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Is there anything better than strawberry and rhubarb together? This super-easy strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe gently amplifies that ideal flavor combination without getting in its way. It’s equally at home at breakfast, brunch, and dessert. Don’t miss it during this fleeting rhubarb season.
Why we love this recipe
Even though I usually save my highest praise for savory flavors, this strawberry rhubarb crisp claims a place near the very top of the favorite foods list. This recipe:
- Is gently sweet, not overly so
- Amplifies the perfect flavor combination of seasonal strawberries and rhubarb
- Is very easy to make
- Tastes special, but has the relaxed vibe of early summer
Filling ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make the strawberry rhubarb crisp filling.
- Strawberries: If you have the chance to pick your own strawberries or buy from a farmers’ market, lucky you! You’ll likely get small, perfectly ripe berries that just need to be halved. If you’re buying from the grocery store, hull and slice the berries into smaller pieces.
- Rhubarb: Technically a vegetable, rhubarb has a nuanced but sour taste and a short growing season. Mixing in just enough sugar helps coax out its wonderful flavor. The leaves are poisonous (and you won’t find them attached at the grocery store), so make sure to remove any that you encounter. Learn more about rhubarb here.
- Cornstarch acts as a gentle thickener for all the gorgeous juices that will seep out of the fruit as it cooks.
Topping ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make the topping for this strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe.
- Flour: All-purpose flour works great here, but this is a flexible recipe. If you prefer whole wheat pastry flour, that’s fine too. Or make it gluten-free with a measure-for-measure gluten free flour blend like this one.
- Oats: Use good old rolled oats — old fashioned if you have them (but quick are okay too). If you want to make the recipe gluten-free, make sure your oats are certified GF. (Oats don’t contain gluten, but sometimes they’re processed in factories where cross-contamination can happen.)
How to make strawberry rhubarb crisp
Here’s what you’ll do to make this easy recipe. You can see all the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post.
Make the filling
With just a few seasonal ingredients, the filling couldn’t be quicker.
- Chop the rhubarb and strawberries into bite-sized pieces. Chopping them pretty evenly ensures that they’ll cook evenly, too.
- Sprinkle in the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
- Give it all a good stir so everything is evenly coated.
- Grab your favorite deep-dish pie plate (this is ours) and spoon the filling into it evenly.
Make the topping and bake
The topping, too, couldn’t be simpler.
- Use your fingers to toss and pinch together all the topping ingredients. This takes a few minutes.
- You’ll know you’re done when there’s no loose flour in the bottom of the bowl and the topping comes together into lots of pea-sized pieces.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling so every bite is perfection. Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet before baking, because this baby likes to bubble up a bit, and you’ll want to catch drips.
- The filling will thicken up as the crisp cools. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, whichever you prefer.
Expert tips and FAQs
Measurements don’t have to be super-precise for this kind of baking, but for strawberry and rhubarb an approximate 1 to 1 ratio results in a great, larger-than-life flavor. The amount of sugar in this recipe is calibrated for that ratio. If you use more rhubarb, you’ll need more sugar.
Yes. Frozen fruit gives off a lot of liquid, so you’ll need to defrost it first and drain off all the liquid before proceeding with the recipe. You can either discard the liquid or put it into a very small pot and simmer it until reduced to a few tablespoons, then add it to the filling.
This recipe is very flexible! Serve with alone or topped with vanilla ice cream for dessert, or with Greek yogurt as an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast or brunch. It’s equally great warm or at room temperature.
We don’t find that this recipe hangs around for very long! If you do have leftovers, you can cover the pie plate and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours. After that, store it in the fridge for up to a week. If you want to recrisp the topping before serving, pop it into the toaster oven for a few minutes.
I use this deep dish pie plate with a rimmed baking sheet underneath to catch drips. The shape of a deep pie plate will give you a nice ratio of filling to topping.
Sure can. Here’s our post on how to do it.
More of our favorite recipes
If you’re a fan of our strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe, we’ve got you covered with a crisp for every season. How about:
And if you’ve got more rhubarb, don’t miss:
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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 ¼ pounds (567 grams) rhubarb (about 4 large stalks)
- 1 ¼ pounds (567 grams) strawberries
- ½ cup (100 grams) sugar
- ¼ cup (28 grams) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) fresh lemon juice
For the topping
- ¾ cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (60 grams) old fashioned rolled oats
- ⅔ cup (142 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 8 tablespoons (112 grams) cold butter, diced
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center.
- Make the filling: Trim the rhubarb stalks and cut them crosswise into ½-inch slices. Place into a large mixing bowl.
- Trim the strawberries and cut them in half or in quarters or slices if large.
- Add the strawberries to the bowl. Add the ½ cup sugar, the cornstarch, and the lemon juice to the bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Pour the fruit mixture into the pie plate.
- Make the topping: Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, butter and salt in a medium bowl.
- Blend the mixture together using your fingers and thumbs until there is no loose flour at the bottom of the bowl and much of the mixture is in pea-sized pieces.
- Distribute the topping over the fruit.
- Place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips. Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes, then uncover and continue baking until the topping is browned and the filling is bubbly all the way to the very center, 20+ minutes more.
- Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Cut all the pieces of fruit roughly the same size for even cooking.
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats and a gluten-free flour blend such as this one.
- Be sure to bake this on a rimmed cookie sheet — it will bubble up and over a little bit toward the end of baking.
- If you're searching for the perfect deep-dish pie plate, we've used and loved an older version of this one for years.
- This crisp is great by itself, topped with vanilla ice cream for dessert, or served with Greek yogurt for breakfast. You can serve it warm or at room temperature. The juices will thicken up as it cools.
- Once cool, store any leftovers covered on the counter for 24 hours. After that, you can refrigerate it, but the crumble topping will soften up. You can recrisp it by reheating in the toaster oven if you like.
- You can start with frozen strawberries and rhubarb if you like. Frozen fruit gives off a lot of liquid, so you'll need to defrost it first and drain off all the liquid before proceeding with the recipe. You can either discard the liquid or put it into a very small pot and simmer it until reduced to a few tablespoons, then add it to the filling.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this for the first time about a month ago for family and friends and it was a big hit. Even those who thought they didn’t like rhubarb loved it. Because this is peak strawberry season I made it again to take to our friends for dessert tonight.
Yay! xx