Rhubarb Crisp is a delicious and easy dessert that takes just minutes to prep! With the perfect balance between sweet and tart, everyone loves this easy recipe.
While I love to make Apple Crisp in the fall, rhubarb crisp (or Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler) are my summertime go-tos! A saucy fruit filling topped with our favorite buttery crumble baked until golden and bubbly.
My friend Val recently shared a big bag of rhubarb with me and as soon as I saw it, I knew I would be making a rhubarb crisp!
If you haven’t made a lot of rhubarb desserts, you may be wondering how to prepare rhubarb for crisp. Can you eat the green part of rhubarb or can you eat the leaves? Are you supposed to peel rhubarb for crisp? Preparation of rhubarb is so simple.
How to Prepare Rhubarb for Crisp
- Remove from the plan and cut off the leaves. Wash thoroughly.
- You do not have to peel rhubarb, however if the stalk is quite thick peeling the tougher exterior may be a good idea.
- The fresh rhubarb can be chopped and refrigerated or frozen for future recipes.
Keep in mind, you can eat the green stalk however the leaves are poisonous to eat so discard them (for humans and animals alike).
How to Cook Rhubarb Crisp
This delicious crumble dessert is easy to make!
- Wash and dice your rhubarb. (And prepare strawberries if you’d like Strawberry Rhubarb crisp)!
- Toss fruit with a flour, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Prepare the crisp topping.
- Sprinkle topping over fruit layer and bake until golden brown.
This recipe makes a small crisp but it can easily be doubled for a 9×13 pan. This will feed a crowd, or leave you with plenty of leftovers for your family!
How to Store Rhubarb Crisp?
As with other desserts like pie, it can be allowed to sit at room temperature for a short time. If you are leaving it for several days, it would be a good idea to refrigerate any leftovers.
Can You Freeze Rhubarb Crisp?
Rhubarb itself freezes very well, simply wash, slice and place in a freezer bag. To use from frozen, just add directly to the recipe from the freezer (you may need to increase baking time slightly). I love to make rhubarb crisp with frozen rhubarb in the cold winter months! The answer is most definitely yes, you can freeze rhubarb crisp!
Combined with your favorite fruit or used it all by itself, this recipe will make the best rhubarb crisp you have ever tasted!
Simple, tart and delicious this old-fashioned rhubarb crisp recipe is perfect for fall as you harvest your fruit!
More Great Fruit Desserts
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie – Classic combo.
- Easy Fruit Pizza – Fresh berries on a cookie dough crust.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake – Sweet and tart.
- Blackberry Cobbler – Easy summertime classic.
- Rhubarb Strawberry Cobbler – Fresh rhubarb & berries baked into a tender cake.
- Strawberry Cheesecake Pie – Easy no bake dessert!
Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
- 6 cups rhubarb
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Topping
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- 6 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup coconut shredded, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Wash and rinse rhubarb and cut into ½" pieces.
- Toss rhubarb with sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Place in a 2 qt baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a fork or pastry cutter. Sprinkle over rhubarb mixture.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and topping is golden.
- Cool 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with ice cream or cream.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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REPIN this Delicious Fruit Crisp Recipe
What type of coconut do you use (shredded, flaked, sweetened unsweetened) or does it matter? Do I need to thaw and drain the frozen rhubarb before adding to recipe? I am excited to try this recipe.
Any coconut will work Kim. As mentioned in the write up, just add in the frozen rhubarb. You may need to cook a little longer for frozen rhubarb. Enjoy!
This was the tastiest rhubarb crisp l have ever made. I used frozen rhubatb that l thawed and drained. I had never used coconut in a crisp before and am kicking myself that l never thought of using it before. Another keeper recipe from Spend With Pennies! Thanks Holly!
So happy to hear how much you love the crisp Kelly! A little addition can change a lot!
Love new recipes!
Making Rhubarb Crisp, an old family favorite, for my son’s 39th birthday today instead of cake by special request. Bought rhubarb in the spring and froze to make this as a surprise since it was out of season when he made the request last December. Can’t wait to see his face! Recipe looks just like my mom’s minus the coconut.
Happy Birthday to your son! :)
Very good!! Making a second time in 2 weeks. The coconut is a definite addition for me.
Love, Love, Love this recipe!!
I was looking to incorporate rhubarb into some summer desserts and am so thankful to you for this recipe. I did a mixture of organic strawberries and rhubarb to cut the tartness of straight rhubarb. Everyone devoured it and the compliments were flying. The secret ingredient, imho, is the coconut.
Mindi :)
Soooo looking forward to making this!! One question: does it matter if the pats are “quick oats” vs “old fashioned”??
Rolled oats are also known as old fashioned oats, and are a little heartier than quick oats. Quick oats will work, but the texture will be different. Enjoy, Tracey!
Made this twice. I grate 3 tablespoons orange peel & 3 tablespoons of minute tapioca
In filling instead of flour.
Thznk you for the recipe delious
This is a n awesome recipe! I add about 3/4 c walnuts to the topping to add the crunch and it’s definitely a crowd pleaser. Only problem – no leftovers ;-)
I’ve made several crisps over the years and this one is truly the best recipe. Topping is perfect and the sweetness is just right. I often don’t have enough rhubarb so I add canned chopped peaches, strawberries, etc to make six cups of fruit. I’ve never gone wrong. (My personal favorite is rhubarb and peaches…)
My husband is an Iowan farm boy, and he raves about this crisp every time I make it. I just made another one for a family gathering. I’m sure it will disappear!
I made the Rhubarb Crisp for my husband and two of them for our neighbour s who also gave me some rhubarb, Your recipe was absolutely delicios and easy to make and everyone loved it and was huge hit! Thank you sooo much for sharing this recipe! I will use this recipe with other fruits as they come in season. Diane.
Hi Holly , I may be a repeat comment but my husband just passed on this info to lately about “How to harvest rhubarb “. I already knew this from my mom’s training but I appreciated the “why” from the info. Primary though “ DO NOT CUT the stalks off the plant!!” PULL THEM from the base of the plant! The younger the plant the easier! If the stalks get bigger than the circumference of the average thumb or a tad bigger these will take MORE effort to pull! Pulling it encourages NEW GROWTH!! Everyone enjoy this awesome summer”vegetable” , yes it’s NOT A FRUIT!?
Thanks for sharing that with us Brenda!
Absolutely delicious and simple to make. This recipe is destined to become a family favorite.
You should pull the whole rhubarb stalk out – don’t cut it off at the base of the plant because you leave the bottom of the stock in and that’s where rhubarb’s natural thickner is! Plus the plant will grow more stalks quicker!
Please never cut Rhubarb! You have to pull it up so the plant is triggered to grow more.
Just finished eating a serving – it’s amazingly delicious. I ventured out to buy vanilla ice cream because we didn’t have any in the freezer and it would be just wrong to eat it without. I’m considering hiding the remaining crips from my boyfriend to save it for myself :) This is a great recipe. Personal preference – I’ll cut down on the sugar next time and there will absolutely be a next time. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Justyna! :)
Absolutely amazing! Followed your recipe exactly, using half strawberries and half rhubarb My family devoured it.
I am making another as I have leftover rhubarb and strawberries. Can I freeze the crisp prior to baking? If so, how should I adjust baking temperature and time?
That should work well Mari. Just wrap tightly in plastic wrap or an in an airtight freezer-safe container. I would recommend you let it thaw for a few hours or overnight before popping in the oven. If thawed, the cooking time should remain the same.
You Never Ever cut rhubarb from the main plant – You are to just twist the stalk a little and pull up
Cutting stalks from the main plant will result in the plant not growing any more stalks where you cut one off
Thanks for the tip Dianne!
Delicious! I made this once as per recipe turned out great. I have some frozen blueberries from last season I needed to use up, substituted 3 cups of rhubarb for 3 cups blueberries and it turned out great! Easy recipe!
Thank You
I searched all over the internet today for rhubarb crisp recipes, and I picked this one because it was the simplest — which is what a crisp should be, right?
It was delicious. Thank you!
I definitely agree, the easier the recipe the faster I can enjoy it! ;)
I made this for my dads birthday and everyone loved it! I like that it wasn’t overly sweet and that there was lots of crumble. The only thing I changed was I added a pinch of salt in the topping. Thanks for the great recipe!