Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
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Juicy red fruit bubbling under a crisp, golden topping—this strawberry rhubarb crisp is one of the easiest (and best) desserts I know.
This strawberry rhubarb crisp is one of my favorite easy desserts, especially in spring or early summer. It’s perfect warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a little sweetened whipped cream. And the leftovers are just as good the next morning with a cup of coffee.
Just a heads up: while fruit desserts like this are usually pretty flexible, it’s important to keep the ratio of rhubarb to strawberries the same. As tempting as it is to add extra strawberries, they release a lot of juice and can lead to a too-juicy “fruit soup” situation.
For more seasonal fruit crisp variations, don’t miss my summer peach crisp and autumn apple crisp—two longtime favorites around here.
“I served it to guests at a dinner party and everyone agreed it was the best crisp any one of us had ever tried.”
What You’ll Need To Make Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Rhubarb & strawberries – the classic sweet-tart combo. Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, but you treat it like fruit. It’s very tart, but once you add a little sugar and cook it down, it takes on a jammy, berry-like sweetness. To prep it for this recipe, trim off the leaves (they’re not edible) and rough ends, rinse the stalks, and cut them into ½-inch pieces.
- Granulated sugar & light brown sugar – for sweetening the fruit and giving the topping that warm, caramel-y depth
- Cornstarch – thickens the fruit juices so you don’t end up with a soupy filling
- Vanilla extract – adds subtle warmth and rounds out the fruit flavor
- Flour & oats – the foundation of the crisp topping; the flour gives it structure, and the oats add hearty texture
- Chopped pecans – for crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor
- Salt – balances the sweetness and makes everything taste better
- Unsalted butter – cut in cold to make a buttery, crumbly topping
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Prep the fruit filling. Quarter the strawberries and combine them with the rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Stir until the fruit is evenly coated with the sugar mixture. Transfer the fruit mixture to a 2-quart baking dish (no need to butter it) and set aside while you prepare the topping.
Step 2: Make the Topping. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt. Process until well combined, then add the chunks of cold butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with a few pea-sized clumps of butter within.
Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the oats and chopped pecans.
Step 3: Assemble and Bake. Spoon the topping evenly over the fruit without packing it down. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown.
Step 4: Cool and Serve. Cool the crisp for about 20 minutes before serving, then spoon into shallow bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
This strawberry rhubarb crisp is loaded with sweet-tart fruit and topped with a buttery oat pecan streusel.
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 pound rhubarb stalks, trimmed and sliced ½-inch thick (about 4 cups)
- ½ pound strawberries, hulled and quartered (about 2 cups)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Topping
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with a knife
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- ¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- Lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
For the Filling
- In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Stir until the fruit is evenly coated with the sugar mixture, and the sugar mixture is no longer white.
- Transfer the fruit mixture to a 2-quart or 8-inch baking dish (no need to butter it) and set aside while you prepare the topping.
For the Topping
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt. Process until well combined, about 30 seconds. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with a few pea-sized clumps of butter within. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the oats and chopped pecans.
- Spoon the topping evenly over the fruit without packing down. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes before serving. Spoon into shallow bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream.
- Note: If your baking dish is shallow, place it on top of a foil-lined sheet pan to catch any spills that might bubble over the edges.
- Note: Don't be tempted to increase the strawberries in the recipe, or you'll end up with fruit soup (they release a lot of juice).
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The crisp can be frozen tightly covered for up to 3 months. Before serving, reheat it, uncovered, in a 300°F oven until heated through and crisp on top.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 332
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 49g
- Sugar: 32g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
- Sodium: 81mg
- Cholesterol: 23mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This is my husbands new favorite dessert. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart. No modifications necessary.
Perfect!!! I’ve eaten this for dessert with ice cream and for breakfast with vanilla siggis yogurt! Delightful
This was a great recipe. For the filling, I doubled the rhubarb and strawberries and increased the cornstarch to 4 T. For the topping I reduced the flour to 1/2 cup plus added 1/2 cup ground almonds, increased the salt to almost 1/2 tsp., and, increased rolled oats to 1 cup. Added 1 stick or 8 T butter. Everything else remained the same including the sugar. All was placed in a (coconut oil) greased glass 9 x 13 pan. My family loved this recipe, not to sweet and not to tart. A definite keeper. Thank you!
I must have misunderstood because you said leave ratio of fruit the same, but the recipe calls for twice as much rhubarb.
Hi, I’m not sure I understand your question. Did you make a larger quantity, for example, double it? If so, what I mean by that is that you would double all the ingredients and use 2 pounds of rhubarb and 1 pound of strawberries (and double all the other ingredients). Please LMK if I can help in any other way.
I wondered the same thing: I thought I needed to keep the fruit 1:1 ratio or you’ll have fruit soup, but then the recipe says 2:1 rhubarb:strawberries (1 lb rhubarb:1/2 lb strawberries?
Sheila
Hi Sheila, I’m sorry if what I wrote was confusing. What I meant was that the ratios should remain the same as the original recipe (in that you’ll use twice the amount of rhubarb versus the amount of strawberries. Hope that clarifies!
Once upon a Chef is my go to cooking site for everything and there is nothing I don’t love or anyone I cook it for (vegetarian household) and I could leave a 5 star review for so many recipes, but I chose this one, because nobody in our house would eat cooked strawberries and rhubarbs were frowned upon, but grow in our backyard and now, my teenagers beg me to make this crisp, it’s everyone’s breakfast and dinner and my co-workers ask me for the recipe, all the time since I brought it to School and it’s just perfect, in every way.
Excellent!
I made this exactly as the recipe reads. There was way too much topping. We could hardly taste the strawberry/rhubarb for the overwhelming sweetness of all of the sugars and other ingredients in the topping.
This recipe is great! I followed it exactly and it turned out perfectly!! Thanks so much!!
I really want to make this recipe in 8 ramekins for our Supper Club this weekend. Have you ever done that? Not sure about the baking time or if I need to modify the recipe at all.
Hi Cindy, that would work. I’d start checking them at 25 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the fruit is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown. Hope everyone enjoys!
I have made this couple of times now and everyone at home loves it. I even used the same recipe with quince and it turned out really well. Thank you
Absolutely wonderful. After I had everything ready to go except for adding the oats for the topping, I discovered I was out of oats. Boo. I substituted plain panko crumbs, and it worked perfectly! Next time I’m using oats, though. Thanks for your consistently outstanding recipes.
Good to know about the quince! Did that replace your strawberries? Or require extra bake time? We love this recipe too, it is in our favorites list!