Strawberry rhubarb applesauce is so simple to make and it is pretty too. Strawberry, rhubarb, and apples get sweetened with just a touch of honey for a great snack. It is perfect eaten with a spoon or as a fun dip for your animal crackers.

Quart jar filled with homemade strawberry rhubarb applesauce showing pink color.

All natural strawberry rhubarb applesauce is the perfect mix of beautiful color and wonderful flavor. It is fruit forward and just sweet enough.

Eat it with a spoon or dip your animal cookies or graham crackers in it. Either way it is the perfect snack or fun school lunch treat!

Ingredients including strawberries, sliced rhubarb, apples, and honey ready to be made into strawberry rhubarb applesauce.

Fresh or Frozen Fruit

This applesauce is the perfect way to use fresh fruit when it is in season. If you are getting extra strawberries and rhubarb, just add a few apples and you are ready to go.

It is also a great way to use frozen fruit. We love freezing extra fruit when it is in season.

Just toss cleaned and dried strawberries into a freezer bag to use for smoothies and this sauce throughout the year. The rhubarb is easy to freeze too.

Just slice it and freeze it in a single layer on a sheet pan. Once it is frozen, transfer it to a freezer bag to use later.

Enameled cast iron skillet filled with strawberries, sliced rhubarb, chunks of apple and water, ready to be cooked.

Pan of cooked fruit mixture showing softened apple chunks in mushy rhubarb and strawberry mixture.

Of course, you can usually find frozen rhubarb and strawberries in the grocery store too. Then you can make this tasty applesauce any time.

The apples give the sauce body and help sweeten everything up a bit. Making it the perfect treat.

Of course you can find apples in the store all year long. They store well, so all year long can be apple season if you want it to be.

Prepping the Apples

You can peel your apples if you would like. It will give the sauce a more pure red color.

Using an immersion blender to process the cooked fruit into a smooth sauce.

Stirring honey into strawberry rhubarb applesauce.

However, I tend to leave the skins on the apples when I make a sauce like this. The immersion blender makes short work of making the sauce smooth with the skins.

Plus it saves time and waste during prep if you don’t have to remove the peel. And a lot of the nutrition is in the apple skins, so it is more nutritious that way too.

Serving Ideas

Of course you can sit down with a bowl of this strawberry applesauce and a spoon and enjoy it that way. It is fabulous on its own.

We also enjoy it as a dip for animal crackers or graham crackers. That makes it feel like a special treat.

Plate with ramekin of thick strawberry rhubarb sauce with animal cookies nearby.

Hand dipping an animal cracker into the bowl of pink strawberry rhubarb sauce showing it sticking to the cookie.

You can enjoy some swirled into a bowl of yogurt. Or stir some into your morning oatmeal for added nutrition and flavor.The options really are endless.

More great rhubarb recipes:

Peach Rhubarb Pie is fabulous flaky pie shell filled with fruit and topped with streusel. It is a must make!
Rhubarb Crunch is a childhood favorite of my husband’s and his dad’s too. It is simple and oh so tasty!
Classic Rhubarb Pie is a classic for a reason!
Or try rhubarb brownies for a chocolaty rhubarb treat!

This sauce is perfect for the spring, but if you want to continue the homemade applesauce making into the fall, be sure to check out the recipe for cranberry applesauce.

I didn’t grow up eating rhubarb. It wasn’t until adulthood that I discovered the tangy vegetable and started playing with it.

Small ramekin of pink strawberry rhubarb sauce with spoon next to large jar of strawberry rhubarb applesauce.

So I am still discovering all of the tasty ways it can be used. And I have to say, I am falling more in love with it each season.

Now I am curious, did you grow up eating rhubarb? If so what were your favorite recipes?

Did you make this great recipe? Please leave a review in the recipe card below!

Strawberry Rhubarb Applesauce

Carlee

Strawberry and rhubarb add great pink color and flavor to applesauce. Sweetened with honey, this tasty sauce is great as a snack or as a side dish. You can also stir it into yogurt or oatmeal for even more flavor.

5 from 9 ratings

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Course Sauces, Dressings & Condiments

Cuisine American

Servings Servings (about 6 cups)

Calories 75 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup water
2 cups strawberries
16 ounces sliced rhubarb about 4 cups
3 cups apples cored and cubed
1 pinch salt
½ cup honey or to taste

Instructions

Put cubed apples, sliced rhubarb, strawberries, salt, and water in a large, heavy bottomed pot.
Bring to boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft.
Process sauce with an immersion blender, a food processor, or a traditional blender. (If using a blender use care, the mixture is really hot!)
Continue to cook until you get to the desired consistency. If you cook a lot of the moisture off, you can even make strawberry rhubarb butter.
When you reach the consistency you desire, remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly and then add honey a little bit at a time until you reach your desired level of sweetness.
Store in the refrigerator for a week or two or freeze for longer storage.

Notes

You can use fresh or frozen fruit to make this fruity applesauce. Also, don’t worry if your measurements are a little bit off. Use what you have and I am sure it will taste great!

Homemade strawberry rhubarb applesauce can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week. Or you can freeze it for several months, just be sure to leave a little bit of room in the container for expansion as it freezes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1half cup servingCalories: 75kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 1gFat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0.03gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.03gSodium: 4mgPotassium: 186mgFiber: 2gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 58IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 0.3mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @carleecooks or tag #cookingwcarlee!

Strawberry and rhubarb add great pink color and flavor to applesauce. Sweetened with honey, this tasty sauce is great as a snack or as a side dish. You can also stir it into yogurt or oatmeal for even more flavor.

Jolene

Friday 17th of May 2019

We're big rhubarb fans here in New England, especially combined with strawberries! I'm thinking this would be great on waffles!

Frugal Hausfrau

Thursday 15th of June 2017

Yum, Carlee! So funny about your sister! I love rhubarb - it's like natures sour patch candy but that sauce looks so smooth and creamy & I bet it's not too puckery!

Tuesday 20th of June 2017

It's not too puckery at all! I thought I would need to add quite a bit more honey than I did, but I'm glad it didn't take too much. I wonder how celery would work in here!?! ;-)

mommar6

Wednesday 14th of June 2017

Ha. I made baked oatmeal with some of mine and it was very very good!

I still need to do that!

Unknown

Wow, am a great fan of honey and i think i will add the vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon

It all goes so well together, don't you think? I loved the vanilla in ours and I think some cinnamon would be really nice too!

I'm reading it Carlee. I will make sure not to use up all the rhubarb so you can have some. You better quit making such yummy recipes with rhubarb as an ingredient or you will be needing another source. You took me from not wanting it to using it up myself.

Darn! I shouldn't have let you in on this recipe. I knew you were going to love it!