Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
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Gorgeous red fruit bubbling away beneath a crunchy oat streusel topping — this strawberry rhubarb crisp is one of the easiest and best desserts I know.
Perfect for a spring or early summer, this strawberry rhubarb crisp is one of the easiest and best desserts I know. It’s wonderful served warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But if you happen to have leftovers, they’re delicious with your morning coffee, too. Heads up: while fruit desserts like this one tend to be flexible, be sure to keep the ratio of rhubarb to strawberries the same. As tempting as it might be to add extra strawberries, doing so can lead to a too-juicy “fruit soup” situation, since strawberries release a ton of juice. For more seasonal fruit crisp variations, see my summer peach crisp and autumn apple crisp.
“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
If you’ve never cooked with rhubarb, now is the time to start! Technically, it’s a vegetable but you treat it like fruit. It’s very tart but when you add a little sugar and cook it down, it becomes deliciously sweet, like berries. To prepare it for this recipe, trim the leaves (they should not be eaten) and rough ends and wash the stalks, then cut them into 1/2-inch pieces.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Quarter the strawberries and combine them with the rhubarb, 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 baking dish (no need to butter it) and set aside while you prepare 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.
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.
Stir to combine.
Spoon the topping evenly over the fruit without packing it 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, then spoon into shallow bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream.
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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Gorgeous red fruit bubbling away beneath a crunchy oat streusel topping — this strawberry rhubarb crisp is one of the easiest and best desserts I know.
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 pound rhubarb stalks, trimmed and sliced ½-inch thick
- ½ pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 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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Really, really great recipe! Easy to make and incredibly tasty. I added a few extra strawberries because I didn’t read ahead haha, but it didn’t get too soupy, it was perfect. I used coconut sugar because it didn’t have brown sugar and the topping was really tasty. Will definitely make this again – probably a few more times for rhubarb season.
This was excellent and has an awesome flavor. Made it exactly as written. Will definitely make again.! Thanks!
Can you make this the night before and just reheat the next day?
Hi Heidi, I’d make each component ahead, store them separately, and then bake before serving. Hope you enjoy!
This was fantastic! Should have paid closer attention to the note that said “don’t be tempted to add more strawberries or it will turn into a soupy mess!”. LOL! That was totally my fault. Otherwise, recipe is flawless. I will make again and follow the recipe as written. Thank you for a delicious Spring-time dessert recipe!
Very tasty. We had two helpings.
Fantastic delicious easy recipe! I make alot of fruit desserts, my friend and husband said this was the best one I’ve ever made. I loved it too. When I’m searching for a recipe I always look yours up.
Love your naan recipe too. Thanks!
Can I use frozen berries and rubbarb. And if so do I need to add just flour and sugar?
Hi Linda, Yes, using frozen strawberries and rhubarb is fine — just defrost them first and drain any excess liquid. You do not need to make any modifications to the recipe after defrosting and thawing the fruit. Hope you enjoy!
I love this recipe and have made it several times. It is simple and delicious and has become my favorite crisp to make. I love the flavorful blend of the strawberries and rhubarb, topped with crunchy oats and pecans. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us!
I have shared this crisp with my dad and he really liked it. It brought back sweet memories of the rhubarb crisp his mom made when he was young boy.
Very good! Love the crisp. Nothing is overly sweet like on some recipes. I always add nuts to my crisp so this was right up my recipe alley. 🙂 Thanks!
Recently made this and it was delicious! First time attempting to make a crisp and was pleasantly surprised.
Can I use the same topping mixture and technique and just swap out different fruits just as blackberries, raspberries, blueberries?
Also was curious why this recipe compared to some of the other crisps adds the oatmeal later in the recipe?
Thank you for introducing to me to such amazing crisp recipes!
Glad you liked it! You can try with different fruits; just keep in mind that all fruits have a different level of sweetness and exude more or less juice so you may need to play around with both the sugar and cornstarch amounts.
And it really doesn’t make a difference when the oatmeal is added for the topping. 🙂
This was so insanely delicious! The one thing I changed was to add cinnamon to the topping because I don’t believe in crumbles without cinnamon. Oh also I didn’t have pecans so I just left them out and it was still fantastic. Would make again!
Hi Jenn – I don’t have a scale to weigh the berries and ‘barb. Do you have an approximate cup measurement?
Hi Nycki, When you slice the rhubarb, the volume should fill approximately 4 (measuring) cups. The sliced strawberries would be the equivalent of about 1-3/4 cups. Hope that helps and you enjoy!
Could you substitute strawberries in this recipe with saskatoon berries?
Hi Jeri, I just looked up saskatoon berries (I had never heard of them). All fruits are different in terms of levels of sweetness and the amount of juice they give off so for the most predictable results, I’d stick with strawberries. Sorry!
This recipe was unbelievable. I eat a gluten-free diet so instead of the flour I used (1/2) Bobs Red Mill Paleo flour and (1/2) 1-1 baking flour (my daughter shared this recipe with me but used all Paleo flour and it turned out just as good). I like mixing the Paleo Flour which is mostly Almond Flour with the rice flour (just my preference). I will most definitely try some of the other dishes and have already saved this website in my bookmarks.
I made this recipe yesterday and it is wonderful! I had almonds instead of pecans. Also good.
Excellent with vanilla ice cream.
Really delicious rhubarb and strawberry crisp. I will certainly share with my family and friends.
This was AMAZING! I was very impressed with this recipe. This will now be my go-to recipe for this perfect summer dessert. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Hi Jen, do you think this recipe would work if I omitted the rhubarb, I’m not a fan
Hi Lynda, I wouldn’t recommend it as I think using all strawberries would create too much juice and make it soggy. Sorry!
Made it for Fathers Day. It was excellent. Did the crumble by hand it was quick and easy. No need for a food processor.
I’ve made this several times. Everyone loves it! Do you bake before it is frozen or do you freeze then bake?
Glad you like it! I’d bake it before freezing. Hope that helps!
Delicious and simple! Made it twice within one weekend. Kids said it was their favorite EVER! Thank you!!!
Amazing! We’re at peak strawberry and rhubarb season here in Nova Scotia. OMG. The flavors! For sweetener I used 1/2 cup Swerve and 1/4 cup brown sugar, to cut back on overall sugar. Worked great! Omitted the pecans because I had none and this still came out awesome!
I made this recipe for Father’s Day since we were finally be able to host some friends. We moved to a new house in October and I found rhubarb growing in our new garden. Amazing taste, just perfect combination of sour and sweet. I halved the recipe so I wouldn’t end up with a lot of leftovers as I also made another dessert and I was able to save a small portion for tomorrow. Even my no sweet tooth hubby liked the crisp! It’s definitely a keeper! Thanks!
Could we have the fruit amounts in cups? Also, would this work in a 9×13 pan?? thx.
Hi Jill, When you slice the rhubarb, the volume should fill approximately 4 (measuring) cups. The sliced strawberries would be the equivalent of about 1-3/4 cups. And if you want to bake this in a 9 x 13-inch dish, you’ll need to double the recipe. Hope that helps!
Please could you give me the ingredient amounts in grams and millilitres. I really want to make this amazing sounding recipe, but measurement in cups I can’t do!
Hi Maggie, The great majority of my recipes (including this one) include conversions to metric/weight measurements. To view them, scroll down to the recipe, and immediately under the recipe title on the right side, you’ll see a little toggle. If you move it from “cup measures” to metric, you’ll see measurements that will work for you. Hope that helps!
I made this last night, and it was delicious! I appreciated the tips on proportions because I didn’t have quite as much rhubarb as called for. I love your recipes – thank you!
Hi, first off I love your recipes! I just made this one and a salad of yours last night and they were both delicious! I go to your recipe box first if I want to make something to see if you have a recipe for it before I look anywhere else. I am writing because my topping on this crisp and other ones I make always turn out more like powder. I followed your recipe exactly. All I can think is that maybe I blended it too long? Any advice? Thanks, Susan
So glad you like the recipes, Susan! Yes, if you’re finding the topping is more of a powdery texture, it sounds like you’re definitely letting it go too long in the food processor once you’d added the butter. Hope that helps!
What a fantastic recipe and the addition of pecans takes it over the top. I did reduce the sugar a bit because we like it tart. Served hot with whipping cream drizzled over top – delicious.
Made this recipe last week. It was sooooo good I’m making it again this week! We loved it!
Fantastic! I made this last night and everyone loved it.
This was not your average crisp. It struck such a nice balance between sweet, tart, smooth, crunchy. I didn’t have quite enough rhubarb so I subbed the remainder with zucchini. Next time I will peel it so the kids don’t notice 😉
I will also try to reduce the sugar and butter a bit and see how much I can get away with. Thanks for this; perfect with some vanilla ice cream!
Hi Jen, I have made dozens of your recipes, and they have come out delicious and perfect every time. I have made the strawberry rhubarb crisp for small dinner parties and everyone asks for the recipe. I would like to make it for a larger crowd and wonder if I can just double the recipe.’Thanks so much for bringing such goodness to our table.
Nancy
So glad you like the recipes, Nancy! Yes, you can double this and bake it in a 9 x 13-inch dish. Enjoy! 🙂
Delicious, never had rhubarb before! Will make it again and again!
Our friends brought this over for dessert recently and I have made it twice since then to RAVE reviews by all. It is delicious and SO easy to prepare. I put the fruit together earlier in the day, refrigerated it and had the dry ingredients in the food processor ready to go so it was quick in the evening and cooked while we had dinner. Everyone LOVES it!
I’ve always loved rhubarb but never tried to bake with it. I’m getting ready to gather my ingredients but I don’t have a big food processor. Can I improvise?
Love your book n recipes!!
Sure, Jackie – you can cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter (or rub it in with your fingers). Hope you enjoy!
Made this tonight and followed the recipe precisely. It was AMAZING. This is the quintessential summery crisp. I am definitely not a skilled baker, but this is really simple. Another keeper!! Thank you.
I made this today to take to a dinner with friends and it got rave reviews from everyone.
I made one minor revision when I discovered I didn’t have any old-fashioned rolled oats.
We’ve been buying the quick little packages and my husband suggested I use them. I used two cinnamon packs and it worked out just fine! We served it with vanilla ice cream…yum.
Also, thanks for making it so easy to get into your site and see your recipes!!!
This recipe is incredibly good!!!!! I had never made anything with rhubarb before but this was fantastic and will be made again and again this summer. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Jen,
I am planning on making this dessert for a family lobster bake! Is the weight of the strawberries AFTER hulling or before? Thank you! Always LOVE your recipes.
Glad you like the recipes! The weight is before you hull them. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Jenn,
I would like to make this recipe with rhubarb only. Do you have any suggested modifications or adjustments I would need to make. Thanks
Hi Rich, I haven’t tried it, but I think you could use all rhubarb here without any modifications. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I couldn’t find rhubarb so I took Jen’s suggestion of substituting apples. They worked well in the recipe. It’s very good. I plan on making it again when the rhubarb becomes available in my area.
Lovely. Such a gorgeous filling. The addition of vanilla is genius. As always, thanks for making me look like a superstar! I’ve already pre-ordered your new cookbook:)
Can this be made ahead? My strawberries are very ripe but I only need the crisp 2 days from now. I don’t want them to “go around the bend” before then!
Hi Audrey, I’d make each component ahead, store them separately, and then bake before serving. Hope you enjoy!
Hope you are well. 🙏🏼 Thank you for taking time to convert your recipes to metrics. I love, love, love your recipes!
💗
This dessert is SO beautiful, both visually and in flavor. Don’t skip the cornstarch and definitely weigh your fruit – I think that’s key to the perfectly jammy filling. Another winner! Thanks Jen – you get it right EVERY time! <3
My favorite – love the tartness rhubarb bring to this dish. Found that you need to change amount of sugar depending on whether strawberries are “West coast” types with white centers (shipped East) or locally available summer varieties that are red all the way through. But you can make this most of the year that rhubarb is available.
I just pulled the crisp out of the oven and cooled it. The whole family loves it!! I will try to be use a little less sugar next for us diabetics. I’m retired now and am doing a lot of baking. Thanks for this great recipe. Alan
This past summer I was given some rhubarb, which was plentiful at the time, so I decided to cut it up and freeze it to use in the winter. I used it for this recipe and, OMG, it was awesome! This recipe is just plain DELICIOUS! I do think adding some pecans to the topping really elevated it. My husband just raved about this and sure ate more than his share. Thank you again for all your wonderful recipes for the home cook!
Hi Jenn,
I love this recipe and have made many times. This time I tried some of my frozen blackberries from summer. Oh my! Hubby loved it! I did cut down on sugar and salt and only had sliced almonds on hand. Oh, and instead of whipped cream or ice cream, I use fat free Greek yogurt mixed with real maple syrup! Yum 😋! Thank you, Jenn!
Hi Jen! I am dying to try this recipe, but I can’t find rhubarb at the moment. Are there any substitutes you would recommend?
Hi Meg, The one thing that comes to mind (though I haven’t tried it) is Granny Smith apples. Strawberries and apples are kind of an unconventional combination, but I think it should work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Absolutely delicious…made this several times now and it’s divine. Wondering if you could make this with frozen Rhubarb and Strawberries??? Would be so wonderful in the wintertime:)
Glad you liked it! Yes, using frozen strawberries and rhubarb is fine — just defrost them first and drain any excess liquid.