If you’re looking for more ways to use up your summer rhubarb, make some refreshing Raspberry Rhubarb Popsicles! Our homemade popsicles are the perfect blend of sweet and tart flavors from fresh summer produce. They are also dairy free, grain free, and made with just a handful of ingredients.
We’re in the thick of summer and we’re loving the green grass and summer sun, but maybe not so much the heat. Cool off on those hot days with our fruity and mouth watering raspberry rhubarb popsicles!
I’m a big fan of fresh raspberries, especially sun ripened wild or garden grown ones. There’s nothing quite like finding a wild raspberry bush on a summer hike and the tiny sweet gems. They seem to hold more even flavor than the store bought berries!
Whether you use garden raspberries or store bought ones in this recipe, these homemade popsicles are amazing! And since rhubarb is actually a vegetable, you’ll get some veggies with these popsicles, too.
Allergy notes:
- Dairy free
- Gluten free
- Grain free
- Peanut and tree nut free
How to make raspberry rhubarb popsicles
There are a few different steps for this recipe and it involves some cooking, but it’s so worth it! You’ll absolutely love the results here even if it takes a little bit longer to make.
Here’s an overview of the steps for making these fresh fruit popsicles, the full recipe is at the end of the post.
- Wash the raspberries and measure out your raspberries, and place them in a heavy bottom 2 quart saucepan.
- Wash and cut your rhubarb, measure it out, then place them in the saucepan with the raspberries.
- Add the water, sugar, and lemon juice to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until everything begins to simmer.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. The fruit will break apart as it cooks and by the end will look close to a sauce. Some of the water will evaporate and that’s ok.
- Once 20 minutes is done, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a bit (about 15 minutes), then strain all of the fruit mixture through a metal mesh strainer.
- Press the fruit mixture through the mesh strainer until all that’s left is seeds and pulp.
- You’ll have a smooth and thicker fruit juice left, but there shouldn’t be seeds or larger pieces of pulp in it. Whisk this juice/puree, then pour into popsicle molds, making sure to leave a little space at the top of the mold.
- Freeze for at least 4 hours or until the popsicles are completely frozen.
- Store in a ziploc bag or an airtight container in the freezer.
Why do I have to cook this popsicle recipe?
Some popsicle recipes use uncooked fruit to make popsicles (kind of like our strawberry mango popsicles) and they are still awesome. So why cook this recipe?
First, the rhubarb tastes the best (in my opinion) when it’s cooked with something sweet, in our recipe that’d be the sugar and raspberries. Like we do with our lemonade recipe and our roasted peach ice cream, cooking the fruit (and veggies = rhubarb) helps to deepen the flavors.
The lemon juice also brings out the flavors as well, adding another dimension of fruity tanginess to round out the balance of sweet and tart flavors.
Second, since we’re using granulated sugar instead of a liquid sweetener in this recipe, we need to dissolve the sugar or our popsicles would be gritty or grainy.
It also thickens the fruit juice/puree, making a smoother popsicle with fewer ice crystals.
While it’s still granulated sugar, we used the unbleached Zulka natural cane sugar, so it’s closer to a natural sweetener than more processed bleached white sugar.
Check out our other popsicle recipes:
- Dairy Free Pineapple Popsicles
- Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Fudgesicles
- Strawberry Mango Popsicles (Paleo)
Fresh Raspberry Rhubarb Popsicles
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- ¾ cup chopped rhubarb
- 2.5 cups water
- ½ cup unbleached cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Place the raspberries, chopped rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, and water in a 2 quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat until everything begins to simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The fruit will break up and everything will start to look like a chunky fruit sauce.
- After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the fruit mixture to cool a bit.
- Pour the fruit mixture through a wire mesh strainer over a bowl.
- Press the fruit mixture through the strainer until most of it has been strained (you'll be left with the remaining seeds and some fruit pulp). You'll have about 2 cups of fruit juice/puree.
- Stir the fruit juice/puree and allow to cool completely.
- Stir again then pour into popsicle molds, leaving about 1/4 inch space at the top for expansion during freezing.
- Freeze until firm (at least 4 hours). I have larger popsicle molds and this makes 6 popsicles. If you have smaller popsicle molds, you'll get more popsicles.
- Store in the freezer for up to 1 month in an airtight container or freezer bag.
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and allergy friendly food blogger of 12 years based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist