Celebrate rhubarb season with this easy, homemade gluten-free rhubarb crisp (aka gluten-free rhubarb crumble)! Tangy roasted rhubarb meets crunchy streusel made with almond flour, oats, and spice. Make it dairy-free and vegan using plant butter!
Browse more gluten-free crisp & cobbler recipes, including my favorite gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp!
This homemade gluten-free rhubarb crisp is one of my favorite rhubarb recipes and one that I make every spring! I never tire of thick, saucy fruit lidded with salty brown sugar streusel laced with nuts, oats, and spices. Ice cream is mandatory. That space where melty ice cream meets warm rhubarb compote and buttery streusel is pure bliss.
This gluten-free rhubarb crisp comes together with minimal effort. The filling is pleasantly tangy, laced with a bit of lemon and vanilla to enhance the floral-tart flavor of the rhubarb. The topping ingredients are simply stirred together into buttery, brown sugary bliss.
This gluten-free rhubarb crisp is:
- sweet-tart
- gloriously tangy
- a celebration of rhubarb
- topped with salty-sweet almond flour crisp topping
- easy to whip up in about 20 minutes of active time
- perfect for topping with vanilla ice cream
TBG TIP: Cold, leftover rhubarb crisp topped with plain yogurt makes an ace breakfast the following day!
Ingredients & Substitution Suggestions
Gluten-Free Crisp Topping
This gluten-free crisp topping is buttery, crumbly, and not-too-sweet, with a good hit of salt that makes it super addicting!
- Almond flour forms the base of this topping, adding moisture and a touch of nutty flavor. I use blanched almond flour from Bob's Red Mill. Sub by weight almond meal, hazelnut meal, or try tiger nut flour for nut-free.
- Oat flour makes the crisp light and delicate. Sub by weight sorghum flour or teff flour, or use buckwheat flour for a richer flavor.
- Tapioca flour helps the streusel clump together in addictive little clusters.
- Rolled oats add heft and chew. For oat allergies, omit the oats and use more.
- Sliced almonds add a delightful crunch and flavor. Sub chopped pecans or walnuts, or omit the nuts for nut-free.
- Brown sugar adds sweetness. I used organic light brown sugar here, but dark brown sugar should work too. Or sub by weight coconut sugar for refined sugar-free.
- Cardamom adds a hint of spice that pairs beautifully with the rhubarb and almond. Sub cinnamon for a more classic crisp topping.
- Salt sharpens the flavor and makes the topping sugar addicting.
- Melted butter brings the topping together and adds richness. Sub plant butter to make this dish dairy-free and vegan!
Rhubarb Filling
This filling is perfect for rhubarb lovers!
- Sliced rhubarb forms the base of this filling. Look for fresh rhubarb that's bright pink or red in color as this will make the prettiest crisp. You can augment the color by adding in a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries. (Or try my gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp!)
- Sugar adds just enough sweetness to balance rhubarb's tartness. Sub by weight maple sugar for refined sugar-free.
- Lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla enhance rhubarb's bright flavor. I especially like Meyer lemon here if you've got some!
- Cornstarch thickens the rhubarb juices. Sub tapioca or arrowroot powder.
How to Make Gluten-Free Rhubarb Crisp
Like all fruit crisps, this gluten-free rhubarb crisp is easy to throw together! You don't need any special equipment, just a bowl and a baking dish, and the recipe only takes about 20 minutes of active time plus about an hour to bake.
Gluten Free Rhubarb Crisp... or is it Rhubarb Crumble?!
It's both! In the US, the terms are interchangeable, with crisp being the more common term. Call this a rhubarb crisp or a rhubarb crumble – just don't call it late for dinner. Or maybe do, because it's a dessert...
Rhubarb Varieties: Field Rhubarb vs. Forced Rhubarb
Rhubarb grows in patches of slender stalks crowned with large, green leaves. The leaves are toxic if consumed in large quantities (and they can be toxic to cats and dogs too), so be sure to trim them away.
In warmer climates like coastal California, field rhubarb can grow outdoors much of the year, though it's happiest in the spring and fall during mild weather. Field rhubarb comes in varieties that range in hue from green to bright red and everywhere in between. In California, I've only ever found red stalks tinged with green. When cooked, the color can look drab, which is why I often use only the lower reddest parts of the stalks. I'll sometimes add red-hued ingredients such as beet or hibiscus powder or blood orange juice as well. A handful of red berries adds color and flavor too.
In cooler climates such as the UK, forced rhubarb is commonly grown in dark hothouses. Stalks can grow quickly in these conditions – up to four inches per day – and are harvested by candlelight. With no light for the leaves to photosynthesize, the leaves stay small and pale yellow. These stalks are bright magenta all the way through.
Forced rhubarb is hard to come by in California, perhaps because our hothouses are occupied by more profitable berries and lettuces. I was lucky enough to find some forced rhubarb from Washington State, which I used to shoot the process photos for this vegan & gluten free rhubarb crisp. But then I overbaked my crisp and had to make it a second time using field rhubarb (which I was lucky enough to harvest from my mother-in-law's garden). To this version, I added a spoonful of beet powder and little fresh raspberry puree to bump up the color.
Vegan Rhubarb Crisp...or not!
Use a good plant-based butter to make vegan rhubarb crumble. I prefer Miyoko's vegan butter, which is made from cashews and coconut and cultured so it has a salty tang. Serve with a vegan vanilla ice cream that you love. A couple that I'm partial to are Green Girl and Nada Moo.
If you prefer to go dairy all the way, use dairy butter and ice cream. I've tried it both ways and it's delicious!
Looking for a grain-free paleo rhubarb crisp? Use maple sugar in the filling and top it with my almond flour crumble topping.
*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this gluten-free rhubarb crisp, I’d love to see. Tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
Homemade Gluten-Free Rhubarb Crisp
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Rhubarb:
- 5 cups (600 g) rhubarb, leaves trimmed away, cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
- zest and juice of ½ large lemon (preferably Meyer)
- ½ cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (15 g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Topping:
- ½ cup (55 g) almond flour
- ½ cup (50 g) GF old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup (55 g) sliced almonds
- ¼ cup (25 g) oat flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons (11 g) tapioca flour
- ½ cup (110 g) packed organic light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (I like my streusel salty with ½ teaspoon, but use the smaller amount if you prefer!)
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted dairy or vegan butter (such as Miyoko’s), melted
- vanilla ice cream, for serving
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF.
- In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb with the lemon zest and juice, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Scrape the mixture into a 9- or 10-inch round baking dish, pie plate, or ovenproof skillet. Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips, and bake until the rhubarb starts to bubble, 25-30 minutes. Gently stir the rhubarb to redistribute.
- To make the topping, combine the almond flour, oats, almonds, oat flour, tapioca flour, brown sugar, cardamom, and salt in a medium bowl (you can reuse the rhubarb bowl if you scraped it clean enough). Stir in the melted butter until the mixture forms large clumps.
- When the rhubarb has baked, sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Return to the oven and bake until deep golden and bubbling furiously, about 25-35 more minutes. Let cool for a few minutes or to room temperature. Scoop into bowls and serve with ice cream and a sprinkle of rose petals if you like.
- The crisp is best when freshly baked, but leftovers keep, covered and chilled, for up to 3 days. Enjoy cold or warm.
Anita Sabados says
Making this for Mother's day on the weekend!
Quick question--I usually just keep arrowroot powder on hand and use it interchangeably when cornstarch or tapioca are called for. It seems to do the same job. Any thoughts?
Alanna says
Yay! Hm, I haven't experimented much with arrowroot flour, but my guess is that it would probably work. You could try a half batch to practice with and see if you like the consistency before making the real deal. Let me know if you try it - I'm curious now!
Dana says
gorgeous crisp lady! And stunning photos, per usual :D
Alanna says
Aw thanks friend! That means so much to me coming from you. <3
Amanda Paa says
come visit me and we could use all the rhubarb in my backyard to create this! xo
Alanna says
Yes please!!
Kate says
Stunning photos. My mouth is watering just looking at them. Rhubarb isn't ready here yet, but soon I hope. I have a sort of make-shift crumble topping recipe that I use for these sorts of things and I've used flaked quinoa in place of some of the gf flour or oats. Turned out marvellous so now I like to put it in all crumble toppings and also homemade granola.
Alanna says
That sounds divine! I'm always a fan of more alternative grains in everything. :)
Aysegul Sanford says
This is just so stunning Alana. I think your tip on giving the fruit a quick bake in the oven is genius. Now I know why mine usually ends up being soggy.
Thanks for sharing.
Alanna says
Aw thank you friend! I'd love to know if the prebaking trick works in other recipes too.
Emily R says
Any day I get a new Bojon Gourmet recipe in my email inbox is a good day! I made this to bring to a Sunday gathering . Everyone seemed to enjoy it as seconds were had by all. I doubled up the crisp topping because I can't get enough of it, chopped up some whole almonds I had on hand instead of the sliced almonds, and used Earth Balance (omitted salt because it's already pretty salty). I made a rhubarb strawberry crisp from Stella Parks (on Serious Eats) last week and think I preferred this one. Thanks for the lovely seasonal recipe!
Alanna says
Awwww what a sweet thing to say! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe and that the double crisp action was a success. :)
Betsy says
Any idea what I can use instead of oatmeal for the topping. My husband is gluten/grain free diet.
Alanna says
Hm, I've only tested this with this blend of flours and oats, so you'd have to do some experimentation! I'm sure there are other grain-free recipes out there; you might be able to take some ingredients from a different formula and apply them here. Let me know what you try!
Ngan says
Look delicious! want to eat them right now Alanna.
Alanna says
Aw thank you!
Emma says
This tasted delicious and I loved the crunchy topping; however, my rhubarb was stringy and mushy underneath. Any tips for keeping is from turning to absolute pulp? Thanks!
Alanna says
Hi Emma! I'm so glad you liked the topping for this. But I'm sorry to hear about your rhubarb woes! I'm a bit stumped because my rhubarb held up pretty well when I baked this. I wonder if your rhubarb stalks had more moisture in them than mine did? I could also imagine that stirring the rhubarb too vigorously after the first bake could cause it to break down more. Thoughts?
Emma says
Hello! I did notice that the rhubarb started to turn to mush right after the initial roasting— this might have been because there was too much moisture. I also might have cut mine into smaller pieces. Oh well, it still tasted delicious. Already contemplating what to bake next!
Maruko says
I don't have access to tapioca flour in the small city I live. What could I substitute it with?
Alanna says
Are you not able to order it online? You could try cornstarch or arrowroot?
Lisa says
I've been trying to nurture a rhubarb plant for years here in California. I have five precious stalks finally! I can't wait to try this recipe.
Alanna says
Aw that's so special! Please let me know how you like it.
Val says
I was obsessing over that intense color until I finally read carefully and saw the reference to beet and raspberry powder. That is genius! I have some dried raspberries I could use. (On the east coast, it seems to be easier to grow varieties of rhubarb that are not brilliant red.)
Alanna says
Yes, same here in California! It's rare to find that perfect pink forced rhubarb. Yummy powders to the rescue! Please let me know if you give this a go. :)
Shirley Boock says
Incredible! I only had 3 cups of organic rhubarb so I added 1 cup of strawberries and 1 cup of blueberries. I really wanted vegan ice cream but I haven’t found one I’m willing to pay for :) it was divine without the ice cream.
Alanna says
That sounds delicious! I want to try adding berries to mine next time now too. :) Yes it's hard to find a good vegan ice cream. Nada Moo and Green Girl are my two current favorites. Sometimes I use Coyo (really rich coconut yogurt) in place of ice cream or whipped cream. Have you ever tried making some?
Stumbled on beauty says
Loved this! And so did my friends. This might become THE Rhubarb recipe for me. So thank you :)
Alanna says
That's so lovely to hear! Thanks for the note and rating!
Amanda Paa says
I made this for a neighborhood get together, and everyone loved it! One of the attendees was dairy-free, and I didn't have vegan butter on hand, so I used a mix of virgin coconut oil and avocado oil. Probably not as clumpy as if you'd use vegan or regular butter, but still a wonderful, crisp texture!
Alanna says
Aw thanks for trying my recipe friend!! I'm so glad it was a hit and that the oil substitutions worked out too.
Tanja Rohn says
Yup - super yummy! My garden gave me exactly 5 cups of rhubarb. There is something about the diagonal cut that is important but I don't even need to know why because it was outstanding. Even though I totally over baked because I didn't hear the oven timer.
Alanna says
Aw I'm so glad you liked it! I'm envious of your rhubarb garden. If I had a rhubarb stalk for every time I missed the oven timer... I'd have many rhubarb crisps! ;)
Jazmin says
hi! how long do you bake the rhubarb and at what temp to let off the steam before starting the recipe?
Alanna says
Hi! It says in the recipe:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF.
In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb with the lemon zest and juice, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Scrape the mixture into a 9- or 10-inch round baking dish, pie plate, or ovenproof skillet. Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips, and bake until the rhubarb starts to bubble, 25-30 minutes. Gently stir the rhubarb to redistribute.
Let me know if you make it! :)
Jazmin Gonzalez says
thanks! wasn't sure if it needed to be done before
natalie says
so delicious. I used coconut oil instead of butter, white flour, and accidentally doubled the cardamom but it turned out great.
Alanna says
I'm so glad it worked well with those modifications! Thanks a bunch for sharing. :)
Barb says
Amazing! So delicious! Thank you for this recipe! I recently went vegan with my BF and wanted to make him something special for Father's Day. We both LOVED this!
I didn't have Tapioca flour, but used Arrowroot Powder and it worked beautifully.
Nyssa says
This was so dang delicious! Made with some thawed frozen strawberries, so I increased the amount of tapioca to about 1/3 of a cup because there was a ton of strawberry juice. Par-baking the fruit was genius! Created a perfect crisp top with lots of crunch and texture. Thanks for the recipe Alana! So YUM.
Alanna says
That was smart! I was concerned about the juicy berries. I'm so glad you liked it! It looked absolutely delicious.
Julie says
Thank you, this was just what I needed when my pie-crust went south and I needed to bake some rhubarb. I didn't have sliced almonds so I used chopped macadamia nuts, and added 1t. of cinnamon to the topping, and it's a huge hit. Thank you for the recipe - I'll likely never make the pie again, this was so much easier :-).
Alanna says
That's wonderful! I'm with you - crisp is *so* much easier than pie, and usually more satisfying too. Macadamia nuts and cinnamon sound absolutely divine here!
Jen says
This was a wonderful hit with the vegan hubby (vegan butter used), hungry kids and mother-in-law who is a very particular baker! Will absolutely make this again very soon... the garden is bursting with rhubarb! Thanks for this recipe.
Trish says
Hi Alanna, thought you’d like to know how my attempt at this recipe went. I decided I’d try a crisp recipe for dinner guests but didn’t have enough rhubarb to make it as written. So I used rhubarb, an apple, a peach, 4 or 5 plums and about a cup of fresh blueberries. With homemade vanilla ice cream (you did say ice cream was a must!) it was a big hit with everyone. I think next I’ll use peaches plus whatever else might be at hand. I also used pecans instead of almonds as I preferred it with those fruits. Sooo good!
Alanna says
That sounds absolutely delicious! Now I'm craving peach crisp big time. :D