How to Cook Grains with Whole Grain Recipes (2024)

Learning how to cook grains is a healthy and delicious way to create more delicious meals for you and your family. Since first learning of all the ways of cooking bulgur, brown rice and many other delicious whole grains, my meals have changed for the better. Not only do whole grain recipes taste great, they also provide me and the family with more nutrition while adding more variety to the meals I prepare.

This recipe was originally published in August 2019. It has been updated for photos and content.

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Most whole grains are completely interchangeable in recipes. All that’s required is understanding the differences in cooking them. Grains work perfectly added to soups and used to create delicious pilaf or salad combinations. You can even combine them and mix them up making delicious side dishes and main meals with interesting textures from the different grains.

Why You Will Love These Recipes

These whole grain recipes give you more ways of serving up a variety of grains in your meals.

Whole grain recipes are a delicious and easy way to increase the nutrition in your meals.

Whole grains are easy to meal prep. Cook them in advance to use during the week to add to salads, soups and more! Whole grains freeze well meaning you can batch cook them to use even further in the future. This way you always have quick, simple ingredients on hand to transform into delicious meals or to add to your whole grain recipes.

Some of these whole grains are gluten free, making them excellent substitutions for preparing wheat free whole grain dishes for those that need to avoid gluten.

What are Whole Grains

Grains are made up of three layers, the germ, endosperm and the outer layer, the bran. Much of the nutrition and fiber are found in the bran and germ.

When grains are processed all the nutrients are stripped away and only the endosperm is left which doesn’t contain a lot of the nutrients in the grain. Whole grains are a healthier alternative because the grains are more intact.

In this post, you will find a description of some of my favorite grains, how to cook grains and at the end a list of recipes to get you started using some of these amazing grains.

If you want information about other grains or want to learn more about these listed here, I recommend consulting the Whole Grains A to Z by the Whole Grains Council. I find it to be a very helpful tool with lots of great information.

How to Cook and Use Bulgur Wheat

Bulgur is what you get when when kernels of wheat are cleaned, boiled, dried and then ground. Since it has already been cooked, it cooks quicker than most other whole grains which makes it perfect for quick and easy meals and also for meal prep.

Bulgur wheat has a chewy texture and a subtle nutty flavor. Since it does contain wheat, this grain isn’t gluten free.

Bulgur is most commonly known for it’s use in Tabbouleh Salad, a traditional Lebanese dish made with chopped parsley, tomato, mint, olive oil and lemon. Use bulgur to make a variety of pilafs and salads mixed with herbs and vegetables and served up warm or cold.

Incorporate bulgur into your breakfast meal prep as well. Swap out the oatmeal in this Savory Breakfast Bowl or use it in other breakfast recipes to replace whole grains.

Then use bulgur to prepare a delicious and easy Mediterranean Bulgur Bowl for your lunch meal prep.

Find bulgur wheat at your local grocery store or health food market. It’s also possible to buy bulgur wheat online and get it delivered to your house.

How to Cook Bulgur

There are two methods used to prepare bulgur. You can cook it in water for about 10 minutes or simply soak it in hot water. I prefer the soak method, especially to use in salads and cold preparations.

Cooking Bulgur Method

1. Place the bulgur in a pot.
2. Add water using a 1:1 ratio.
3. Cover with a lid, heat to a low boil and then reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Fluff with a fork once done cooking and serve it up or add in seasonings or chopped vegetables to make a pilaf.

Soaking Method for Bulgur

1. Place the bulgur in a bowl.
2. Cover with about 1 inch of boiling water.
3. Let sit for about 20 minutes or until water is absorbed.
4. If there is any leftover water, drain it off.
5. Fluff the bulgur with a fork and proceed with assembling your salad.

Cooking and Eating Wheat Berries

Wheat berries are whole wheat kernels and take up to an hour to fully cook which means that cooking in advance is a good idea unless you know you have the time.

With the popularity of health foods, wheat berries are more easy to find these days. Check your local large grocery store or healthy food market to buy wheat berries. Wheat berries are also to buy online.

Despite the long cooking time, I like adding wheat berries to my whole grain recipes. They have a an extra chewy texture and a nutty, wheat flavor that works great for pilafs and salads. Cracked wheat kernels are also available and take less time to cook but are similar in terms of flavor.

Cook them in advance and then use them the grains in salads and pilafs. I particularly like wheat berries as a replacement for couscous in this Healthy Couscous with Roasted Vegetables recipe. Simply cook the wheat berries in advance and then substitute them in for the couscous tossed with the roasted veggies.

Cooking Quinoa

Quinoa is likely an ingredient you’ve heard of before and maybe even cooked! It’s one of the more commonly used whole grains. While quinoa is frequently listed as a whole grain, it’s actually a seed not a grain. This superfood ingredient comes from the Andes where it has been cultivated for centuries (since the Incas). Much quinoa still is grown in South American as it requires a cold environment and high altitude to grow.

Quinoa grows in a variety of colors but the most common available for use in food are white, black and red. This grain (or seed) cooks in less than 15 minutes which makes it great for weeknight meals and other times when you don’t have a ton of time to be in the kitchen.

The white quinoa tends to cook up with a softer texture, I find the red and black quinoa remain a bit intact and have a little bit of a “crunch” when eaten.

I enjoy the texture of the white quinoa for breakfast bowls and soups while the colored or a mixture of colors works great salads and pilafs. Quinoa works great to cook ahead of time too and leftovers can be frozen and used in the future.

You can buy quinoa in your local grocery store though for colored quinoa you may need to get those from a health food store or online. This brand available online is excellent and comes in white, red and a tri-colored blend.

How to Cook and Use Quinoa

Many people comment that quinoa has a bitter-flavor which they don’t like. This flavor comes from the high amounts of saponins in quinoa. Much of processed quinoa has already been washed thoroughly to remove the saponins. However, it doesn’t hurt to rinse quinoa a bit more before cooking. If you begin to add the water and see bubbles appear and the quinoa looks “soapy” this is a sign that saponins are present and you definitely need the quinoa to rinse a couple times before cooking.

When cooking quinoa, it’s great to cook it in broth or seasoned water to add some flavor. Use a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water/broth when cooking quinoa. Cover with a lid, heat to boil and then reduce the heat to cook for 12-15 minutes.

Quinoa is perfect for many different preparations including entrees, side dishes, salads and pilafs. One of my favorite recipes with quinoa is Quinotto with Winter Squash and Greens. In this recipe, the quinoa is cooked similar to a risotto and the results are a hearty, creamy dish that’s so satisfying. It also cooks up with tofu to make a delicious taco “meat” that tastes amazing in this Taco Salad recipe.

You can even serve quinoa up for a whole grain healthy breakfast in these delicious Sweet Potato Quinoa Breakfast Tacos and Banana Quinoa Breakfast Bowl. For meal prep, these Broccoli Quinoa Bites are perfect for easy to carry snacks or breakfast on the go.

From a nutrition standpoint, quinoa serves as a healthy protein source for vegetarian and vegan diets. It is considered to be a high-quality protein and a complete protein, meaning it contains ALL the essential amino acids our body is unable to make on its own.

What’s the Best Quinoa to Buy

While quinoa crops have become much more industrial and commercial, there are still small farmers high up in the Andes that are growing quinoa and the popularity of this grain has greatly improved their life. Consider choosing a brand that specifically sources from these small farmers to make sure you are helping them and not the larger, more industrial farms.

A trick to identify products containing quinoa from these smaller farmers it to look for the works Quinoa Real or Royal Quinoa on the packaging. For sure there are cheaper brands of quinoa to purchase, but I personally like the idea of supporting the little guy!

Cooking with Buckwheat

Despite its name, buckwheat doesn’t contain wheat. And it’s technically not a whole grain, it’s a seed. However, its nutrition, flavor and appearance makes it fit in easily with other whole grains.

See Also

Easy Chicken Pad Thai4 Delicious Quinoa RecipesEggless Ragi Banana Cake With Walnuts | Ragi CakeClean Eating Made Delicious: 30 Quinoa Flour Recipes to Try

This grain, native to Russia is most famous ground into a flour and used to make the popular Russian blini (mini pancakes). When the groats are roasted it’s called kasha, another popular Russian ingredient.

In the US, the most popular ways of using buckwheat are in breakfast pancakes and other baked goods as well as soba noodles, a Japanese noodle made with buckwheat.

Buckwheat is full of tons of nutrients and boasts high levels of protein and soluble fiber. It is also a gluten-free grain, meaning that if you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, buckwheat is a great substitute for baked goods.

Soba noodles are perfect for meal prep, they cook quickly and will hold in the refrigerator for several days. They are perfect to use in making these Asian Salad Bowls.

Check you local grocery store for buckwheat flour though it may be a little harder to find. Health food and specialty markets or ordering buckwheat online would be another option for locating this product. Soba noodles may also be available in larger grocery stores, an Asian market, or to order online.

Cooking Brown Rice

Brown rice is pretty basic and less exotic than some of the other whole-grains but it’s essential in this collection. I cook with it at least once a week. I understand that for some, making this transition to brown rice is impossible and that’s ok. But for me, I enjoy the chewier texture of brown rice than that of plain old white rice.

Rice is likely the most complicated ingredient for me to cook mainly because I can’t get the temperature low enough on my stove so my water cooks off too quickly leaving me with crunchy rice.

I have had the best results lately cooking brown rice in the Instant Pot. I use a 1:1 ratio of water to rice and use high pressure for 17 minutes and let it release naturally for 10 minutes.

However, when cooking it on the stove, I use 1 cup of rice to 1 ½ cups of water. I have found that using the 2:1 ratio of brown rice to water as many packages recommend produces mushy rice.

Sometimes when cooking rice I start with a little bit of olive oil and then thrown in a few cloves of chopped garlic and let it cook for 30 seconds and then add the rice and water. Delicious!

For me brown rice is perfect paired with any type of cooked beans or stews and I even sometimes eat as pasta covered in a Hearty Marinara Sauce.

Brown rice is available in an assortment of long grain and medium grain varieties. These days you can even find brown basmati rice and brown jasmine rice in many large grocery stores.

Cooking Oats

Oats of any kind are really perfect! The nutrition in processed oats, whole oats or steel cut oats doesn’t really vary.

I feel like each type of oatmeal has it’s purpose for me. I use the more processed quick oats in cookies as I find these combine more easily with the other ingredients. For my oatmeal breakfast bowl, I prefer to use whole oats or steel cut oats.

I really like steel cut oats when I have the time to cook them. They are a bit chewier than other forms of oats. But for me, sometimes the 45 minutes to cook them is worth it. You can prep steel cut oats ahead of time on the weekend and then use it throughout the week for breakfast, snacks or other meals.

Oatmeal is often associated with sweet preparations but savory oats are one of my favorites. Have you ever tried oats as a savory breakfast? I cook up oatmeal with some garlic and veggies in this Savory Breakfast Bowl. Even better you can pretty much substitute any of these whole grains for the oats in creating this breakfast dish.

No matter what kind of oats you prefer, these are easy to find at most large grocery stores. If you have difficulty locating steel cut oats, you can easily order them online and get them delivered straight to the house.

Cooking with Barley

There are two types of barley, hulled and pearl barley. Hulled barley is the whole grain version of barley, but it’s less commonly used in cooking because it requires soaking and about an hour to cook. Pearl barley has the outer husk removed, just like hulled barley but also has the bran removed so it is technically not a whole grain.

However, despite the fact pearl barley isn’t technically a whole grain, it still contains higher nutrients and fiber than a similar amount of brown rice.

It’s one of my favorites added to soups! It also makes delicious side dishes that can be served hot or cold and a delicious hot breakfast porridge, perfect for those hot mornings when you want to change up your oatmeal bowl! The easiest way to prepare it to use in other preparations is to cook barley in the instant pot.

Keep an eye out for several new recipes coming soon with barley.

Cooking with Whole Wheat

Whole wheat flour is a much more common whole wheat ingredient than bulgur wheat and wheat berries. Any time you choose whole wheat flour over the basic white flour, you increase the nutrition in your meals.

You can easily swap white flour with whole wheat in a variety of different recipes and baked goods. It can be a little tricky as whole wheat flour tends to absorb more water than regular flour so sometimes baked goods will need a little more liquid added when making this swap.

It’s really helpful if you are familiar with what the texture of your mixture should be ahead of time so you know how much more liquid you need to add when using whole wheat flour.

Whole wheat flour may also effect the final texture of baked goods making them a bit more firm. Over time I find you get used to whole wheat flour but it can be easier to start by replacing only half the white flour in recipes with whole wheat.

Whole wheat pancakes are my favorites for easy morning breakfast and I use it exclusively in my healthy oatmeal cookie and chocolate oatmeal cookie recipes.

How to Use Whole Grains

Once you know how to cook grains, you can use these whole grains alone or in different combinations to make:

• Side Dishes: Brown rice, bulgur, wheat berries, quinoa and barley.
• Salads: Brown rice, bulgur, wheat berries, quinoa and barley.
• Breakfast Bowls and Porridge: Oats, bulgur, quinoa and barley.
• Casseroles: Brown rice, wheat berries, quinoa and barley.
• Soups: Brown rice, wheat berries, quinoa, barley and buckwheat noodles.

Expert Tips for Cooking Whole Grains and FAQS

When using grains for meal prep, cook off 2-3 different types to use during the week to add more variety and nutrition to your meals.

Tightly seal opened bags of grains or transfer them to a jar or canister to store in the cabinet. This keeps them pest-free and helps them stay fresh longer.

Add aromatics when cooking whole grains to boost the flavor. Saute onion or garlic in olive oil before adding the grains or add a bay leaf or some whole fresh herbs to the pot to lightly flavor the grains as they cook.

For more flavor, cook grains in vegetable broth.

Cook grains with a tightly fitting lid on top. If there are areas where lots of steam is leaking from the pot, cover the lid with a piece of aluminum foil to seal more efficiently. This keeps the water from cooking off the grains too quickly.

More Recipe Collections on the Blog

If you try a recipe from this vegan lemon recipes collection, why not drop a review in the comment section further down the page I always appreciate your feedback. You can let me know how the recipe went for you and which one you’re cooking next. And don’t forget to tag me @cookeatlivelove in your photos on social media so I can see your creations.

Collection of Whole Grain Recipes

In this whole grain recipes collection you will find a variety of meals that you can prepare using whole grains. Remember that in many of these recipes you can change up the grains to use ingredients you already have in your cabinet or replace it with a grain you prefer.

Recipes Made with Bulgur and Barley

As I continue to develop recipes, hopefully I will eventually have some more to add to this list. In the meantime, you can experiment with bulgur by swapping out the grains in this Greek Spinach Rice recipe or experiment with using in different combinations in How to Meal Prep Lunch Bowls.

Recipes Made with Brown Rice

Recipes with Quinoa

Recipes with Oats

Recipes Prepared with Whole Wheat Flour

I hope you have discovered more about how to cook grains well and more ways of using them to create delicious meals for the week to feed your family. Try something new this week and pick out one grain you’ve never tried before and cook it up for yourself and your family!