What’s the deal with whole grains? To get technical about it, the definition of a whole grain is any cereal grain that contains the cereal germ, endosperm, and bran. Whole grains contain much more nutrition since nothing is “stripped” away from the grain–refined grains, in contrast, only retain the endosperm.
If you live a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle, then whole grains in some form may be a significant part of your diet. Whole grains have come a long way in the past few years—we have a lot more options than whole wheat now!—and people are rediscovering and appreciating the use of ancient grains in their meals. Whether you’re gluten-free or not, ancient grains such as teff, millet, and einkorn can be incorporated easily into your diet. Move over white rice, there’s a new carbohydrate in town!
Below you’ll find a brief description of 6 healthy whole grains, how to use them, what they taste like, and how to cook them.
Gluten-Free Whole Grains
Why you should give it a try: Millet is high in fiber and protein–it contains all amino acids, making it a “complete” protein too. It’s great to use as a side dish just like you would any other carbohydrate, such as rice. Try adding millet to your salad or use as a cold “pasta” dish with your favorite dressing and vegetables, as it keeps well warm or cold.
Taste & Texture: Millet is incredibly delicious! It’s light, fluffy, slightly nutty, and great at soaking up any flavors you pair with it.
How to Prepare: Use 2 1/2 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of dry millet. Simply boil the liquid, add the millet, and simmer for 25 minutes until soft. Fluff with a fork before serving.
Use It In: Sweet Potato and Millet Falafel
Why you should give it a try: Amaranth is another gluten-free grain (although technically it’s a seed!) that’s high in fiber, protein, and a great source of carbohydrates. Amaranth also contains zinc, manganese, copper, and iron.
Taste & Texture: Earthy, nutty, and very soft in texture. Amaranth is unique in that it can be made in several ways: fluffed and used like rice (like quinoa and millet), cooked for longer periods of time to resemble grits, and even popped like popcorn in a dry heated pot!
How to Prepare: Use 3 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of amaranth. Boil the water, add the amaranth, simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes until soft, then fluff with a fork. Cook longer and add more water to develop a grit-like texture. To pop your amaranth, add dry amaranth to a large pot and shake/stir continuously until all the amaranth has popped (be careful, it burns quickly).
Use It In: Cinnamon Apple Pear Amaranth Porridge from Nutrition Stripped
Why you should give it a try: Teff is another ancient whole grain that’s been used for centuries in cooking. The grains of teff are incredibly small, but they’re a nutrition powerhouse. Teff contains calcium, iron, protein, and fiber.
Taste & Texture: Slighty sweet and nutty. Use in porridges, stews, as a pilaf or side dish. Teff flour can be used in baked goods, like breads, muffins, and cookies.
How to Prepare: Use 2-3 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of dry teff (depending on how chewy you want it). Simply boil the liquid and teff for 20-25 minutes until tender–the end result is similar to thick and sticky polenta.
Use It In: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Loaf from Henry Happened
Why you should give it a try: Buckwheat, despite its name, is actually another delicious gluten-free grain. With all the fiber, protein, and minerals contains in these little seeds, it’s super nutritious. Like amaranth, buckwheat isn’t actually a cereal grain–it’s a fruit seed high in manganese, copper, iron, and magnesium.
Taste & Texture: Buckwheat is slightly sweet, nutty and chewy. Use in porridges, raw and soaked overnight, sprouted for granola, pilaf, or use buckwheat flour for baked goods.
How to Prepare: Rinse the buckwheat well. Use 2 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of dry buckwheat. Boil for about 25 minutes or until tender.
Use It In: Buckwheat Hemp Banana Pancakes from Spabettie
Whole Grains That Contain Gluten
Why you should give it a try: Einkorn is an ancient wheat mostly grown in Europe that contains more phosphorus, vitamin B6, and potassium than regular wheat. Einkorn is a “pure” form of wheat, as it contains all the nutrition from harvesting without processing the hull away from the grain.
Taste & Texture: When cooked, einkorn has a nutty flavor and chewy texture. Einkorn flour can be used to make bread, muffins, cakes, and other baked goods.
How to Prepare: Use 5 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of dry einkorn. Simmer for 25-30 minutes until tender.
Note: Some individuals suffering from wheat intolerances or sensitivities may consume einkorn without any negative side effects, but that’s not always the case. It’s different for every individual, so it’s best to play it safe.
Use It In: Homemade Fig Newtons from Healthy Green Kitchen
Why you should give it a try: Spelt is an ancient grain rich in fiber, protein, and minerals such as iron and manganese. Spelt berries are great to add to salads (they work especially well with kale!), used in soups, stews, or as a side dish like rice would be used. Spelt is also sold and used as a flour to make baked goods such as breads, cakes, pancakes, muffins, and much more.
Taste & Texture: Sweet, nutty, chewy, and the grains stay fluffy after cooking, unlike other grains, which can loose their “al dente” texture when cooked for too long.
How to Prepare: Use 3 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of spelt. Cook for 1 1/2 hours at a simmer or until the kernels have become tender. If you enjoy a chewier texture, cut down the water to 2 cups!
Use It In: Blissful Blueberry Banana Spelt Muffins from Oh She Glows
24 Comments
Julia Mueller
March 18, 2014 at 10:54 amI love this! My mom has been obsessed with Einkorn lately, and I’ve been all “yeah, whatever, mom” but I’m thinking momma’s on to something here. This is such a wonderful guide to grains. I’m about to go get my spelt on!
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:36 amThat’s awesome! I’ve only tried it once, but I can see what all the rave is about!
Alexis @ Hummusapien
March 18, 2014 at 12:03 pmWhat a fabulous roundup! I tried amaranth recently for the first time in a breakfast porridge with berries, but McKel’s version sounds fab 🙂 Love all this nutrition info!
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:36 amAwesome Alexis, hope you love that porridge recipe! It’s a favorite of mine 🙂
Emma
March 18, 2014 at 12:19 pmYay for whole grains! I can’t imagine the days when the only grain I ate was rice! My latest favourites are millet and buckwheat but spelt is still my top pick for baking with.
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:37 amI hear ya, there are so many grains to use now it’s hard to choose!
Katie @ Produce on Parade
March 18, 2014 at 2:04 pmSo many great grains! Thanks for sharing this information. There’s even one or two that I’ve never heard of 🙂 Love your educational posts!
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:37 amYou’re so welcome Katie! Glad you found this helpful 🙂
val
March 18, 2014 at 3:18 pmI’ve been on a grain kick for a while, but in addition to new discoveries like farro and multicolored quinoa, I have taken a second look at rice. I had never really liked brown rice, so I was skipping rice altogether. So, the whole grain interest has resulted in more rice options, too–like black (my favorite) and red. Win-win!
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:38 amI love black rice as well! It’s great in puddings 😉
Gail Brown
March 18, 2014 at 4:29 pmWonderful tutorial, thank you.
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:38 amYou’re very welcome Gail!
Robin {Mom Foodie}
March 18, 2014 at 9:00 pmTeff is the only one I haven’t used, but I have such a big stockpile of flours & grains right now, I won’t be getting around to trying it for quite some time.
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:38 amHope you enjoy it when you do try it out! I find it to be a nice change, but I do love quinoa and amaranth as my staples.
Melissa @ Nourish By Melissa
March 18, 2014 at 9:33 pmThis is such a great post! I’ve been branching out from the brown rice and quinoa area lately and bought some millet which is good, but I can’t wait to give all of these a try! Thanks for sharing 🙂
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:39 amYou’re welcome Melissa! If you haven’t tried amaranth that’s another great one to give a go!
Joanne
March 18, 2014 at 10:12 pmWHOLE GRAINS ARE MY LIFE!!! But, really, they are. Love this introduction to them!
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:40 amThank you so much Joanne! <3
[email protected] Beard and Bonnet
March 18, 2014 at 10:24 pmI love everything about this post McKel!! Thank you so much for putting it together for all of us:)
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:40 amYou’re SO welcome Meg, glad you like it!
dishing up the dirt
March 19, 2014 at 12:27 amwhat a wonderful guide to all of these lovely grains!!! Thanks for this informative post!
McKel Hill, MS, RD | Nutrition Stripped
March 19, 2014 at 11:42 amYou’re so welcome! Glad you enjoyed it
Martina @ snapshotsandwhatnots
March 19, 2014 at 4:59 pmI’ve never even heard of some of these – now I’ll have a few more things to grab from the bulk section in wholefoods 🙂
LaurenLL
March 21, 2014 at 3:32 pmI’ve been incorporating Genotype Teacher foods into my diet(this is Blood Type A narrowed to address health issues) and appreciate the preparation details on these ancient grains. Am going to save these instructions and start eating them in addition to brown rice. I have the tendency to be anemic so perhaps I can “up” my iron stores by including them. Thanks for sharing!