Start the day with a healthy buckwheat porridge with berries or fruit, a delicious alternative to the common oatmeal. This easy breakfast will keep you full for hours.
Start your day with a bowl of creamy buckwheat porridge. It's a delicious and filling breakfast that will give you energy for hours. For extra flavor, add your favorite toppings, such as fresh fruit or berries, nuts, or honey.
Make a big batch of our Homemade Sugar-Free Müsli so you can always enjoy a quick and healthy breakfast. Or try this Müsli with Yogurt.
Jump to recipe
What is buckwheat?
Despite the name, buckwheat is not actually a grain, and it has nothing to do with wheat. It is a so-called pseudocereal because its seeds can be used the same as cereals. Buckwheat has been cultivated for many thousands of years and is a staple ingredient in Russian or Polish cuisines, for instance.
I discovered buckwheat a few years ago. In the beginning, I used the kernels or buckwheat groats mostly for soups, but nowadays, I make Polish roasted buckwheat, buckwheat salad, vegan kasha with vegetables, buckwheat bread, or this buckwheat porridge for breakfast.
Taste and texture: Buckwheat porridge tastes nutty and hearty even when eaten sweetened and with fruits or berries. The roasting of the groats imparts a lot of flavor into the dish, making it heartier than regular oatmeal. It is also rather chewy and really satisfying to eat.
Buckwheat is gluten-free: Despite the “wheat” in the name, buckwheat is not a cereal, so it is safe to eat when you are on a gluten-free diet.
Where can I buy buckwheat? Buying buckwheat groats (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab) is very easy nowadays. I usually find buckwheat groats stored together with rice and grains. Buckwheat flour is mostly found in the flour section of the supermarket, along with regular flour.
Recipe ingredients
Porridge ingredients: Toasted buckwheat groats, the milk of your choice, and a few tablespoons of ground almonds, which will increase the nutty flavor and help thicken the porridge.
Topping ingredients: Well, actually, anything you like. But we love it with blueberries when we have more time in the morning or with bananas when it has to go faster.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make buckwheat porridge?
Step #1: Soak the buckwheat groats overnight (See Good to know!).
Step #2: Place the drained buckwheat in a saucepan and add the milk. Blend very shortly with an immersion blender (5-6 pulses), the groats should remain coarse.
Step #3: Add the ground almonds and stir to mix.
Step #4: Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring often, for 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened. Don't cook it to mush!
Step #5: Place the blueberries in a small saucepan. Add lemon juice and sweetener.
Step #6: Bring to a boil and simmer until the mixture becomes saucy.
Other toppings for porridge
Banana porridge: Mash half a banana and mix it with the cooked buckwheat, adding some nut/peanut butter as well. Serve the remaining sliced banana on top, adding more nuts or seeds to taste.
Other fruit or berries. The berries (if not too large) can be frozen and only partially defrosted. Mixing them into the hot porridge will help them defrost very quickly.
Apple porridge: Add 1-2 tablespoons of apple sauce and a chopped apple.
Dried fruit like dates, figs, raisins, or apricots. Chop the fruit and cook it together with the buckwheat groats, or add it after cooking.
Chocolate porridge: Add pure unsweetened cocoa powder when you add the milk. Once the porridge is cooked, stir in some chocolate chips or cocoa nibs
Nuts and seeds: Chopped walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, unsweetened coconut flakes. The nuts can be toasted, which makes them even better. You can add seeds like flaxseeds, sunflower, sesame, or chia seeds.
Add sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, and so on.
Good to know!
Making this buckwheat breakfast is super easy, just like making regular oatmeal, but consider one extra step: soaking the buckwheat kernels for a few hours or overnight.
This step is not mandatory; however, soaking the buckwheat makes it more digestible, softens it, and allows for a shorter cooking time in the morning.
If you forget to soak, don't worry. Just cook the buckwheat groats a bit longer. You won't be able to blend them coarsely at the start, so you can do that after cooking them for a while.
Ensure you don't add too much liquid or cook them too long. They should stay chewy and not become mushy.
Store and reheat the porridge
I usually make a double or triple batch of buckwheat porridge for breakfast. It saves time and energy, and I can enjoy the porridge several mornings in a row without starting fresh.
Refrigerate the porridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
To reheat it, place the porridge into a small saucepan, add a splash of milk/nut milk if the porridge seems dry and reheat gently while stirring very often. You can also reheat it in the microwave.
That said, I often don't bother reheating it, and I eat it at room temperature.
More breakfast ideas
Do you like this recipe?
Please leave a good rating in the recipe card below. Stay in touch through social media: Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Don’t forget to tag #whereismyspoon when you try a recipe!Recipe
Buckwheat Porridge
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
Buckwheat porridge:
- ½ toasted buckwheat groats 100 g
- 1¾ milk of choice, 400 ml, Note 1
- 2 tablespoons ground almonds
Blueberry compote:
- 2½ cups blueberries fresh or frozen, 300 g
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- sweetener of choice to taste, Note 2
Banana porridge:
- 1 banana
- 1 teaspoon almond butter or peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon almonds chopped, or other nuts or seeds
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- sweetener if necessary, Note 2
Instructions
Buckwheat porridge:
- Soak buckwheat: Wash the buckwheat and place it in a bowl. Cover with cold water. Leave to soak for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Drain it well.½ toasted buckwheat groats/ 100 g
- Blend the groats: Place in a saucepan and add the milk. Blend the buckwheat very shortly with an immersion blender, about 5-6 pulses are enough; the buckwheat should still have a coarse texture.1¾ milk / 400 ml
- Add the ground almonds and stir to mix.2 tablespoons ground almonds
- Cook buckwheat: Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the porridge has thickened.
Blueberry compote:
- Cook blueberries: Place the blueberries in a small saucepan. Add the lemon juice and the sweetener. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the mixture becomes saucy and the blueberries are heated through. If using fresh blueberries, 5 minutes would be enough.2½ cups blueberries/ 300 g + 1 tablespoon lemon juice + sweetener of choice
- If using frozen blueberries, it will take a few minutes longer, check the blueberries to make sure that they are thawed and heated through.
Banana porridge:
- Banana: Halve the banana. Mash one half and slice the other half. Mix the mashed banana and the nut butter with the cooked porridge.1 banana + 1 teaspoon almond butter
- Assemble porridge: Top the porridge with the sliced banana, sprinkle with chopped almonds or peanuts, and with some cinnamon to taste.1 tablespoon almonds + sprinkle of cinnamon
- Add sweeteners like stevia, honey, maple syrup, etc, but if the banana is ripe enough, the porridge will be sweet enough without anything added. sweetener
Notes
- Milk: Regular milk or any kind of plant-based milk, such as almond, rice, oat, or coconut (from a pack, not a can).
- Sweeteners: I use stevia most of the time, but sugar, honey, maple, date, and agave syrup are also fine.
Virginia says
Using up some Buckwheat Groats lurking in my pantry, l decided to try an alternative porridge. I made the banana version and loved it. What a delicious bowl of goodness!! I I think it’s more satisfying than oats and I loved the bits of groats that didn’t get blitzed by my blender stick 😀 Thank you for a great recipe. Blueberry topping tomorrow 😋
Adina says
I am so happy to hear it, Virginia. Thank you for the comment and the rating.
Liza says
Is there any way to make this without using a blender? I don’t have one, and I’m really tempted to try it anyway since it looks so good. How could I replicate the texture otherwise?
Adina says
Hi Liza. You can cook the porridge without blending it as well, but it will have a coarser texture. It will still taste the same. You might need to cook it for longer (taste to make sure) or add a bit more milk while it cooks if you notice that the buckwheat absorbed too much of it.
Angela says
Yeah recipes look great and I’m excited to try some having just made some dietary changes does your newsletter contain recipes and where am I able to gain access to your other recipes I’m going to try some of the ones I’ve seen here already
Thank you
Angela
Adina says
Hi Angela. Thank you for your comment. The email newsletter is sent every time I post something new. The recipes are all on the blog, you can search them in the Index, Search field or Recipes by ingredient. If you look down on the right side in a post, there is a small heart and other symbols. If you press that and introduce your email there, you will be able to save the recipes you might be interested in cooking later. Happy browsing! 🙂
mjskitchen says
We eat steel cuts a couple of times a week, but I see how this would be a nice little change for us. I've never had a buckwheat porridge, and it looks delicious. thanks for another great recipe Adina!