This Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is so delicious warm out of the oven with its oat and brown sugar streusel topping and piled with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. This is one of our very favorite and EASY dessert recipes.
A crisp is a fun dessert to make because it is so simple to put together and you can really make a fruit crisp with whatever fruit is in season. There is no more perfect combination as strawberries and rhubarb and bringing them together in this strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe is a match made in heaven. We also like to bake up a Strawberry Rhubarb and even make the most indulgent Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies during these early summer months. A few more of our favorite rhubarb recipes include a Rhubarb crisp and rhubarb bread.
If you have extra strawberries, try our Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake, it’s light, sweet and super simple to make!
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Why this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Recipe Works
A crisp is essentially a sweetened and thickened fruit base cooked with a brown sugar topping. This particular strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe has an oat topping, which is especially complimentary to the filling.
For this easy recipe, like most fruit desserts, it is important to thicken the fruit filling. Strawberries, in particular, tend to have quite a bit of water in them. We use corn starch in this recipe to thicken up the fruit and it works perfectly.
Sugar is another important ingredient because although the strawberries (especially while they’re in season!) are nice and sweet, the tartness of rhubarb needs the added sugar to make the perfect balance of flavors.
🍓 Ingredients:
Fruit Filling:
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, stems removed and cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into pieces
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup lemon or orange juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Crisp Topping:
- ⅔ cup rolled oats or quick oats
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup salted butter, cut into cubes and cold
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Optional Garnish:
Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a few fresh strawberry slices are all great for serving alongside the strawberry rhubarb crisp.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp – Use a gluten-free all-purpose flour and ensure that your oats are gluten free.
- Fruit Substitution – Double the amount of strawberries for an all-strawberry crisp.
- Fruit Zest – stir a little orange zest or lemon zest into the fruit mixture for another layer of flavor.
- Frozen fruit – Fresh fruit is our favorite way to capitalize on summer produce from the garden or farmers market, but you can easily use frozen rhubarb and/or frozen strawberries for this recipe. Thaw strawberries and drain excess water before mixing with the sugar and cornstarch slurry.
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Wash and remove stems, leaves, etc. from fruit. Be sure to safely discard leaves of the rhubarb plant as they are toxic to animals and humans. If rhubarb has a thick outer layer on the stalk, you can peel the outer layer of the stalk off and chop the flesh within. Most rhubarb is fine to use as is and it’s not necessary to peel the outer skin.
Step 1: Place the tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries in a 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle the granulated sugar over the top. Stir. I like to use my go to baking dish, but you can use a square pan, a cast iron skillet, or really any type of casserole dish. Your fruit should cover the full bottom of the dish. A smaller baking dish will result in a thicker layer of fruit, which is just fine!
Step 2: Combine the cornstarch with the lemon or orange juice. Stir until the cornstarch is fully dissolved in the juice. You can even use water if you don’t have juice available. Lemon juice gives the strawberry rhubarb crisp a bit of extra zing and is nice in bringing out the tanginess of the rhubarb. Orange juice will blend the flavors without the extra tang and is a nice compliment to the strawberries.
Step 3: Pour the cornstarch/juice mixture over the sugared fruit and stir to combine.
Step 4: In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and vanilla in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Step 5: Cut the butter into small cubes. It is important to keep the butter nice and cold when you mix it into the rest of the crisp mixture.
Step 6: Use two forks or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Work the butter into small bead size pieces evenly mixed throughout the crisp topping.
Step 7: These cold beads of butter cook up in the mixture to make the streusel topping. A pastry blender makes quick work of this step, but if you don’t have one, you can simply smash the butter and mix it in using two forks.
Step 8: Sprinkle the prepared topping over the fruit mixture in the baking dish. Bake the crisp in a 350 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: Allow the crisp to cool a bit before serving, but it is especially delicious served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream. Room temperature crisp is wonderful the next day as well.
Freezing Strawberries and Rhubarb
If you have an abundance of strawberries and rhubarb, you can freeze them for up to several months, giving you the option of having this strawberry rhubarb crumble, an easy rhubarb crisp or strawberry rhubarb jam in off season months. Wash and cut the fruit and freeze it in a Ziploc bag until you’re ready to use it.
Preparing Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Ahead of Time
It is also possible to prepare the crisp filling and freeze ahead of time. Mix the fruit with the sugar and cornstarch mixture. Freeze in a baggy. When you’re ready to bake your crisp, dump the filling mixture into your baking dish, allow it to defrost fully, add the topping and bake according to the instructions.
If you tried this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
Fruit Filling
- 2 cups strawberries, cut
- 2 cups rhubarb, cut
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup orange or lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
Crisp Topping
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup rolled oats
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup salted butter, cold and cut into pieces
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Wash and destem fruit. Cut into bite size pieces.
- Place fruit in 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- Combine cornstarch and juice and stir to dissolve. Pour over fruit mixture and stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, stir together oats, flour, and brown sugar.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Cut in pieces of butter using a pastry blender until topping is mixed into pea-sized pieces.
- Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until fruit is bubbling and topping is evenly golden brown.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping.
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