Go Back
–+ servings

Air Fryer, Oven Or Stovetop Stewed Rhubarb (Compote)

Overhead shot of a white dinner table, with pink napkin, main bowl of red stewed rhubarb inc entre, with others to sides, and title air fryer stewed rhubarb, baking on a budget.
You don't have to just make stewed rhubarb (AKA Rhubarb Compote) on the stovetop. Learn how to simply cook rhubarb by stovetop, oven or air fryer. Part of the Baking On A Budget series - see before recipe for energy & money saving tips.
Caro @ Caroline's Easy Baking Lessons
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Serving Size 4 Servings*

Equipment

  • Chopping Board
  • Knife
  • Scales or measuring cups
  • Small measuring jug
  • Measuring Spoons (optional)
  • Cooking Pot or Oven-save pot
  • Spoon for mixing
  • Fork

Ingredients

  • 400 grams Fresh Rhubarb, chopped (14 oz, for frozen rhubarb, see notes)
  • 80 grams Sugar (2¾ oz, rounded ⅓ cup, granulated or caster sugar)
  • 100 ml Water (3⅓ fl oz, ½ cup + 1 tbsp)
  • ½ Lemon (medium or large) (juice only)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (make your own homemade Vanilla extract, or use 1 tsp Ginger instead)
  • ¼ tsp Anise, ground (optional)

Instructions

Prepare The Rhubarb

  • Begin by cleaning and chopping your rhubarb, into pieces about 1cm (⅓") long. However, if any thin stalks of rhubarb, chop to about 2cm (¾"), for more even cooking. For frozen rhubarb, defrost at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Once defrosted, drain the rhubarb liquid really well. (*You can reserve 100ml/3⅓ fl oz/½ cup + 1 tbsp of this rhubarb liquid and add later, in place of the water listed in the ingredients if you wish). See Photo 1 below.
    2 photo collage of rhubarb stalks and after chopping - photo 1.

Prepare Cooking Pot/Pan/Dish

  • For the air fryer, you want a suitable oven-save dish/pan, that can hold all the rhubarb. You can use a loose-bottomed dish if you must, but I advise on lining with 2 non-stick paper liners/cases. (By that I mean the kind that go up the sides like used for cake tins or loaf tins, NOT ones that are just discs of paper for lining the bottom only. With those the rhubarb liquid would leak out of a loose bottomed tin. See photo before this recipe card for reference).
  • If cooking on the stove top, you will just need a medium sized cooking pot. And for the oven, any oven-save tin or dish, and enamel works fine too. If using the oven to cook the rhubarb, heat the oven to 180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4 now. For money saving, cook the rhubarb while baking something else & at the temperature required for the other item, (provided not too high a temperature -ie still a moderately heated oven).

Air Fryer Cooking The Rhubarb

  • Add the chopped rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar & water to your air fryer dish, and mix well (you can pre-mix in a larger bowl before this if it makes it easier for you). Set your air fryer to 170°c/325°f, and if your air fryer has to heat up first, switch on a little sooner. Cook for 10 minutes, before giving the rhubarb a mix around, and continue cooking for another 15 - 25 minutes, until fork tender. (See Photo 2).
    4 photo collage of cooking choped rhubarb in air fryer and once soft - photo 2.
  • In some of these photos I cooked longer for a finer rhubarb texture. If you want to still have some pieces of rhubarb visible, cook for a little less, but still use a fork to make sure all pieces are cooked through. The wider your air fryer or cooking dish, the quicker it will cook, as a deeper layer of rhubarb will take more time to cook.

Stove Cooking The Rhubarb

  • Add the chopped rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar & water to your cooking pot, and mix well. Cook on a medium to high heating, and let the mixture come to a boil. The rhubarb will have given off its juice, but if at any point the mixture seems too dry, add small amounts of water. (See Photo 3 below).
    4 photo collage of adding water, sugar, lemon and chopped rhubarb to stovetop - photo 3.to pot
  • Once boiling, leave to boil for about 10 minutes before reducing the heat to a low to medium setting and allow to simmer till cooked through. See Photo 4. You want the rhubarb pieces to be fork tender. If you want to stew the rhubarb further to a more 'stringy' texture, like for rhubarb filled cupcakes, continue to simmer a bit more and mash with a fork, once off the heat.
    2 photo collage of stewed rhubarb boiling and oce cooked - photo 4.

Oven Cooking The Rhubarb

  • Rhubarb can also be cooked in the oven. It is obviously not as economical as the other 2 methods, but if you are using to stuff cupcakes, just cook in the oven at the same time as the cupcakes. Or pop in the oven when making something else (preferably something not with a strong odour).
  • Simply add the ingredients to your oven-save dish, and cook on a 170°c to 180°c (160°c Fan Oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4) setting for about 30 minutes. Start checking from the 20-minute mark. For the cupcake recipe, I baked at 170°c for about 20 minutes, until the cakes were ready and then increased the heat to 180°c for another 10 minutes cooking. So just adjust according to whatever else you are cooking in the oven at the same time. Cook till fork tender, and a bit longer if you don't want any rhubarb pieces. See Photo 5 below.
    4 photo collage of defrosting frozen chopped rhubarb, adding sugar and cooking in oven.

After Cooking

  • Once the rhubarb has been cooked, leave in the pot/dish to cool before transferring to another container. You can also add more vanilla or ground ginger now according to taste.

Serving & Storage

  • You can eat the rhubarb warm after cooking if you like, or warm later and serve with ice-cream, custard or my go-to recipe - pastry cream. (See Photos below). This is thicker than custard, but made the same way. And is ideal for us bakers as when in this pastry cream thicker form, any left-over, you can use with other bakes. For pastry fillings, in cakes, doughnuts, anything really.
    Overhead shot of table with 4 bowls of pastry cream andstewed rhubarb.
  • Store the cooked and cooled rhubarb in an air-tight container, in the fridge for up to 1 week1. Alternatively, you can freeze the cooked rhubarb for as long as 1 year2. Just leave to cool completely, and place in a container suitable for your freezer.
  • You could even place in a large, strong food bag, which means you could have it flat along the length of the bag, meaning you can lay it flat in the freezer, and take up less room. Just make sure the seal is closed tight. A good tip from Freezeit.co.uk is to place a straw half-way into the food bag and use it to remove air from the bag before sealing. Label your frozen rhubarb, with the date you made it, the use by date, and I find adding the weight too helps for using later. Or even writing the number of portions it holds would be handy.
    Overhead phtoo of a white bowl with pastry cream and stewed rhubarb/compote, with a spoon and a pink soft napkin.

Video

Notes

Frozen rhubarb can also be used in place of fresh rhubarb & should be drained really well before using.
Uncooked fresh rhubarb can also be frozen.  Read how to prepare and freeze rhubarb, by Lynn @ Tasty Bakes Kitchen. 
*Recipe Yield - makes about 400g, 1¾ cups, 14oz worth.  Serving size will vary according to what you are using the stewed rhubarb for.  But for nutritional values, 1 serving has been based on 100g (3½ oz/scant ½ cup) worth of compote. 
Close photo of a cupcake cut in half, showing the stuffed rhubarb compote inside.
See my Money Saving Rhubarb Compote Cupcakes recipe to use your stewed rhubarb in, (Photo above).  Or go to my Pastry Cream recipe, to serve with the cooked rhubarb, in place of custard.
See post before Recipe Card for energy & money saving tips in general and for using rhubarb.
Overhead of pastel blue coloured table and napkins, whole rhubarb pie, slice served, coffee and title.
Try my Rhubarb Pie With A Twist top crust, that is easier than a lattice top, or how about a Rhubarb Orange Cake I reviewed?
For more beginner recipes, see my Sweet Lessons page
For easier baking in the warmer months, as well as energy & money saving, see my Air Fryer Traditional British Scones recipes with video tutorial.
Front angled shot of a tea party table, in blue and white Willow crockery, with tea and British scones on plates, with one tall risen scone filled with cream, jam and strawberry at front of picture.**read my Cello double air fryer review.
References:
1, 2:  Stewed rhubarb (compote) fridge and freezing times, from Freezeit.co.uk - direct link & further information can be found at: https://www.freezeit.co.uk/can-you-freeze-stewed-rhubarb/
Nutrition Facts
Air Fryer, Oven Or Stovetop Stewed Rhubarb (Compote)
Serving Size
 
1 100 grams
Amount per Serving
Calories
0
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.