We love this homemade rhubarb soda recipe because it’s a great way to eat seasonally. One of my favorite things about buying produce at farmer’s markets and connecting with growers is learning about new foods and getting new ideas for the kitchen. We love taking our kids on field trips to local farms to see how food is grown and even volunteer to help the farmers for an afternoon. On one such trip in spring, we met farmer Deb who told us about a delicious homemade rhubarb soda recipe that she makes while the tart plant is in season.
After getting to connect with Deb and getting to see the happenings on her farm, my son was so excited to make rhubarb soda. In fact, he made it all by himself! WOW, it was delicious. This simple homemade rhubarb soda recipe is an easy one to share with kids and will be a huge uplevel from sodas you see at the store.
Why Homemade?
While water is our go-to drink for everyday sipping, it is nice to have a special flavored drink every so often. Unfortunately, the drinks available in stores are mostly chocked full of ingredients that we avoid.
Commercial sodas are full of processed sugars (like high fructose corn syrup and low calorie sweeteners), artificial and natural flavors, caramel color, artificial coloring, caffeine, and more. Basically, these sweet drinks are toxic.
The simple solution to this is: make your own! The recipe below is essentially just a flavored simple syrup, and you get to choose how much you add to your drink and your kids’ drinks which means you get to choose how much sugar to have. While we avoid eating excess sugar in our household, we never demonize sugar. Instead, we cultivate a healthy mindset around sugar. By making this syrup at home, you get to choose the type and quality of sugar and use nutrient dense ingredients (hello, rhubarb!) to make a drink that both tastes delicious AND provides real nutrients. Plus, there are tons of other benefits to cooking at home.
Rhubarb is a Sour Powerhouse!
Rhubarb is an amazing vegetable that has a wonderful tart flavor. If you’ve never cooked with it before, you eat the leaf stalks of the plant which are a lovely pink-red hue and look a bit like celery. The leaves are not edible as they have a high amount of oxalic acid which is poisonous– but the rest of the plant is completely safe and beneficial!
Rhubarb has many compounds that can support our bodies, boasting properties such as antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, antidiarrheal, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and more. It’s a great source of vitamin K which can promote bone health and is necessary for proper blood clotting. Sour tastes in general help to stimulate the liver and digestion and are often overlooked in American diets. Overall, rhubarb is an awesome vegetable to add to your seasonal selection.
Here’s our homemade rhubarb soda recipe!
Homemade Rhubarb Soda
Equipment
- Medium pot (we prefer stainless steel)
- Cutting board and knife
Ingredients
- 4-6 stems rhubarb
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar or raw honey
- 3 cups filtered water
- Sparkling mineral water to serve
Instructions
- Cut 4-6 stems of rhubarb into small pieces, about 1 inch.
- Combine the rhubarb, 1/2 of organic cane sugar, and 3 cups of filtered water to a pot.
- Bring it to a boil and simmer covered at a soft boil for about 10 minutes.
- Remove pot from the heat and let it return to room temperature.
- Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer (or cheesecloth!) to strain all of the rhubarb chunks out of the liquid. Mash the rhubarb some to release all the liquid. You can reserve the cooked rhubarb to use in smoothies, pie, or stew.
- Store the beautiful pink juice in a a glass container and let it chill in the fridge.
- Combine 1 part rhubarb concentrate with 2 parts unflavored sparkling mineral water. You can also use flat water if you don't have sparkling.
Notes
Shopping List (Recommended Brands)
- Cane Sugar (Organic)
- Wholesome Organic Cane Sugar
- Coconut Sugar (Organic)
- Big Tree Farms Organic Brown Coconut Sugar
- Thrive Market Organic Brown Coconut Sugar
- Fresh Rhubarb (Organic)
- If possible, buy from a local market
- Sparkling Mineral Water (look for unflavored)
- Gerolsteiner Sparkling Mineral Water
- The Mountain Valley Sparkling Water
