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 an awesome recipe. I subbed the flour for coconut flour since that is what I had in my pantry and it turned out awesome . I only have a small 8 by 8 pan, it came out delicious but the topping layer was a little overwhelming, less crunchy and more just dry, may be better in a thinner layer more like the pictured example in the recipe. I plan to decrease the measurements on the topping for my second round so that is doesn’t come out so crumby.
Will follow up on how it comes out! TBD.
YUM!!! My family RAVED over this recipe. We used freshly picked strawberries from a local farm with our own garden grown rhubarb. My husband is very critical, so I was bracing myself when I placed this in front of him tonight. To my amazement, he finished seconds before anyone else was done with their first serving. He told me this is our forever recipe and we’re not allowed to use anything else. These words have never come out of his mouth because he always likes trying new things and experimenting with recipes. Incredibly high praise for an incredibly toothsome dessert!! Thank you!!
Excellent recipe! Strawberry Rhubarb mix was the perfect tartness which Is why I love the strawberry rhubarb mix. Next time I might cut the sugar in the topping a hair as it was s bit sweet for my personal taste. Will definitely make again!
Just made this for the second time, we both found it a tad sweet the first time so I used 1/3 cup of brown sugar in the filling. (On this occasion we were a little short on ready rhubarb so I used 12oz rhubarb and a few extra strawberries, just in case it was a bit too runny I used 2tbs of cornstarch – that was just to do this before my wife got home! ). We really enjoyed it – she my have had thirds…………
Ooops, forgot to mention – also used walnuts instead of pecans just because thats what I had.
I made a double batch of this yesterday for Fathers day. My son and I enjoyed it so much we almost finished off the first pan (still warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream of course).
Thank you for getting me excited to cook/bake more:)
This is my go to recipe, I do omit the nuts but my family loves it and since the fruit is in season time to bake!
Delicious! What a wonderful recipe. Just the right amount of tart and sweet tastes. Thank you!
I usually only bake with fresh rhubarb but I had some frozen rhubarb so that’s what I used. It purged so much juice after defrosting that it shrunk, and it weighed significantly less. I ended up adding more rhubarb to the recipe to make up for it, which I don’t think was the way to go. It still tasted really good, but was a little runny & probably was more tart than your recipe was intended to be – thankfully my family likes tart desserts, plus you could always pile on more whipped cream to tame the tartness. 🙂 Next time I will try this with fresh rhubarb and I’m sure I’ll like it much better.
Loved the addition of the pecans but next time I make the recipe I’ll reduce the sugar by half. I found it to be way to sweet.
I would like to make this for Father’s Day; what do I do if I want to use frozen strawberries instead of fresh please?
Hi Debbie, using frozen strawberries is fine — just defrost them first and drain any excess liquid. Hope you enjoy!
Fabulous summer dessert! Would like the rhubarb and strawberries converted to cups.
Hi Sonya, When you slice the rhubarb, the volume would fill approximately 4 (measuring) cups. And when the strawberries are sliced, they would fill about 1-3/4 measuring cups. Hope that helps and that you enjoy! 🙂