This strawberry rhubarb crisp is sweet tart and nostalgic, with a golden crumbly topping of oats and cinnamon. It’s perfection!

Growing up, my family had a massive rhubarb plant. Rhubarb is quite ugly really; it looks like a monstrous weed with thick leaves and stalks. But every year my mom would harvest the pink-green stalks and make a rhubarb crisp. Boy, was it heavenly! The neon pink filling was intensely sweet tart, like a Jolly Rancher. Here’s our spin on my family recipe: a strawberry rhubarb crisp made with just enough sweetness and a crumbly cinnamon-scented oat topping. It’s cozy, homey, and so darn good.

Why make this strawberry rhubarb crisp?

As you may know, Alex and I love healthy desserts. But here’s the thing: desserts just need to taste good! They’re a treat food, by definition! This strawberry rhubarb crisp is engineered to taste really, really good: it’s not a health food, but for the occasional splurge. There are also several ingredients you can modify to make it work for different diets. Here are the features of this tasty summer dessert:

The crisp topping is oats and all purpose or almond flour. Use all purpose flour for a classic crisp. Or, you can use almond flour for a crunchy gluten-free topping. You can also use oat flour if it’s what you have on hand.
You can use butter or coconut oil. This recipe also has an option of using butter for a standard crisp, or coconut oil to turn it into a vegan dessert.
It’s just sweet enough (not sickly sweet). Some strawberry rhubarb crisp recipes call for boat-loads of sugar. This one uses just enough to get the right sweet flavor, without being sickly sweet. Using more berries in the filling than rhubarb helps accentuate the natural sweetness and balance out the tart rhubarb.

Crisp topping: the keys to crispy vs soft!

This strawberry rhubarb crisp has a few different options when it comes to the crumble ingredients. Here’s some more info on the outcome for these dietary options:

Oat flour vs almond flour: The topping makes this crisp into a gluten-free dessert because: well, we think it tastes better that way! Oat flour comes out slightly cakier, but if you use butter and sugar it will still be pretty crispy. You can make your own oat flour using a blender or food processor. Almond flour comes out the crispiest!
Butter vs coconut oil: Butter helps to make a crispy topping that tastes a little richer. But for a vegan and plant-based dessert, coconut oil tastes just as good! It has a light coconut essence, but it not overly strong.

How to store leftovers

Most of all, we hope this strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe will bring back nostalgic memories if you grew up eating rhubarb too! There’s something magical about this weed-like plant. And eating it in a crumble is one of the best sweet treats, if you ask us! Now, if you make it and have leftovers…how do you store them? Does crisp need to be refrigerated?

Room temperature: store for 1 day! You can leave your strawberry rhubarb crisp on the counter for up to 1 day (cover it at night). This way, the crumbly topping will stay crisp.
Refrigerated: Day 2-3! After 1 day at room temperature, refrigerate any leftovers. They’ll stay good for about 3 days.

Mix it up! Ways to customize strawberry rhubarb crisp

This recipe results in a straightforward strawberry rhubarb crisp, with a sweet tart flavor and a crunchy crumble. If you’re looking for ways to customize it even further, try one of our flavor adders! Here are some ideas of flavors that add complexity:

Citrus: Add ¼ teaspoon orange zest or ½ teaspoon lemon zest to the filling
Fresh ginger: Add 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger root to the filling
Cardamom: Add ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom to the crumble

Or, try it with other berries! Go to Classic Blackberry Crisp or Mixed Berry Crisp.

What are your favorite ways to eat rhubarb?

Let us know in the comments: we’d love to know! In the meantime, here are some of our favorite rhubarb recipes:

Classic Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb Jam

Easy Rhubarb Compote

Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita

This strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, use coconut oil instead of butter.