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Do you know how to cook buckwheat groats? It is extremely quick and easy! Cooked buckwheat can be incorporated into a ton of different recipes from salads to soups. Also, it makes a great gluten-free substitute for whole grains like wheat berries, bulgur and barley.
Love side dishes like bulgur pilaf and rice pilaf? Here is another healthy option for you that is gluten-free: Simple cooked buckwheat. Pair it with any main dish you like or make a tasty buckwheat salad with veggies or use it in soups.
Today we will have an in-depth look at this superfood. You will learn how to perfectly cook buckwheat, enrich it with other flavors and incorporate it into different recipes.
Jump to:
- What is Buckwheat?
- Raw or Toasted Groats?
- Ingredients
- How To CookIt
- Alternative Flavors
- Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Recipes Like This
- 📖 Recipe
What is Buckwheat?
Despite the name, buckwheat has no relation to wheat and therefore is completely gluten-free! It is not a grain at all. It is a gluten-free seed with a nutty flavor and also considered a superfood that is packed full of nutrients.
You can use it in summer for salads like Turkish kisir and stuffed peppers, or in cold winters as part of a soup like tomato chicken soup or a stew. It can even be ground to make buckwheat flour. It is used as a gluten-free flour to make pancakes or brownies!
This buckwheat recipe, which only uses the groats, water, salt, and oil, is also commonly referred to as kasha, a type of porridge that is extremely popular in Eastern Europe.
Buckwheat has become more popular over the past few years in Turkey, especially among people who are suffering from celiac disease. One of the reasons for this is because of its gluten-free and non-allergenic characteristics. It has several health benefits. It is a great source of potassium, dietary fiber and antioxidants and is a great source of vegetarian protein.
Raw or Toasted Groats?
Toasting buckwheat groats before cooking them makes a big difference in taste. If you cook raw buckwheat groats, it will have a very earthy, nutty, and even slightly bitter taste. When cooking toasted buckwheat groats, it almost tames the bitterness and enhances the nuttiness of it.
We prefer using toasted buckwheat groats for recipes as the flavor and texture is better when cooked. It is easy to find at markets or online, but if you cannot find any, you can easily toast them yourself.
To toast raw groats at home, simply preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C) and add the groats to a lined baking tray. Toast them for about 5 minutes or until they start to brown. Alternatively, you can toast them in a medium-hot pan until brown.
Ingredients
Basic fluffy buckwheat recipe is very easy to make and mainly requires buckwheat groats (preferably toasted), water, salt, and either butter or olive oil.
When choosing between the two fats, we prefer using olive oil mainly because we use our buckwheat in salads. When it comes down to it, it is entirely up to personal preferences.You can even use coconut oil if that’s what you use often in your cooking.
It is best to use a bit of butter when you want to serve it as a side dish like rice or bulgur pilaf.
How To CookIt
Cooking buckwheat is very similar to cooking coarse bulgur or cooking wheat berries.
Making this buckwheat kasha recipe is extremely quick, easy, and delicious! With only a few ingredients you can create a filling and flavorful side dish that will complement any main.
First, cook the buckwheat: Rinse buckwheat under water until it runs clear. Bring a large pot of water and salt to a boil, add the buckwheat, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook the buckwheat covered over low heat until it becomes tender, about 10-12 minutes. Drain any remaining water and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. We use 1 cup of groats for this.
Second, fluff the buckwheat and serve: Using a fork, gently fluff the cooked buckwheat, but avoid mashing it. Serve immediately as is or make a buckwheat porridge while warm or allow it to cool completely before incorporating it into salads.
Alternative Flavors
What makes this pseudo grain, buckwheat kasha so versatile is that you can make it both sweet and savory.
For a sweeter dish, you can add milk, berries, honey or maple syrup, nuts, or spices like cinnamon. This makes a perfect buckwheat breakfast bowl.
For a more savory flavor profile, combine buckwheat with yogurt, some citrus juice like lemon or lime, and a variety of spices like toasted cumin, fennel, or coriander.
If you want to make it even more savory, try cooking the buckwheat in chicken, beef, or vegetable stock and use chicken or beef fat instead of butter. This creates an amazing umami flavor profile!
Tips
- If you are looking to save time, pre-soak your buckwheat in water. This will cut the cooking time in half!
- Instead of olive oil, you can use unsalted butter or vegan butter, lard, chicken fat, beef fat or coconut oil – it is entirely up to your own personal preference.
- Try not to mash it when stirring and fluffing the cooking buckwheat. That being said, it still tastes good even if it turns to mush. It is okay to serve as is or mixed up with milk or yogurt. But not good in salads when it is mushy.
- You can also cook your buckwheat in flavored liquids like stocks, or add them to a soup base.
- Keep the cooked buckwheat in the refrigerator after letting it cool completely.
- You can cook buckwheat in your pressure cooker if you want. After putting everything in the pot, lock the lid and let it heat over high heat. When the pressure cooker starts to whistle (when it reaches pressure), bring the heat to the lowest and cook for 3 minutes. Make sure you let it cool down for 20-30 min before uncovering the pot.
- You can use your instant pot too. Set it to manual high pressure and cook it for 3 min.
- You can cook buckwheat in your rice cooker as well, just as you cook rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to soak buckwheat before cooking?
When making any buckwheat groats recipe, you don't have to pre-soak them, however, it does reduce the cooking time drastically. To pre-soak buckwheat, soak the groats in water for 6 hours or even overnight. Give them a good rinse before cooking them for 3-5 minutes.
How long to cook buckwheat groats?
If you follow the instructions, your buckwheat should be perfectly cooked in 10 minutes. The groats should be tender, not mushy.
If you find that they haven’t yet fully cooked in the 10 minutes, continue cooking for another minute or two until they are done.
How to cook buckwheat so it doesn’t go mushy?
The best way to prevent mushy buckwheat is to prevent over-cooking it. That is why we highly recommend checking and testing the wheat after 10 minutes to see if it has been fully cooked.
Another handy tip is to not overwork the cooked buckwheat when you are fluffing it. Gently scrape your fork over the rested buckwheat.
How much water do I need to cook buckwheat?
For every cup of buckwheat, you can use 1 ½ cups of cold water. So for 2 cups buckwheat, you would need 3 cups water. If you see that the water is evaporating too quickly, you can add another ½ cup boiling hot water to the pot.
How do you store cooked buckwheat?
After your cooked buckwheat has completely cooled, place it in an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Alternatively, you can freeze the cooked buckwheat for 3 months.
More Recipes Like This
- How To Cook Wheat Berries
- Wheat Berry Salad
- Buckwheat Salad
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📖 Recipe
How To Cook Buckwheat Groats
The basic way of how to cook buckwheat groats in a pot.
- Author:
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
- 1 cup buckwheat (toasted buckwheat groats)
- 1 and ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Rinse buckwheat groats in a strainer under water until clear and drain.
- Put water, salt and oil in a pot and bring it to a boil.
- Add in buckwheat, let it simmer.
- Cook it covered over low heat until tender but not mushy, for about 10-12 minutes. Check it after 10 min. and if it is soft enough, remove from heat. Keep cooking if it is not soft enough.
- If there is still water after it is cooked, drain it.
- Let it rest covered for about 15 minutes before serving.
- Then fluff it gently with a fork, but do this carefully to avoid mashing it.
- Serve it immediately as a side dish. (You can add butter right after removing it from heat if you like).
- Alternatively, you can let it cool down completely and use it in salads.
- Keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and for 3 months in the freezer.
Notes
- If you are looking to save time, pre-soak your buckwheat in water. This will cut the cooking time in half!
- Instead of olive oil, you can use butter, lard, chicken fat, beef fat or coconut oil – it is entirely up to your own personal preference.
- Try not to mash it when stirring and fluffing the cooking buckwheat. That being said, it still tastes good even if it turns to mush. It is okay to serve as is or mixed up with milk or yogurt. But not good in salads when it is mushy.
- You can also cook your buckwheat in flavored liquids like stocks, or add them to a soup base.
- Keep the cooked buckwheat in the refrigerator after letting it cool completely.
Nutrition
- Calories: 172
- Sugar: 0g
- Sodium: 298.8mg
- Fat: 4.6g
- Carbohydrates: 30.7g
- Protein: 4.8g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: how to cook buckwheat, cooking buckwheat groats, buckwheat kasha
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Sonja Goeden says
Hey,
I love the recipe and especially the instructions for oven toasting. But try as I may, even with carefully monitoring the cooking process, my buckwheat seems to "explode" and turn mushy even before everything had time to cook through. I started checking after 5 minutes, but there was decidedly too much bite left. Any idea what the issue might be?★★★★★
Reply
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Sonja,
Toasted buckwheat cooks fast (in about 10 min.) but we are not sure why yours get that mushy just after 5 minutes.
Are you using toasted or raw buckwheat? We never have that problem when we use toasted buckwheat.
If you use raw buckwheat, it might be better to soak them overnight before cooking in water.
If you decide to toast them yourself, make sure to put them in a single layer in a baking pan.Reply
Sonja Goeden says
Thanks a lot for your response!
I used raw buckwheat groats and toasted one batch in a frying pan (no fat) until lightly toasted and another batch in the oven following your instructions. Same result for both: Oddly exploded buckwheat.
I might try ready toasted in the future and use the raw for pudding or porridge I guess. That seems to work fine.
Loralea says
All the info nutritionally is provided. Did I miss the size of the serving?
Reply
Audrey says
LOVED it with some yogurt, berries and little honey. Thank you!
★★★★★
Reply
Yusuf says
Hi Audrey, it sounds like a great breakfast!
Reply
Luisa says
If I toast buckwheat, then this mean it doesn't need presoaking? Or do I presoak buckwheat overnight, let it dry and then toasted?
Reply
Yusuf says
Hi Luisa,
Toasting makes buckwheat taste better. No need to let it dry afte toasting. Let it cool a bit and then cook. You don't need to presoak buckwheat, just boiling is enough.
Reply
Luisa says
Thank you. I already tried soaking buckwheat and then cooked it, turned out fine. But, next time will try toasting and then cooking it, as suggested. Looking forward to it.
★★★★★
