This rhubarb crisp recipe features tart, jammy rhubarb topped with a buttery oat crumble. It's easy and delicious—the perfect spring dessert!
This rhubarb crisp recipe is the first thing I make when I come home with fresh rhubarb in the spring. The rhubarb bakes into a juicy, tangy filling underneath a buttery oat topping. It’s sweet, tart, crunchy, and saucy, and it couldn’t be easier to make. Step aside, strawberry rhubarb pie—this rhubarb crisp recipe is my favorite spring dessert!
Enjoy it on its own, or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to take this recipe over the top. I love the contrast of the warm crisp with the cold ice cream, and it adds a little extra sweetness to balance the sour rhubarb. A dollop of whipped cream would be delicious too.
Rhubarb Crisp Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this rhubarb crisp recipe:
- Rhubarb, of course! Two pounds of fresh or frozen rhubarb stalks will do the trick. If you’re using frozen rhubarb, thaw and drain before using.
- Granulated sugar – For sweetening the tart rhubarb.
- Cornstarch – It makes the rhubarb juices thick and glossy.
- Orange juice and zest – They add citrusy fragrance and freshness to the tangy filling.
- All-purpose flour – It binds the crumble topping together. Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Walnuts – They add nutty crunch to the oat topping.
- Brown sugar – It sweetens the topping. Dark and light brown sugar both work great!
- Whole rolled oats – Also called old fashioned oats, they become crisp and golden brown in the oven, giving the topping amazing texture and toasty flavor.
- Cinnamon – For warm, cozy depth of flavor.
- Unsalted butter – It adds rich flavor to the topping and helps it get nice and crisp.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Recipe Variations
- Make it gluten-free: Use your favorite gluten-free flour blend or almond flour instead of all-purpose. If you use almond flour, reduce the butter by 2 tablespoons (using 1/4 cup total).
- Make it dairy-free: Use firm coconut oil instead of butter.
- Make a strawberry rhubarb crisp: Replace half the rhubarb with chopped fresh strawberries.
How to Make Rhubarb Crisp
This rhubarb crisp recipe couldn’t be simpler to make! Here’s how it goes:
First, prepare the rhubarb. If yours has leaves attached, trim them off and discard them. You’ll just need the stalks for this recipe.
Wash them well. Then, peel off any tough, stringy outer skin. Cut the rhubarb into 1/2-inch pieces.
Next, make the rhubarb filling. Toss the chopped rhubarb with the white sugar, cornstarch, and orange juice and zest.
Then, make the crumble topping. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, oats, walnuts, cinnamon, and salt. Use your hands to work the butter into the oat mixture until it crumbles.
Assemble the rhubarb crisp. Spread the rhubarb mixture in a greased 8×8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the oat crumble on top.
Bake in a 375°F oven until the crisp topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is soft and bubbling, 25 to 35 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
How to Store Rhubarb Crisp
If your family is anything like ours, you won’t have much (ok, any) rhubarb crisp left after the first night. But if you do happen to have leftovers, you can store them, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days or for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Tip: Try leftover rhubarb crisp with a scoop of Greek yogurt for breakfast!
More Favorite Spring Desserts
If you love this recipe, try one of these fresh spring desserts next:
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Lemon Bars
- Or any of these 15 Fresh Spring Desserts!
Want more rhubarb recipes? These strawberry rhubarb crumble bars are delicious.
Rhubarb Crisp
Equipment
- 8x8 Ceramic Baking Dish (I've loved this Le Creuset one for years)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed, tough strings removed, and cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup sugar, use ⅓ cup for a sweeter flavor
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled*
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup whole rolled oats
- ½ cup crushed walnuts
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed**
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease an 8x8-inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb with the sugar, cornstarch, and orange juice and zest. Spread evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- Make the topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, walnuts, cinnamon, and salt. Use your hands to work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly and holds together when pinched.
- Sprinkle the topping over the rhubarb mixture and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is soft and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
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I made crisp a day early . How can I “re-crisp the topping?
Hi Judith, you could try putting it in a 350°F oven uncovered to re-crisp.
If I wanted to add strawberries in, how much would you say? And would I need to adjust any of the other ingredients?
Hi Kristy, I think you could do 1 pound strawberries, 1 pound rhubarb without adjusting anything else!
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t add orange juice or cornstarch but I don’t think they were needed. The other recipes I looked at had way more sugar. Thank you!
So glad you loved the recipe, Gillian!
Very tasty!
Glad you enjoyed it, Karin!
Hi How much is 2 Lbs of rhubarb in cups?
I believe it’s 4 cups
This is the best crisp topping I’ve ever come across. I’ve used this topping for a ton of different fruit crisps – strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, peach, blackberry, you name it. Adapt the rhubarb bottom for the fruit you’re using. I usually double the topping it’s so good!
So delicious! I love that it isn’t too sweet. You can taste the tartness of the rhubarb with the sweet crunchy topping! I used 1/2 frozen and 1/2 fresh rhubarb and added a little extra cornstarch since the frozen was a little more watery. I also baked it an extra 12 minutes till rhubarb softened. Turned out perfectly!
Absolutely delicious – don’t skip the walnuts in the topping, they add wonderful texture. I used frozen rhubarb and, based on other reviews, drained it after thawing. It worked great!
Made this recipe exactly as written, I do lots of cooking from scratch, I do Not recommend using frozen rhubarb, took 60 minutes to cook the rhubarb and had to dump out a ton of water because of the frozen rhubarb, highly recommend thawing rhubarb.
Hi Amy, thanks for your comment and sharing how your crisp came out! We’ll take another look at this with frozen rhubarb.
Very good- was looking to not waste our rhubarb. I added some frozen rasberries. The nuts add a sophisticated flavor.
I’m so glad you loved it!
This was so easy to make! And so delicious! Such tartness and crunch! I used pecans instead of walnuts cuz that’s what I had! And added more butter and oats to balance the dryness and it wall baked wonderfully. I put 34 minutes and it got slightly crispy top but nothing crazy and the rhubarb baked wonderfully! Amazing recipe thank you!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
After 30 minutes my rhubarb came out barely cooked!
Can I use regular all purpose flour instead.
Hi Tina, we haven’t tried this recipe with AP flour, but I think it would work! You may need to add a little more coconut oil or butter to the topping to get it to come together. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Can you substitute anything for the oats? My husband can’t have oats. They seem pretty integral to the crisp part of the recipe, but I’m just wondering if you have ideas of anything that would come close. This looks delicious and I’d love to make it!
Hi, I would replace them with an additional 1/4 cup of almond flour and an additional 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts. Hope that helps!
I have substituted oats with a blend of quinoa flakes and sprouted brown rice crisps (from Natural Grocers). Basically Rice Crispies.
That is brilliant thank you !!!
Delicious! My first time cooking with rhubarb. I used olive oil instead of coconut oil and it turned out great.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Sounds awesome. What can I use in place of coconut oil?
Hi Sallie, unsalted butter would be my second choice.
It says you can use butter in the recipe instead
Hello! Do you think you could sub half the rhubarb for strawberries to turn this into a strawberry rhubarb crisp? Looking forward to making it this weekend!
Julia
This looks delicious! Do you think you could sub half the rhubarb for strawberries to make a strawberry rhubarb crisp? Looking forward to making this MDW!
Julia
Hey,
I have been following your blog since 1 year I wanted to say that I am big fan of your recipes.
I always share your recipes on social madie and receive positive feedback.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Louis, thanks so much for your comment! It’s great to hear that you love the recipes. Thank you for sharing them!
a great reminder of how much I like rhubarb, have always had as a pie, can’t remember having let alone making it as a crisp so this will be fun for the weekend, thank you!
Hi Sabrina, hope you enjoy!