Easy Rhubarb Jam Recipe (2024)

If you have a garden full of rhubarb, or can find a few big bunches at the market, you need to make this sweet and tart, rhubarb jam.

My kids love ‘toast with jam’ for breakfast. Even my ‘selective’ eater (she is not ‘picky’ she simply finds food difficult), will often eat four slices of toast with ham for breakfast… and another four for lunch! She loves it!

It may not be the most nutritious option, but for a child who struggles with eating in general, it’s an option we can work with, making enough homemade jam to meet demand is a struggle though!

My husband is usually the jam maker in our house (because I have a history of burning it and ruining the entire batch!), but when our stash of homemade berry jam runs out midwinter, it’s time for me to step in with another option.

We have a garden overflowing with rhubarb at this time of year, so it was time to make some rhubarb jam.

Rhubarb jam is sweet, tart, earthy, and gloriously pink!

And when I say ‘earthy’ I am not trying to be all fancy, there is really is something earthy about the taste of rhubarb. One of my kids says “it tastes a little like dirt… really yummy dirt!”

But the best thing about rhubarb jam is that it’s really easy to make, so easy that even I didn’t muck it up!

Preparing Jars for Jam.

Before you start to make the jam you need some jars to put it in.

We use recycled jars with their matching lids, but you can buy special canning jars and lids which would be better if you plan to store your jam for a long time, or give it as gifts.

Whatever jars and lids you use, they need to be VERY clean. We run ours through the dishwasher on a hot cycle then we put the wet jars into a moderate oven to heat sterilise them for about 30 minutes, while leaving the lids to cool and dry.

You need the jars to be quite hot when you put the jam into them (so the hot jam doesn’t crack the cold glass), so either time the heating of your jars right or just turn the oven back on 5 minutes or so before you jam is done so the jars are toast warm when you fill them.

Rhubarb Jam Recipe

This recipe makes a fairly small amount of jam, just 3-4 medium sized jars full, and you can easily half the recipe if you don’t have quite enough rhubarb, or double it if you have lots. It’s perfect to use up a big harvest if you grow your own rhubarb, or to make just one or two jars if you only have a small amount.

You’ll need a large pot to cook the jam in and a bit of time to tend to it, but it’s really simple to make, and well worth the effort.

Rhubarb Jam

Yield: 4 medium jars

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Rhubarb jam is sweet, tart, and really easy to make!

Ingredients

• 1kg chopped rhubarb
• 1 kg sugar
• juice of one lemon

Instructions

1. Wash and chop your rhubarb into small pieces.
2. In a large pot combine the rhubarb, sugar and lemon, and leave it to sit for an hour or so until the juices begin to seep out of the rhubarb. (You can leave it over night, but put it in a non-reactive ceramic or plastic bowl if you want to do that)
3. Put the pot on a low heat and stir often until the sugar has dissolved and the rhubarb begins to break down. Have a quick taste and add more lemon if you like it really sour like we do.
4. Turn up the heat a little until the jam is just simmering and cook, stirring often, until the jam begins to thicken.
5. This will take around 10-15 minutes and you'll notice the mixture gets noticeably thicker. Once you a re leaving a trail in the mixture with your spoon it is time to put it into the jars.
6. Carefully pour the hot jam into sterilised, warmed, jars, leaving about a centimetre at the top. Pop the lids on tight.

Notes

This only makes a small amount of jam, and you can easily half the recipe if you don’t have as much rhubarb on hand.

Please note: this recipe uses Australian measurements and temperatures, if you need to convert measurements or temperatures you can find our printable cooking conversion chart here.

Some people suggest to invert the jars of jam once you have filled them, but we don’t do that. As the jars cool they seal well and usually suck the ‘button’ down on the top of the lids. Any jars with buttons that haven’t been sucked in we either eat straight away or put in the fridge.

It’s fabulous to have something so bright pink and fresh, it’s like a little bit of summer in the middle of winter!

If you still have some rhubarb you need to use up, you might like these recipes: