This tender and flavorful rhubarb chicken is a savory spring dish featuring juicy chicken thighs in a delicious sweet and sour sauce.
Have you ever tried a savory rhubarb recipe? You definitely should! Start with this rhubarb chicken. Once you have had this, you will be willing to try anything made with rhubarb! Like, for instance, this chicken rhubarb curry, this rhubarb fish curry, or this amazing rhubarb soup with omelet and bacon.
This recipe? The sauce was unbelievable! The tender chicken was great, but the sauce stole the show. I could have eaten it on its own, mopping it up with bread. Sweet, sour, and spicy with plenty of black pepper, it was delightful! Check out this Chicken with Cherries, too.
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Tips for making the rhubarb sauce
Chicken: You can use whole chicken quarters/legs, which you can divide at the joint. Or you can buy already separated thighs and drumsticks. I prefer to skin the chicken parts whenever making a stew or curry, I don't like the floppy skin.
When adding the black pepper to the sauce, start with 1 tablespoon of it, then add up to 2 tablespoons according to your taste.
I used about 1 ½ tablespoons and didn't find the sauce too hot; it was just right for me, and there was no complaint about it being too hot from the children either. It probably depends a lot on the sort of black pepper you use.
The chicken parts need to simmer very slowly for a longer time, about 1 ¼ hours. That will make them incredibly tender and flavorful.
How to make rhubarb chicken?
- Slice the onions and the garlic.
- Peel and chop the rhubarb. Use the peel to make Rhubarb Syrup, for instance.
- Fry the meat parts on one side, turn and cook on the other side.
- Fry the onions and the garlic.
- Stir in the pepper and turmeric.
- Add the tomatoes.
- Now add the rhubarb, honey, and lime juice.
- Add the stock and stir well.
- Return the meat to the pot.
- Bring to a boil.
- Simmer, uncovered for 1 ¼ hours.
Serve
We had the rhubarb chicken with rice this time, but baguette or crusty white bread is also great for mopping up that delicious, sweet, and tangy rhubarb sauce.
Store and reheat
Store leftover rhubarb chicken for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Freeze the leftovers for up to 3 months and defrost them in the fridge.
Reheat on the stovetop or microwave. Stir frequently while reheating.
Rhubarb Chicken (Savory Rhubarb Recipe)
Ingredients
- 10 oz red onions
- 5 large garlic cloves
- 4 skinless chicken thighs
- 4 skinless chicken drumsticks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons roughly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 can chopped tomatoes 400 g/ 14 oz
- 5 tablespoons honey more to taste
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 lb rhubarb
- 3 cups chicken stock
- fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preparations: Halve the red onions and slice them thinly. Slice the garlic cloves thinly as well. Skin the chicken and divide the chicken legs at the joint, if necessary. Clean and peel the rhubarb, then chop it into small pieces.10 oz red onions/ 300 g + 5 large garlic cloves + 4 skinless chicken thighs + 4 skinless chicken drumsticks + 1 lb rhubarb/ 450 g
- Sear the chicken: Heat the olive oil in a thick-bottomed or nonstick pot and fry the chicken pieces until golden brown all over, about 5 minutes per side. Don't try to move the chicken pieces during the first 5 minutes; the meat will stick to the pan. Once it is browned, you will be able to turn it easily. Take them out of the pan and set aside.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Cook vegetables: Fry the onions and garlic without adding any extra oil to the pan for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add a splash of water, if the onions start to stick. Add the pepper and turmeric and fry shortly while stirring all the time. Add the chopped tomatoes and let them cook for 2-3 minutes.1 to 2 tablespoons roughly ground black pepper + 2 teaspoons turmeric + 1 can chopped tomatoes
- Simmer: Add the honey, lime juice, and chopped rhubarb. Return the chicken back to the pan and add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer on medium-low heat, uncovered, for about 1 ¼ hours, stirring occasionally.5 tablespoons honey + 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice + rhubarb + chicken + 3 cups chicken stock/ 730 ml
- Adjust the taste with fine sea salt and maybe more honey or lime juice if you find that necessary.
Jane Eames says
Tried this today and we both loved it. Thank you for sharing.
Colleen says
Absolutely delicious and unique dish, I add about twice as much honey as the recipe calls for and still nicely tart
Adina says
Thank you. I am so happy to hear you liked it.
Sally Wilkins says
Is it really ten onions?? Seems like a lot for 4-6 servings? Looking forward to trying this tomorrow.
Adina says
Hi Sally. Not 10 onions but 10 oz or 300 g onions, those would be 2-3 onions depending on their size. Happy cooking!
Linda says
Yummy. Didn't peel the rhubarb as we never have. Excellent thanks for sharing.
Lynda says
My family really enjoyed the flavours in this recipe but after only 30 minutes of simmering the chicken was falling apart. Will definitely make it again with less stock and probably leave the rhubarb in larger pieces so there is still some texture. The rhubarb, honey, lime and turmeric combination is really tasty!!
JoAnn says
Delicious! I used 2 chicken breasts instead of thighs and drumsticks. I T of pepper was plenty for us. For step 4, I used my electric pressure cooker, and it turned out more like soup. My guess is that there is evaporation that takes place when cooking on the stove, which doesn't occur in a pressure cooker. We added some cooked rice, and it was great. When I make it again, I will probably reduce the amount of chicken stock to 2 cups.
Kim says
Can I use frozen rhubarb? Can't wait to try this!!
Adina says
Hi Kim. I never did, but I think it's ok.
Jim says
turned out great, was tired of just using rhubarb in pies and getting loads right now. modifications I made:
– added a bit of creole seasoning when frying the onions
– squirt of sriracha during the simmer
- white wine/cornstarch slurry at the end to thicken the sauce up
– served over coconut brown rice
Adina says
Thank you for the feedback, Jim. It sounds great.
Julie says
This was great, made the curry then added with grilled chicken and Tifu as we are a divided house.
Adina says
Sounds great, Julie. Thank you for the feedback.
Heidemarie says
Excellent dish and wonderful to have something different to do with rhubarb!
I used fresh tomatoes with a dollop of tomato paste and think it still worked fabulously. A friend who found the pepper a little intense, added a little plain yoghurt to good effect. We are both going to make this again. Thank you Adina 🙂
Adina says
Thank you for the feedback! 🙂
Jennifer says
Hi, I have someone who is using your recipe and got to a point where she had browned everything and made the sauce but had to leave to run errands. She's hoping she can transfer this into the stove later to finish the dish. She was hoping she could put it in the oven at 350 or 375. Is it possible?
Jennifer says
We actually told her to put it in a crockpot and simmer it there.
Adina says
Hi Jennifer. Only saw the comment now. I hope it worked with the crockpot.
Marcia says
I am very confused by the good reviews. I made the recipe as written. I questioned the Tablespoon or more of pepper but put it in (1 Tbsp) as directed. We were very disappointed with the results. The pepper overpowered the rhubarb, lime, onion, garlic and everything else. We are having a bumper crop of rhubarb so I will try it again but cut back to a teaspoon of pepper. We can always add more later.
Adina says
That sounds ok, I hope it works for you better that way.
Jim says
@Marcia, if you are using finely ground pepper, instead of roughly ground, 1tbsp ends up being a lot more pepper.
Jennifer says
Are you using diced or crushed tomatoes? I used diced tomatoes because that's what we call chopped tomatoes where I live, but the photo looks like you're using crushed.
Adina says
Hi Jennifer. It doesn't really matter that much, use what you have. I normally use chopped/diced tomatoes for this recipe, the cubes are pretty small. Sometimes I use canned whole tomatoes which I crush myself with the hand directly in the pot.
Jennifer says
@Adina, thanks for answering. Made this last night and my 16-year-old, who is super picky, ate 3 drumsticks. That's amazing because he doesn't eat onions, tomato (except in sauce form) or rhubarb (ever).
Adina says
I am so glad to hear it, Jennifer. My kids love this too. 🙂
Roxanne says
Made this tonight and it was really lovely. This was my first time cooking rhubarb and I was thrilled to find a savoury recipe. Made it exactly as written and served over broccoli rice. Delicious!
Adina says
I am so happy to hear it, Roxanne. Thank you for writing. I am looking forward to the fresh rhubarb so I can make it again.
Emily Wilson says
Fantastic dish! Halved the chicken stock and only used 3T-ish of honey. Had over couscous with minced herb medley to great effect.
Adina says
So happy to read this, Emily. 🙂 Couscous sounds great!