Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

This Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is a sweet and tangy summer dessert with the crunchiest brown sugar streusel! Don’t forget the ice cream! 

If someone made me choose only one dessert to eat for the rest of my life, it’d be a tie between a fruit crisp (with ice cream), brownies (with ice cream) or chocolate chip cookies.

Gone are my days of loving everything over-the-top with piles of frosting. Give me a simple fruit dessert or bowl of ice cream and I am one happy woman.

This strawberry rhubarb crisp?

It’s right near the top of that list.

It’s sweet and tangy and the streusel is so crunchy (thanks to an abundance of butter), pair it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you’ve really got all my dessert dreams covered:

• sweet
• tangy
• crunchy
• gooey
• melty

What is there not to love?

If I’m being totally honest, though, I haven’t always enjoyed rhubarb.

In fact, at family gatherings my Grandma would show up with a rhubarb pie and I would think that didn’t even count as dessert. What am I going to finish my meal with?!?

Because as a kid, I really only appreciated one type of dessert: super sweet.

I didn’t appreciate how the tangy rhubarb complements other flavors so perfectly, and besides, doesn’t it have kind of a weird texture? Like dessert celery?

Thankfully, those days are long past and now I would choose this strawberry rhubarb crisp over any other dessert in the room if there is good vanilla ice cream.

How to make Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp:

1. Start with the filling. Basically, we throw some fruit in a pan, and toss it with a little sugar and corn starch to thicken those glorious juices. Done!
2. Make the crisp. I am confident I’ve nailed the best streusel recipe, because it’s essentially like the best oatmeal cookies you’ve ever had, just dropped all over the top. It bakes up crispy and crunchy and sweet and perfect, thanks to our good friend butter (or margarine — honestly? I couldn’t care less).
3. Put it in the oven. See how easy that was?
4. Have vanilla ice cream ready.

Variations on this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp:

Feel free to swap out the berries or rhubarb in this recipe for other fruits, fresh or frozen! Crisps are one recipe that are super versatile and don’t need a lot of adaptations to switch things up.

Try raspberry rhubarb, strawberry raspberry, or whatever fruit you have on hand!

How to freeze Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp:

This recipe is perfect for making ahead and stashing in the freezer.

Simply prepare up to the point of baking, cover with plastic wrap, then tin foil (this helps to prevent any freezer burn), then freeze up to 3 months.

To bake, you can remove from the freezer up to 24 hours before baking and let thaw partially or completely at room temperature before baking as directed, or place in the oven straight out of the freezer when you turn the oven on. As the oven gradually heats, it will slowly heat the pan which will prevent any shock due to temperature change.

You may need to add 30-40 minutes bake time to the recipe if baking from frozen.

Alternatively, you can bake completely, cool, freeze and simply reheat at another date.

More strawberry and rhubarb desserts:

• Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
• Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
• Streusel-Topped Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe
• Rhubarb Sauce Recipe — perfect over ice cream!