Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is sweet and tart with fresh strawberries and rhubarb. An extra-thick buttery oats topping provides the perfect contrast – and it stays crisp for days!
Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
The girls and I made this Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp over the past weekend. As I was slicing the rhubarb, listening to that satisfying slicing sound, Tessa asked what it was and what it tasted like. At four years old, she couldn’t remember eating it before.
I explained that some people say it’s a vegetable and some say it’s a fruit. After looking it up, I found that it is considered a fruit in the US, for the purpose of regulations and duties. I went on to tell Tessa that rhubarb is crisp, kinda like celery, and tastes very tart. (To read more about rhubarb, go to my Rhubarb 101.)
Tessa’s young mind wondered out loud if she might like it.
So I got out a little bowl and poured a bit of sugar into it. Then I sliced some small pieces of bright red rhubarb and proceeded to give them a little dip into the sugar and pop them into my mouth. Tessa and Hatti followed suit. Over and over again, we did this. All the while, memories of Mom dipping rhubarb bites into sugar danced around in my head. So many years have gone by since she first taught me about this treat, yet it felt like just yesterday.
Kitchen memories are some of the very best memories, don’t you agree?
Here are a few more of our favorite rhubarb recipes: If you like cheesecake, give this Rhubarb Cheesecake Pie a try. Also, this stunning Raspberry Rhubarb Skillet Coffee Cake, my almost-famous Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars, and this pretty Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler. And for a fun cocktail, you MUST try my Rhubarb Margarita!
Easy Rhubarb Recipe for Spring
I’ve been making this strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe for years. It’s an easy favorite that’s sweet with strawberries and a little bit tart with rhubarb. And it’s loaded with an extra-thick buttery oats topping that’s fabulously crispy!
If you’d prefer a strawberry rhubarb dessert without oats, be sure to check out my Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble. The topping is buttery and crisp and ohhhhh so wonderful!
This dessert (Or breakfast dish? I won’t judge!) is great any time of year, but especially wonderful with the freshest rhubarb and strawberries of spring.
How to make strawberry rhubarb crisp
A rhubarb crisp with strawberries is extremely easy to make.
First, stir sugar into chopped rhubarb and sliced strawberries. Add a little cornstarch to thicken the juices a bit, plus fresh lemon juice and a touch of vanilla (the vanilla is such a nice touch!).
Then settle the fruit mixture into a 9″ x 13″ pan and cover it with a thick blanket of crumble topping. Bake until the fruits are all sweet and jammy, and the topping is awesomely crispy.
How to store strawberry rhubarb crisp
The strawberry rhubarb crisp emerges from the oven simply beautiful.
I like to leave a bare edge around the perimeter, free of the crumble topping. That deep ruby mixture peeking out at the pan’s edge adds extra life when presenting this spring treat.
And to store this crisp, I simply leave it out on the counter, uncovered, for up to a couple days (if it lasts that long!). The topping stays nice and crisp that way.
How to Serve Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
I’ve seen so many people scrunch up their noses at the mention of rhubarb. Have you, too? Then bake up this strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe. I’ve found that it’s a great way to convince people they are absolutely wrong about rhubarb. Everybody seems to love this dish; it’s one of my family’s favorite rhubarb recipes.
I recommend serving this dessert still a bit warm from the oven, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I promise, you’ll have rhubarb fans for life!
Like this rhubarb dessert? Save it to Pinterest!
Want More Rhubarb Desserts?
Here are a few recipes I’d like to try: Easy Rhubarb Breakfast Cake from The View from Great Island, Rustic Strawberry Rhubarb Tart from Savory Sweet Life, Rhubarb Bars from Garnish with Lemon.
Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
This baked treat is sweet and tart with fresh strawberries and rhubarb. An extra-thick buttery oats topping provides the perfect delicious contrast!
Ingredients
for the strawberry rhubarb filling:
- 2 lbs. rhubarb stalks, sliced 1/2″ thick (about 8 cups)
- 1.25 c. sugar, divided
- 1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 3 T. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
for the topping:
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened (not melted!)
- 1.5 c. packed brown sugar
- 1.5 c. all-purpose flour
- 1.25 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
- 3 T. canola oil
- 1.5 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- For the strawberry rhubarb filling: In a medium bowl, toss the rhubarb with 3/4 cup of the sugar and let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In another medium bowl, toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the rhubarb to the strawberries and discard any rhubarb juice. Add the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla to the fruit and stir well. Transfer the mixture to a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.
- For the topping: Combine all the topping ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a rigid pastry blender, cut the ingredients together until large crumbs form. You want to have some larger pieces, and sometimes it just works best to squeeze and crumble the mixture with your hands just a bit at the end.
- Sprinkle topping evenly over the filling. I like to leave a small bare edge around the perimeter, to see the pretty strawberry rhubarb mixture. Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325° F. If the topping is browning quickly, tent a piece of foil (my favorite is this larger-sized heavy duty foil) very loosely over the pan, so the foil is not touching the crisp. Continue baking for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until the fruit filling is thickened and bubbling quite a bit, and the topping is nicely browned. Let the crisp rest for about 20 minutes before serving. This is awesome served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Store on the counter uncovered for up to a couple days. The topping will stay nicely crisp if left uncovered.
Notes
adapted from Food & Wine magazine
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 269Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 118mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 34gProtein: 2g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Originally published in 2010, this recipe has been a popular reader favorite. I updated some of the photos and text in 2018.
My family absolutely loved this recipe!
The strawberries were frozen, so thawed them a bit on stovetop and drained half the liquid off. Made the filling and added a little flour, put that in oven for 25 minutes. Took out and put topping on. Back in oven for 25-30 minutes. Baked up nice. Everyone loved it.
This is awesome, the family loved it!!!
I do not like the brown sugar. Makes it too sweet!
Would use white sugar instead.
Thank you for the recipe!
I tried this but added extra corn starch as was using frozen fruit. I also substituted the flour and oats for gluten free and it turned out great!
I’m so happy to hear this, Nadina – thanks for coming back to let me know!
I’d never encountered rhubarb until meetingy husband’s grandmother a couple months ago. She grows it in her garden in abundance! So naturally she gave me a few bundles.
This recipe was so easy, well explained and written. Not to mention DELICIOUS!
This was wonderful! I modified it a little; I used gluten-free 1:1 flour and added blueberries (because I needed to use them). I also accidentally left out some of the sugar, but we still really enjoyed it. :). Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hi Lindsay – I’m so happy you were able to enjoy this gluten-free!!
Can this be froze?
I doubled the crumble and used half for a crust. Would have been enough crumble and fruit for a 13×9 pan. The dessert was very juicy but so delicious!!!
I’m glad you found this delicious! Did you like the use of the crumble for the bottom crust? I’ve never thought about doing that!
Made this tonight… so yummy! (Didn’t have enough rhubarb so I did 6 cups of chopped frozen, then thawed strawberries, almost 4 cups of rhubarb with a chopped up granny smith apple, and about 2 cups chopped gala apples)
Will for sure be making it again!
:)
Great recipe – we grow strawberries and rhubarb so perfect way to share the harvest from my backyard farm!
Awesome, so glad you liked this!
Left it out on the counter for 2 days, got attacked by ants. Next time, I will cover it. Making it for a baby shower tomorrow, expecting no leftovers.
What a great treat for a baby shower – so glad you liked it enough to make it again! :)
I can’t find any fresh rhubarb, but found frozen. If I thaw it out do you think it would work?
I’ve done that, but be sure to drain it
Thanks! I’m going to make it for July 4th!!
Do you need to grease the pan?
I made this recipe today and it was delish! I wanted a faster alternative to making pie dough. I hadn’t found a recipe before I bought the fruit so I used what I had.. 3 sticks rhubarb and a box of strawberries. I halved the other ingredients. I didn’t have lemon but lime was such a good substitute. It was the perfect combination of tart and sweet. I did use less sugar and I think next time I’ll go even less. Thank you for this recipe! I will be making it again soon!
Hi Brooke – thank you so much for coming back to let me know. Enjoy!!!!
This is excellent. I didn’t change a thing. It wasn’t soupy at all. Not too sweet. It was just yummy.
Yay!!! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
Made this weekend with fresh picked rhubarb. It was delicious! Great recipe. Will make again! Thank you.
Wonderful! So glad you liked. :)
I did this with all fresh ingredients and it came out soup. I double checked everything and tried again with a bit more corn starch. Same results. Anyone else see these results?
Hi Russell,
Same problem the first time I made this. For round two I gently sauteed the rhubarb , adding two extra cups, to release much of the water and then drained it. I then added the rhubarb to the strawberries. With the corn starch the filling setup fine…its a winner in our family.
I’m sorry to hear about your results. I suppose some of this will depend on water content/firmness of fresh ingredients. Whenever I make this, the filling is definitely loose, but still plenty chunky and a bit thickened – I would never call it “soup”.
Made this weekend. It was delicious! I was short on rhubarb by about 1.5 cups so I just made up the difference with strawberries and decreased sugar to 1 cup ( strawberries are sweet). I followed rest of recipe as stated. Mmmm, so tasty! Thank you for this recipe.
I’m so glad you liked!!
This is so delicious! I made it yesterday and it was calling to us even before it came out of the oven!
Everyone of my kids loved it! We have our own fresh rhubarb and I had strawberries in the freezer from last summer to use up. I partially thawed the strawberries in the microwave, cut them in half, and mixed it together with the rhubarb and the rest of the ingredients. It is one of the best crisps I have ever made! I will make this again and again! Thank you!
Yay! I LOVE to hear this. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know. Enjoy!!
This was delicious! I doubled the strawberries and halved the rhubarb, based on what I had. I will make again and again. Thank you.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know. :)