce the sugar in this recipe a bit. The raisins account for half of the sweetness. I probably used less than the 3 ½ cups because I didn’t pack the sugar at all, not even lightly.
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Prepare your canner. Place the canning rack in the bottom of a boiling water canner, then place empty jars on the rack. Add water to the jars and the canner until the jars are about two-thirds full. Cover the canner and bring the water to a simmer over medium heat.
Combine rhubarb, brown sugar, raisins, onion, white vinegar, and spices together in a large stainless steel or enamel pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir frequently. Reduce heat and gently boil, uncovered, stirring frequently. Let simmer for about 30 minutes. The sauce will start to break down, but still have a few chunks. Use the back of your spoon to mash the ingredients so you end up with a thicker purée. The Ball canning recipe states this should be the consistency of a thin commercial barbecue sauce. My final sauce was decently thick though, definitely not runny.
Optional: After the sauce is thickened, you may use an immersion blender to make it a smooth sauce if desired. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a regular blender, then pour back into your pot to reheat. I mashed my sauce pretty well as it was cooking, but there were still chunky bits of raisins and rhubarb. I was fine with that, so I didn’t purée my sauce.
Remove hot jars from the canner. Empty the water from the jars, but do not dry. Carefully ladle sauce into the hot jars. Leave ½ inch (1 cm) headspace. Use a wooden skewer to remove any air pockets. Readjust headspace if needed. Wipe jar rims and threads with a moistened towel. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands to finger-tip tight.
Place jars onto a rack in the canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Cover canner, and bring water to a boil. Once boiling, process jars for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude* if needed (pints and half pints both process the same 15 minutes). Turn off the heat, and let jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes. Remove jars and place them upright on a towel to cool completely.
Let prepared jars stand at room temperature for 12-24 hours. After the jars cool, check seals by pressing the centers of lids with your finger. If the lid springs back, the lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.
Affix CanningCrafts’ labels and write dates on jars. Store unopened sauce in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year.
Decorate your jars with our Custom Foodie’s Delight canning labels. You can pick from 9 colors, add your name, ingredients, saying, or date.
*Altitude
Living at a higher altitude affects home canning recipes, just as it does baking recipes. Many people are unaware that they live at a high altitude. If you live at a high altitude, you’ll need to increase either your processing time or processing pressure. Most canning recipes state this info for elevations of 0 to 1,000 feet above sea level. If you aren’t sure what your elevation is, get more info from the National Center for Food Preservation. Or call your local extension office if unsure.
Recipe Notes
The final rhubarb sauce will have color variations depending on the variety of rhubarb you use. My sauce was more brown from the raisins than red from the rhubarb. But how do you use this wonderful sauce? Brush it on chicken for grilling or use as a glaze for baked ham. It is also tasty on grilled veggies served over rice. I filled a casserole dish up with chicken, smothered it in this sauce, and baked it until done. The plentiful juices from the chicken blended with the sauce. I then used the broth in a batch of cooked quinoa that I served the roasted rhubarb chicken on.
Decorate your jars with our Custom Foodie’s Delight canning labels. You can pick from 9 colors, add your name, ingredients, saying, or date.
Try our Peach BBQ Sauce canning recipe
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