This Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is the one summer dessert to make before the season ends. Made with fresh strawberries and rhubarb, this fruit crisp is the perfect blend of sweet berries and tart rhubarb paired with a buttery, brown sugar and oat topping.

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Fruit Crisp

I was a little late to the strawberry rhubarb game. Rhubarb was once described to me as “really tart celery” and I’ll be honest, that was quite effective in keeping me from being interested in trying anything with rhubarb.

Tart celery in a pie? Mmmm. Count me in. (Cue the sarcasm 😆)

A friend of mine mentioned how much she loved Strawberry Rhubarb Pie during the summer season, and, well, I struggle sometimes to keep my emotions from my face. She picked up on my judgy eyes and told me to trust her.

It was all serendipitous and whatnot, because shortly after that conversation, I found fresh rhubarb in the store and I figured if I was going to be judgy about a flavor, I probably should at least have a foundation to work with.

I’ll tell you something, guys, I can admit when I’m wrong. “Tart celery” is a really great way to describe rhubarb, but tart celery and strawberries make a ridiculously good flavor pairing. Since then, I’ve made strawberry rhubarb pie and strawberry rhubarb crumb bars nearly every summer season.

And this summer, because I was too lazy to make a pie crust, we opted for the next best summer dessert after pie: The fruit crisp. A strawberry rhubarb fruit crisp, to be exact.

Let’s Talk About This Berry Rhubarb Crisp:

Fresh Fruit: We use fresh strawberries and fresh rhubarb, because the two bake so well when they’re fresh. If you need to make this fruit crisp with frozen strawberries and rhubarb, you can (and I’ll give some helpful tips below), but fresh really makes for the best texture. The strawberries are soft but not soupy, and the rhubarb still has a tiny bit of bite.
Oat Topping: The biggest difference between a fruit crisp, fruit cobbler, and fruit crumble is the topping. A fruit crisp typically is topped with a buttery, brown sugar oat topping. The oats offer a nice little bit nuttiness and texture to the topping.
Simple: This rhubarb and strawberry fruit crisp is so simple to make! Everything gets mixed and thrown into a casserole dish and then topped with the easy crisp topping. It’s baked until golden brown and bubbling. And there’s nothing like a warm bowl of a fruit crisp with ice cream.

I love these other easy fruit desserts for summer: Baked Strawberry Pie, Cherry Crumble, Peach Cobbler, and Blueberry Pie.

Ingredients:

Strawberries: I like to cut my strawberries in halves and quarters, as I like to have different sizes for different texture.
Rhubarb: I cut each piece of rhubarb about a 1/2” thick, but you can cut them thinner, if desired.
Sugar
Cornstarch
Orange Zest
Orange Juice
Vanilla Extract
Salt
Flour
Brown Sugar
Oats: Use rolled oats, otherwise known as old fashioned oats, not quick oats.
Cinnamon
Unsalted Butter: Cold and cubed butter is key to making a really buttery crisp topping.

How To Make This Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp:

Mix: Mix strawberries and rhubarb together in a large bowl. Add sugar, orange zest and juice, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
Fruit Crisp Topping: In a separate bowl, mix oats, flour, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar together. With a fork or pastry cutter, work the cold and cubed butter into the dry ingredients until the topping resembles coarse crumbs.
Assembly: Pour the strawberry rhubarb filling into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle the oat topping all over the fruit.
Bake: Bake until golden brown and bubbling.
Serve: Allow the crisp to cool at least 15-20 minutes before serving, as the juices will thicken a bit as it cools. Top with ice cream or whipped cream.

Storage Tips:

Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. When ready to serve, you can serve it cold or warm it up in the microwave.

Substitutions:

Frozen: If you can’t find fresh rhubarb, you can use frozen rhubarb. Make sure you have thawed and drained the rhubarb before making the filling. It will help keep the crisp from being too liquid-y as it baked.
Pro Tip: If you’re using frozen rhubarb, I *highly* suggest you use fresh strawberries (unless you can’t find them and have to use both frozen rhubarb and frozen strawberries in a fruit crisp). If you use both frozen rhubarb and strawberries (make sure you’ve thawed and drained the strawberries too), the fruit crisp will be tasty, but just a little mushy, in my opinion. Frozen fruit just has a different texture when baked.

Final Baking Tips For This Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Fruit Crisp

Oats: Make sure you’re using old fashioned oats or rolled oats (not quick oats). They have the best texture for a fruit crisp topping.
Fruit Ratio: I like using a more strawberries to rhubarb ratio, because it makes a nice and naturally sweet fruit crisp, but if you are looking for a bit more tartness, you can flip the amounts of strawberries and rhubarb.
Orange Zest: I really love using a citrus flavor with berries and rhubarb in cobblers, crisps, and pies. I think orange really pairs so well with strawberry and rhubarb, but you can use lemon instead.
Sugar: Rhubarb is tart (think like a green apple), so you can use as little or as much sugar as you’d like. I used 2/3 cup of sugar in the strawberry rhubarb filling, because my strawberries were sweet and the topping is pretty sweet. It still had a tart bite thanks to the rhubarb. If you want it sweeter, you can use 1 cup of sugar instead.