Rhubarb substitutes

Morello, Montmorency or other sour cherries, which are one of the few fruits genuinely as tart as rhubarb and which slump and release juice in the same way when cooked.

Best for

pies and crumbles, Kuchen and coffee cakes, Kompott, jam, sauces for pork and duck

The best all-round match, because the sourness level is right without adjustment. The flavour is unmistakably cherry rather than rhubarb's clean grassy sour, and the colour goes deep red instead of pale pink. If using jarred sour cherries in syrup, drain them and cut the recipe's sugar by about a third. Sweet cherries are not a substitute; they have none of the acid.

Fresh or frozen cranberries, pulsed a few times so they are broken rather than whole, which brings acid in the same league as rhubarb and is available almost year round in the freezer aisle.

Best for

pies and tarts, crumbles, compote, sauces for meat, muffins and quick breads

Actually more acidic than rhubarb, and tannic as well, so the filling tastes sharper and slightly drying on the tongue, which is why the extra sugar helps. The texture differs too: cranberries pop and hold their shape rather than melting down into a smooth pink slump, so a crumble comes out chunkier. Excellent flavour, different mouthfeel.

Granny Smith or another firm sour apple, sliced thin, with lemon juice doing the acid work that the apples alone cannot manage.

Best for

Kuchen and streusel cakes, crumbles, pies, compote, baked puddings

The most available and cheapest option, and the lemon juice makes it genuinely work rather than merely acceptable. The difference is texture: apples hold their shape instead of collapsing, so a rhubarb Kuchen made with apple is chunky and structured rather than jammy and soft. Slice them thin, no more than an eighth of an inch, and give them five minutes longer in the oven.

Green gooseberries, the classic English and German pairing with elderflower, which are sharply sour with a green vegetal edge that is remarkably close to rhubarb's.

Best for

pies and crumbles, fools and creams, Kompott, jam, cakes

The closest flavour match of anything here, since they share rhubarb's specific green, grassy sourness rather than a fruit-basket tartness. They burst and thicken similarly. The two catches are availability, since they are seasonal and rarely stocked in North America, and their skins, which stay slightly chewy where rhubarb goes completely soft.

Underripe or naturally tart plums, damsons or apricots, which slump and release juice much as rhubarb does and have enough natural acid to take the lemon addition well.

Best for

Kuchen, crumbles and cobblers, Kompott, cakes, sauces

The texture is a genuinely good match, since stone fruit collapses into a soft jammy mass. The flavour is warmer and distinctly perfumed with stone fruit, and the colour turns orange-gold rather than pink, so the dessert looks and tastes like a different but good thing. Damsons and other very tart plums need less added lemon; taste as you go.

The suggestion people reach for first because strawberry and rhubarb are so often paired, propped up with lemon juice and extra thickener.

Best for

pies, crumbles, compote, when it is genuinely the only fruit you have

Honestly the weakest option on this list on its own. Strawberries are far sweeter and considerably wetter than rhubarb, so without cutting the sugar and adding lemon the result is cloying, and without an extra tablespoon of cornstarch per pie the filling is soup. Much better as half the swap alongside cranberries or sour cherries, which supply the acid it lacks.