Rhubarb Chia Jam
Easy, healthy rhubarb jam recipe made with chia seeds and honey. Tastes great on toast! The rhubarb chia jam is gluten free and easily made vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
Well hello! I received several requests for this rhubarb jam recipe after you all saw it over and over again in my “life of a vegetarian” post. I made another batch as the sun went down yesterday so I could share the recipe with you this morning. I finally captured a bunny and a couple of squirrels outside my window in the process—proof that I really do live in Bunnyville.
Sometimes I judge recipes too quickly, as was the case with this rhubarb jam. It’s lovely, pink, sweet-and-sour goodness. You can spread it on toast or swirl it into yogurt or oatmeal.
I based this jam off of my strawberry chia jam recipe. Chia jams are really easy to make. They’re made of fruit, mostly, and naturally sweetened with honey, so they’re healthy, too. The chia seeds are rich in Omega-3s and help the mixture thicken into a nice, jammy consistency.
I’m going to keep this post short because it’s a beautiful day and I want to get out and enjoy it. I hope you’ll get a chance to try rhubarb chia jam before rhubarb season is over!
Rhubarb Chia Jam
Easy, healthy rhubarb jam recipe made with chia seeds and honey. Tastes great on toast! The rhubarb chia jam is gluten free and easily made vegan. Recipe yields about 1 ½ cups.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh rhubarb, leafy ends removed, stalks chopped across into ¼-inch slices
- 3 tablespoons honey, maple syrup or agave nectar
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or orange juice
Instructions
- Combine chopped rhubarb and sweetener in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the rhubarb is mostly submerged in liquid. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the chia seeds. Continue cooking, while stirring frequently and reducing heat as necessary to prevent scorching, for 25 to 30 minutes, until there are no big chunks of rhubarb left and the jam drips slowly off your spoon.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon or orange juice. Let the mixture cool, then cover and refrigerate. The jam should keep for a week or two in the refrigerator.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my strawberry chia jam, which was slightly adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook.
Wait, what are chia seeds? Chia seeds come from southern Mexico. They’re high in nutrients and Omega-3s like flax seeds, but they don’t need to be ground up for our bodies to benefit from them. Chia seeds develop a crazy gel-like coating when they come into contact with water, which is how they act like pectin in jam recipes. Look for chia seeds in bulk bins or bags at your health food store.
Warning: Rhubarb leaves are poisonous, so don’t feed the scraps to your dog.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup or agave nectar in place of the honey.
Can it be canned? I don’t think so. I am not a canning expert, so I would NOT advise canning this recipe.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
OHHH yummy yum yummy! This sounds GREAT!
i have yet to get my hands on rhubarb in Dallas.
I suggest then that you move to somewhere more able to sustain human habitation.
Mmmm, I will definitely use this recipe! Chia jam is awesome. So easy and nutritious. :)
Chia jam sounds so amazing! I can only imagine how great this is with all of that rhubarb!
Cool recipe! Have abundance of rhubarb and chia seeds. It was meant to be!
Deirdre @ thekitschcook.blogspot.com
Such a fabulous recipe. Homemade jam is the best! Plus, rhubarb is all I’m craving lately!
Are you psychic??
I made your strawberry jam last week -so delicious! I ate it in your quick oatmeal + on ice cream (a frozen banana blended with vanilla and a spoonful of almond butter) until it was gone.
This morning, my very picky hubby asked me to make more. But alas-I was out of strawberries. I did happen to have a bag of rhubarb in the freezer though ;) How did you know??
Needless to say, it is on my stove right now. Quick question: why the difference in technique from the strawberry version?
I found adding the chia in the beginning made this one thicker a bit too quickly and I add to add a couple of tablespoons of water to loosen it up a bit so the rhubarb could continue to soften.
Thank you so much for the great recipes!
Lauryn, I’m sorry I didn’t reply sooner! So glad you and your husband are enjoying the chia jams. Apparently I can’t follow my own instructions, because I didn’t notice the difference in technique with the chia seeds. It’s interesting that your jam thickened up too quickly because I had to keep adding chia seeds to make this one the right texture. Hmmm… I think I need to get more rhubarb so I can experiment.
my goooodness.. i love rhubard. This looks delicious.
The idea is great, however cooking chia seeds kills all the benefits (the fatty acids are fragile when it comes to temperature). I’d try making it raw – perhaps cooking the rhubarb first, and mixing it with the rest of ingredients after it cools? (Honey loses its values because of heat, too!). It would probably take quite a long time for chia to soak – at least overnight – but the gel would be created, anyway :)
Marianna, I hadn’t thought of that. I’m sure you’re right. As far as jams go, though, I’d say this one is still much healthier than the average jam made with tons of refined sugar. It would be interesting to see how the jam turns out with soaked chia.
Heating chia seeds doesn’t destroy ALL the health benefits, only the essential fatty acids (i.e. omega-3).
This is such a beautifully sunny post. I love the natural light filtering through in your photos… wonderful to see that the season is changing over there for you and Cookie! Love this jam. Glad that you posted it despite initial doubts… rhubarb and honey is such a lovely combination xx
Thank you, Laura!
You have almost convinced me to try rhubarb with this recipe :) I love your strawberry chia jam, so maybe I will need to try this one! Thanks for sharing.
Oh, you have to try rhubarb soon, Kate! It’s tart and delicious, especially after it’s been cooked down for 30 minutes.
I read this over the weekend just as I was about to go outside and enjoy the weather too! Love the chia jam, I still haven’t tried my hand at it, buuuut I think that needs to change ASAP!
Just made this! It is wonderful!
Thank you, Sarah! Glad to hear it!
wooh i’m obsessed with the idea of rhubarb in my yogurt – love it. And I’ve been sprinkling chia seeds even on top of ice cream! By the end of the bowl they’ve started to absorb the icecream – yum.
Ok, now I have to go buy a carton of ice cream so I can try your chia seed topping! Thanks, Dervla. ;)
I love chia jam and think that making a rhubarb version for spring is a wonderful idea. Pinning this now. :)
OMG! This is such an amazinggggggggg recipe!!!! I love how this recipe is so completely healthy and guilt-free! It’s such a refreshing summery color and flavor, I can’t wait to make these!!!!!
Raise your hand if you were eagerly awaiting this recipe…(my hand is totally raised!) This looks so summary and yummy, can’t wait to try it when they have rhubarb at the farmers market (here in WI it may be another month or so.)
Thank you, Phi! Hope you love the jam!
I can’t seem to get enough rhubarb this time of year.. and here you are with a totally new way ( at least to me) to enjoy one of my favorite seasonal beauties! Chia Rhubarb jam… yum!
Have a good week in Bunnyville:)
xoxo
E
Many thanks! I’ve been blending this into my vanilla yogurt every day and loving it.
Yes! That’s great to hear!
I have heard so many good things about the health benefits of chia seeds, but sadly haven’t worked with them. This looks like a great recipe to get me started!
Can’t wait to make a jam with chia seeds! It’s so different from what I’m used to which makes me super curious! Greetings to Bunnyville! Tell them I said hi.
This jam looks delicious! I love rhubarb, and combining it with chia seeds sounds like a great idea.
Made this with blueberries and some almond extract. The chia seeds take all of the work out of it!
Deirdre @ http://thekitschcook.blogspot.ie/2014/05/busy-bees-blueberry-almond-chia-jam.html
Deirdre, your version sounds and looks great! Thanks for sharing.
Mum loves rhubarb. Can’t wait to surprise her with a jar of this for her weekend toast!
Hope she loves it!
I would love to try this recipe, but one of my family members is allergic to chia seeds. Do you have any suggestions besides pectin? Thanks
Amber, I’m sorry, I don’t have any sure substitutions to offer. Flax seeds help bind foods but I have no idea what they would do in jam. Another option would be to roast rhubarb (with strawberries, if you’d like) like I did here—the juices condense in the oven and you’re left with a somewhat jammy consistency.
Unfortunately, we don’t grow rhubarb but our neighbors do and I cannot wait to give this a try! Sounds absolutely delicious!
I love how easy chia jams are!! I feel like all the fruits of summer are going to get chia jammed this year, and it’s going to be glorious. But I’m betting the sweet tart of rhubarb will be my favorite.
wow – these pictures are just awesome!! Love the one of the chopped up rhubarb. Will definitely have to give this a try :)
Thank you, Leah! :)
Just made this jam and it’s pretty tasty! Apparently, I have a major sweet tooth, because I found the jam a bit too tart. I added 3 strawberries and another Tbsp maple syrup at the end of the cooking and was happy.
I did some research on whether cooking destroys the nutritional value of the chia seeds, and per my findings, it only decreases it slightly. The higher the heat, the higher the destruction, but the overall effect isn’t major, says James Sheer, author of The Magic of Chia. Just thought I’d share that as I found it interesting!
Hey Erin! I’m glad you made the jam work for you. The rhubarb seems to get sweeter as the cooking goes on, but I’m sure different stalks of rhubarb have different levels of sweetness. Thanks for sharing your research about chia seeds! I find it interesting, too. I’m glad the seeds’ nutrition isn’t totally destroyed in the process.
I also had to add water, not enough liquid and it was starting to bubble dry. It turned out delicious, though. :)
Cara, I’m sorry you had to tinker with the recipe, but glad it turned out well in the end! I’m going to buy more rhubarb so I can test the recipe one more time.
Yum! I have some frozen rhubarb that I’ve been looking to do something with, and since I’m not much of a pie/crumble person, this recipe looks perfect!
Do you have any ideas how many cups frozen rhubarb would equal the 1lb fresh in your recipe?
Thanks for the help!
Hey Sarah, great question! Three cups chopped rhubarb should equal about a pound. Hope you love the jam!
is this recipe safe for canning ?
I am rhubarb & canning crazy……in a good way, of course…
Hey Diana, I cannot advise canning this jam. Recipes really need to be designed for canning to be safe for long-term storage, and I’m no expert in that arena, so please don’t try to can this one. It does keep well for a couple of weeks in the fridge, though. I know that much!
I was going to ask the same thing about canning as I need recipes for wedding favors. I would think the rhubarb is acidic enough, plus the lemon juice, for canning, but I don’t know what the addition of the chia seeds does for the pH. I’ll do some more research and see if anyone has made canned chia jam yet. Thanks for the inspiration!
Love the recipe, but mine turned out an ugly pea green color instead of the pretty pink like your picture… did I do something wrong?
Bummer! I noticed that my rhubarb jam was less pink than another blogger’s rhubarb jam, so I’m guessing the color has to do with the rhubarb itself. If your rhubarb stalks had more green than pink, that would explain it.
I just love your blog and had been saving this recipe for a while… I found rhubarb at the farmers’ market this weekend and finally got to try it out. I swapped some of the rhubarb for strawberries and it turned out wonderful! Thanks!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know, Päivi!
I made this recipe the other day – we didn’t have any chia seeds so I used flaxseed meal. I added ¼ cup – the jam thickened up quite well but may need to be cooked a little longer.
I didn’t want to use too much sweetener so I added 3 tsp of honey and 5 tbsp of orange juice (at the start) – so if you’re adding less liquid the jam might thicken up more with the flaxseed meal.
Great recipe – I love the rhubarb flavour.
Thank you, Vivienne! I’m glad to hear that flaxseed meal worked for you. Thanks for sharing your notes!
That’t okay – just an update, I added some chia seeds and it thickened up more. So it’s better to add chia seeds but if you’re allergic as someone said then add chia :)
* if allergic then don’t add chia, just flax meal
Ok, good to know! Thanks for getting back to me, Vivienne.
i’d like to make this this weekend. How much flesh his recipe make. I need enough to take to Canning Club. Thank you!
Hi Krissy! I’m sorry, I am really not sure if this recipe is suitable for canning. It yields roughly 1 1/2 cups.
Hi Kate,
I actually made this recipe x4, so four pounds of rhubarb. It made about 5 4 oz and 2 8 oz jars. I didn’t preservation can it, but since it’ll keep for a couple of weeks, I think it’s good. It turned out great, thicker than I imagined. Delicious mixed with coconut yogurt. Thank you.
That’s a lot of rhubarb! I’m so glad your jam turned out well, Krissy. Thanks for letting me know!
Making the rhubarb chia jam today. I was wondering how well it freezes?
I’m sorry, Jeannette, I haven’t tried, but I suspect it would freeze well.
Kate,
Can your recipe be canned?
I see from recent posts there is no answer yet to my question. But thanks for the recipe.
OMG I just finished making it and I can’t wait to try it, adding the chia seeds was genious .I will probably make some overnight oats with it, and as a topping to nice cream.Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Thanks, Suzanne! Hope you’re loving the jam!
I love chia jams! Rhubarb. Now, I hadn’t thought of that but our season will not be fir many months so plenty of time. I always was given rhubarb with ginger so I like it that way (used to it).
Oh, I still just live that lively perky dog!
So delicious! It was great on yogurt, and I also served it as a topping for ice cream and pound cake for dessert when I had company over. Definitely making more of it!
How do you work out the calories for each portion as you don’t state how many settings you get out of it
Serving sizes are always approximate and depend on how much you actually consume in eat sitting. If you’re eating about 10% of the batch at one time, when divide the total calories by 10.
Can this jam be frozen?
Lisa
Love your recipes!!!!
Does the sweetener need to be a liquid as I was just wondering if coconut sugar could be sub’d for the sweeteners listed.
Sounds Yum!
Hi Gaye, I think coconut sugar will work; I just haven’t tried to be sure.
Ready to make this today! I hope we like it…have you ever frozen it? I have cherries to use too….
I made the rhubarb chia jam and I am very pleased. Its a great way to use the fresh rhubarb and its fitting into my healthy eating plan. Thanks. I am going to be looking for more ways to use those chia seeds too.
Great! I’m glad you think so, Judy.
I love this jam! I’ve canned several batches and it works just fine, maybe add a bit of extra lemon juice to the bottom of each jar before filling.
Thank you, Heather for sharing! I appreciate the review.
very interesting and impotent post thanks for sharing
I am feeling hungry now.
It was great on yogurt, and I also served it as a topping for ice cream and pound cake for dessert when I had company over.
Thanks, Monika!