Easy Strawberry Crumble – Plant-Based on a Budget

Capture the flavor of summer with this quick and easy strawberry crumble made with fresh or frozen strawberries and mixed spices under a ‘buttery’, crisp cinnamon streusel topping. A crowd-pleasing, dairy-free, vegan, optionally gluten-free strawberry dessert!

Quick and Easy Vegan Strawberry Crumble Recipe

Peak strawberry season is upon us, and we couldn’t help but throw together this easy strawberry crumble to capture the ‘taste of summer’ in a surprisingly cozy dessert. By combining tender, syrupy berries with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice beneath a ‘buttery’, biscuity crumble topping, this easy vegan strawberry dessert blends summer and fall flavors for a truly moreish treat.

Better yet, like most crisps and crumbles, this strawberry crumble recipe is not only ridiculously easy to throw together in just minutes, but it costs next to nothing to prepare with its pantry staple ingredients list and is really easy to customize, too – with more fruit, changing up the spices, and more.

Either way, you’ve got a summer crowd-pleaser, perfect for family dinners, potlucks, parties, and more. We love to add it to our summery dessert rotation along with peach crumble pie, mixed berry crumb pie, and apricot crisp, though frozen berries will even allow you to enjoy it year-round.

The Ingredients

The Strawberry Crumble Filling:

• Strawberries: It’s best to use fresh, ripe, juicy in-season strawberries, though frozen work, too.
• Lemon juice: Fresh or bottled to balance the sweetness and add bright flavor. Add a little lemon zest, too, if preferred. Lime juice or orange juice will also work.
• Sugar: We combined white and brown sugar for a delicious yet light caramel flavor. You could use unrefined sweeteners like raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, or date sugar, though. Sugar alternatives (like erythritol) also work, though extra cornstarch may be needed.
• Thickeners: A small amount of flour and cornstarch (or arrowroot flour) thickens the strawberry juices into a wonderfully syrupy sauce.
• Spices: (optional) We like adding cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice for a warm, full-bodied, complex flavor profile. Omit either (or both) if preferred, though, and use vanilla extract instead.

The Vegan Crumble Topping

• Flour: You can use white all-purpose/whole wheat flour (or a 50/50 combination). For a gluten-free strawberry crumble, use an all-purpose gluten-free blend like King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill. A 50/50 blend of regular and oat flour or almond flour also works.
• Dairy-free butter: It’s best to use unsalted vegan butter, though lightly salted works too. Something like Miyoko’s or Earth Balance. Soft coconut oil may also work.  
• Sugar: Just like the filling, we use a combination of white and brown sugar.
• Spices: Cinnamon and a pinch of salt are delicious additions to the biscuity topping.

Alternatively, make more of a traditional oaty crisp topping for the strawberry crisp.

What could I add to a Strawberry Crumble?

It hardly requires any additional effort to adapt this strawberry crisp recipe in dozens of ways, including:

• Adding more fruit: Some of our favorite combinations include:
• • Strawberry blueberry crisp
• • Mixed berry crisp/crumble
• • Strawberry rhubarb crumble (canned or fresh in 1 ½-2-inch pieces)
  • Strawberry peach crumble (canned, fresh, or frozen)
• Balsamic vinegar: Just a splash to add depth to sweet berry filling.
• Fresh herbs: Both basil and mint complement strawberries and add a fresh twist to this sweet vegan strawberry dessert.
• Cardamom: Just a tiny pinch for an even warmer, cozier flavor.
• Nuts: Chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc., add a toasty crunch to the crumble topping.  
• Oats: Mix some rolled oats into the topping for a more classic strawberry crisp.
• Vegan chocolate chips: Mix dairy-free dark or white chocolate into the topping for decadence.
• Shredded coconut: To add to the topping for extra texture and flavor.

How to Make Strawberry Crumble

• 1) First, preheat the oven to 375F/190C and grease an 8×8-inch baking dish.
• 2) Then, in a medium bowl, combine all the crumble ingredients until it resembles a cookie dough consistency, then crumble it up into smaller pieces and set aside.

• 3) Then, rinse and slice the strawberries in half and transfer them to a large bowl with the remaining filling ingredients (lemon juice, sugars, flour, cornstarch, and spices).  

• 4) To assemble the vegan strawberry crumble, transfer the filling to the prepared baking dish (they should be right to the top, almost spilling out), and sprinkle over the crumble topping.

• 5) Transfer the dish to the oven to bake for 50-55 minutes or until the strawberries are tender and bubbling beneath a crisp, golden-brown crumble topping.

If the topping is browning too quickly, loosely tent the dish with some foil.

• 6) Finally, remove the baked vegan strawberry crumble from the oven and allow it to cool for at least 20-30 minutes (to allow the filling to thicken/set) before serving. Enjoy!

FAQs

Top Tips for the Best Strawberry Crumble

• Use the best strawberries: Strawberries vary in sweetness and are best when ripe and in-season. If you can’t find good-quality fresh berries, use frozen ones instead.
• Sweeten to taste: To complement the flavor of the fruit, adjust the amount of sugar based on how sweet the fruit is naturally. I.e., sweet berries = less, tart = more.  
• For a saucier filling: Reduce the cornstarch/flour in the filling.
• Leave it to rest: After baking, it’s best to give it at least 20-30 minutes before serving. During this time, the strawberry crumble will cool, thickening the filling as it does, making it easier to serve.

Serving Recommendations

You can enjoy this summery strawberry crumble alone (warm or at room temperature) or with:

How to Make Ahead and Store?

This vegan strawberry crumble preps and stores very well. Prepare and transfer the filling to the baking dish and store the crumble topping separately for 1-2 days. Before baking, bring both to room temperature for 20-30 minutes, add the topping, and bake. Alternatively, freeze the assembled, unbaked dish for 2-3 months.

Leftovers should be allowed to cool first, then stored covered/in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

You can reheat portions of the dessert in the microwave (1-2 minutes, though the crumble topping will be soft this way) or reheat larger portions in the oven at 350F/175C until heated through (around 15-20 minutes).

More Vegan Strawberry Recipes

Photos by Alfonso Revilla