How To Make Homemade Rhubarb Cordial

Have you ever wondered how to make homemade rhubarb cordial?

Each year, we’re treated to an abundance of rosy tinged rhubarb; cut some stalks and they’re quickly replaced with more.

Which sometimes means that we have a glut of it — and there’s only so much rhubarb crumble that one girl can eat!

We recently bought some delicious Rhubarb and Rosehip cordial from our local farmer’s market and suddenly realised that this is exactly what we could be doing with our own rhubarb.

With a little bit of guesswork we managed to create the perfect mix.

The magic ingredients for our homemade rhubarb cordial — just add water!
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.
homemade rhubarb cordial
Sunshine is optional ;)
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.
homemade rhubarb cordial
Freshly picked and waiting to be transformed!
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.

Here’s how to make your own delicious homemade rhubarb cordial.

How To Make 

You’ll need:

  • 500ml water
  • 500g of golden caster sugar
  • The juice of 1 large orange plus the zest and some of the rind
  • The juice of 1 lemon plus the zest
  • 6 stalks of fresh rhubarb

The method is deliciously straightforward too! Super simple and very quick.

Chop the rhubarb into nice chunks then boil it up in a pan with the orange and lemon juice, plus the zest and rind, until the rhubarb is soft and breaking up.

Then add the sugar. My preference is golden caster because it has a lovely caramel flavour but any would do — I used plain old granulated the first time and that worked nicely too.

Bubble the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Leave to cool then strain* the mix into a bottle or jug.

*We couldn’t be bothered to wait for it to strain though a muslin. If you did have the patience for this, you’d be rewarded with a beautiful clear liquid. We just used a sieve and — as a result — our cordial is cloudy.

But hey — it still tastes amazing!!!

NB: Life’s too short for waiting around for homemade rhubarb cordial to strain through a cloth! MUCH nicer to be sat in the garden drinking it :)

Serve with plain water, sparking water or — ahem — Prosecco (depending on what time of day it is). And a liberal helping of ice.

Or you can even turn it in to an amazing cocktail!!

The Taste of Summer

rhubarb9
Delicious homemade rhubarb cordial
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.
rhubarb7
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.

How Long Will It Keep?

I suppose (as this is a recipe) I should be able to tell you exactly how long to keep the cordial for, but my boy and I haven’t managed to keep any for longer than two days (greedy goblins). 

We’ve tried to hazard a guess and we reckon that a week — in the fridge — would be a fair estimate.

One last thing I should mention! The strained rhubarb makes THE most amazing compote. Perfect when served with creamy greek yoghurt or ice-cream. Pop it in a sealed tub in the fridge and it will stay good for a week or so.

If you can manage to keep it that long ;)

Plus, if you’re feeling like you’d like something a little more ‘substantial’ — for want of a better word — why not make Rhubarb, Strawberry and Ginger Eton Mess? This lovely recipe is a twist on a classic and absolutely delicious.

A little Bit Of History

My grandad — who sadly passed  away a few years ago — was a really keen gardener.

His vegetable plot was long and wide but the soil quality poor and jet black.

Nan and grandad’s house was built near a coal mine and the earth in his garden was almost like coal dust; I’ve never seen anything like it before, or since. You’d almost think that it would be too arid to sustain the growth of any plant life but year in, year out, my grandad grew the most wonderful runner beans, beetroot and rhubarb.

Whenever we went to visit, we’d always end up taking home a bag of whatever was in season; plus a jar of my nana‘s marmalade, pickled beetroot or pickled onions.

For which she was legendary.

So when grandad died and the house had to be sold one of the things I wanted to take — as a memento — was a rhubarb plant .

We have it in our garden now and my grandad would be so proud to see it growing there.

Homemade Rhubarb Cordial
This year’s crop of runner beans; grown from the seeds of my grandad’s original bean plants!
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.
Homemade Rhubarb Cordial
Some of grandad’s rhubarb, happily growing in our own veggie plot
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.
Homemade Rhubarb Cordial
Fresh rosy stalks, waiting to be picked :)
Photo Credit: The Listed Home.

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Homemade Rhubarb Cordial

Homemade Rhubarb Cordial

Yield: 500ml
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

This gorgeous cordial is one of the best ways to use up a glut of rhubarb in the garden. Really easy to make and tastes delicious!

Ingredients

  • 500ml water
  • 500g of golden caster sugar
  • The juice of 1 large orange plus the zest and some of the rind
  • The juice of 1 lemon plus the zest
  • 6 stalks of fresh rhubarb

Instructions

    1. Chop the rhubarb into nice chunks then boil it up in a pan with the orange and lemon juice, plus the zest and rind, until the rhubarb is soft and breaking up.
    2. Then add the sugar. My preference is golden caster because it has a lovely caramel flavour but any would do — I used plain old granulated the first time and that worked nicely too.
    3. Bubble the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved.
    4. Leave to cool then strain the mix into a bottle or jug.

Notes

We couldn't be bothered to wait for it to strain though a muslin. If you did have the patience for this, you'd be rewarded with a beautiful clear liquid. We just used a sieve and — as a result — our cordial is cloudy. But hey — it still tastes amazing!!!

Life's too short for waiting around for homemade rhubarb cordial to strain through a cloth! MUCH nicer to be sat in the garden drinking it :)

Serve with plain water, sparking water or — ahem — Prosecco (depending on what time of day it is). And a liberal helping of ice.

Or you can even turn it in to an amazing gin and rhubarb cocktail!!

Caro Davies editor of The Listed Home
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Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.

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102 thoughts on “How To Make Homemade Rhubarb Cordial”

  1. Your pictures sell me this drink! If I manage to bribe the toddler into a trance with something on the TV I will give it a try! Rhubarb and lemons, yum :) It will be shop bought though our mini gardeners got a bit too keen with the watering and subsequently, the plants died.

    • Aaah it is SO delicious — it really is. It has that lovely tangy rhubarb flavour but is so sweet and very, very moreish. Shame about your plants — I’m sure that shop bought will work just as well! xx

    • Aaah go out and get some immediately!! It’s such a good thing to do with it — and made even better when you turn it into a cocktail with gin ;)

    • Without question — it mostly certainly would. The lemon juice helps with preserving but the orange was in the fridge so I thought I’d throw it in!! To be honest, the recipe could change to suit you. I will add some star anise the next time I make it — I think that would have really been a good addition :)

  2. Great post brought back memories of my Grandmother with her rhubarb pie and her famous mint sauce #Twinkly Tuesday

  3. Taking a plant from the garden is really such a lovely thing to do and it looks beautiful in your very pretty looking garden. You’ve taken some really lovely photographs here. I love rhubarb, so this cordial would be right up my street! xxx

    • Aaah thanks so much Kerry — that’s lovely of you! It makes me so happy that it managed to stay alive! I think it’s a happy plant — it’s certainly given us lots of fruit :)

  4. Ah it’s so lovely that you kept a rhubarb plant in memory of your Granddad! The cordial looks so great and a fab way to use it up! I’m loving the idea of teaming it up with Prosecco :) x #TwinklyTuesday

    • Thanks so much Michelle :) We’ve got a lot from nan and grandad’s garden actually — it makes me feel really close to him, in a weird way x

  5. I don’t like the texture of rhubarb at all, but I like the taste, so I think I could definitely get on board with this cordial! x

    #twinklytuesday

    • Yes — it can be quite slimy can’t it?I know just where you’re coming from there! No chance of any slime with this cordial — it’s SO lovely!!! :)

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