Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Some recipes have deep memories tied to them. With one bite, they bring people and places right back to you.
Every time I make strawberry rhubarb crumble, I’m nine years old again, standing in my grandma’s kitchen. She made the best strawberry rhubarb pies, crumbles, and crisps, and my grandpa loved eating them with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It’s funny how food can transport you decades back — to a particular table, a familiar season, and the people who made you feel at home.
This strawberry rhubarb crumble is one of my favorite summer desserts. Sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb are baked beneath a thick, buttery crumble with a subtle hint of ginger. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream. Trust me on this one. 🤍
Yield: 8–9 servings
Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 40–50 minutes
Cooling time: 20–30 minutes
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling
250 grams rhubarb, sliced into ½-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
500 grams strawberries, hulled and quartered (about 3½ cups)
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Zest of ½ lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
Crumble Topping
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Add the sliced rhubarb and quartered strawberries to a 9-inch square glass baking dish.
Sprinkle the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and lemon juice over the fruit. Stir until the fruit is evenly coated and no dry pockets of cornstarch remain.
In a separate bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, ginger, and salt.
Add the flour and baking powder. Stir until a crumbly dough forms. Use your fingers to press some of the mixture together, creating a combination of small and large crumbles.
Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the fruit. Don’t press it down—the uneven pieces will become crisp and golden as they bake.
Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbling around the edges and near the center. If the topping begins browning too quickly, loosely cover the dish with foil while the filling finishes baking.
Let the crumble cool for at least 20–30 minutes before serving. This gives the warm fruit filling time to thicken.
Serve warm with generous scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Why I Weigh the Fruit
I recommend weighing the strawberries and rhubarb for this recipe. The size of the berries and rhubarb pieces can affect how much fruit fits into a measuring cup, so measuring by weight gives you the most consistent balance of fruit, sugar, and thickener.
If you don’t have a kitchen scale, approximately 2 cups of sliced rhubarb and 3½ cups of quartered strawberries will work.
Courtney’s Tips for the Best Fruit Crumble
Cut the rhubarb into similarly sized pieces so it cooks evenly.
Quarter larger strawberries and halve smaller ones. You want pieces that will soften without completely disappearing into the filling.
Mix until no visible cornstarch remains. Any dry patches can create chalky pockets in the baked filling.
Make a variety of crumble sizes. The smaller crumbs fill in the gaps while the larger pieces create those buttery, crisp clusters everyone wants.
Look for bubbles near the center of the dish, not only around the edges. That tells you the filling is hot enough to activate the cornstarch and thicken properly.
Let the crumble rest before serving. It will still be beautifully warm, but the juices won’t run everywhere when you scoop it.
Vanilla ice cream is technically optional — but at our house, it really isn’t.
Storage and Reheating
Cover and refrigerate leftover strawberry rhubarb crumble for up to four days. Reheat individual servings in the microwave, or warm the baking dish in a 325°F oven until heated through. The oven will help the topping regain some of its crisp texture.
