Overnight Buckwheat Porridge

You all know I LOVE breakfast. It’s my favorite and biggest meal of the day. I love starting off my day with something warm that’s chock full of healthy fats, protein, fiber and whole grains. My standard breakfast usually consists of steel cut oats or warm quinoa, but I decided I needed to add a bit more variety to my morning routine, so I gave buckwheat groats a try, and I’m so happy I did. This overnight buckwheat porridge is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan to boot! It’s chock full of healthy fats, protein and will keep your blood sugar stable, and give you energy to go for hours. This breakfast keeps me full until lunch.

What the heck is buckwheat?

Buckwheat – Despite its name, buckwheat does not contain and has no relation to wheat! Buckwheat is not technically a grain, but the seed of a plant related to rhubarb. It’s a gluten-free, blood-building food that helps clean and strengthen the intestines and lower blood pressure. It has a mild flavor and chewy texture. Its protein is superior to that of most cereal grains, providing all amino acids, including the essential ones. It’s nature’s best source of the important nutrient rutin, an efficacious vitamin C complex flavonoid.

I’m using raw buckwheat groats, not kasha, which is toasted buckwheat, as I want to make sure my groats are soaked to activate the nutrients, and make them more digestible. Store-bought kasha may not have been soaked prior to being toasted, plus it has a strange bitter flavor to me, that I find off putting. I much prefer the mildness of buckwheat groats.

The only downside to this recipe is that you’re going to have to plan ahead, as the raw buckwheat groats will need to be pre-soaked. This may seem like an extra step, and it is, but it just takes 2 extra minutes to pull together and will become part of your routine. See my notes in the below recipe to understand why you should pre-soak the buckwheat groats. 

Overnight Buckwheat Porridge

recipe adapted from Foolproof Living

For this recipe, I am using raw buckwheat groats, not kasha, which is toasted buckwheat, as I want to make sure my groats are soaked to activate the nutrients, and make them more digestible. Store-bought kasha may not have been soaked prior to being toasted. 

I chose not to add any sweetener to this recipe, so if you eat it as is, it’s bland. This is a base recipe, and I find that everyone has different levels of what is sweet to them, so you will need to add a bit of sweetener to your bowl to taste.

Full recipe – serves 4-6 

• 1 cup raw organic buckwheat groats, not kasha – pre-soaked, rinsed – please see note below on how long, and why*  You can find buckwheat groats in most bulk bins at your grocery store. 
• 1 can unsweetened canned coconut milk – I love Native Forest Simple, as it has no guar or gums and comes in BPA free cans – make sure to shake the can, and get the one where you can hear the milk swishing around, as it will be easier to work with. If you don’t want to use coconut milk, then increase the almond milk to 4 cups.
• 2 1/2 cups almond milk, or alternative milk of choice – for store bought, I love Three Trees almond milk, as it’s as close to homemade as you can get. Ingredients are; filtered water, organic almonds, organic vanilla, plus they are a small female based SF company.
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract –I love this vanilla from Morton and Bassett, as it doesn’t have added sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt

Half recipe – serves 2-3

• 1/2 cup raw organic buckwheat groats, not kasha – pre-soaked, rinsed – please see note below on how long, and why* you can find buckwheat groats in most bulk bins at your grocery store. 
• 1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk – I love Native Forest Simple, as it has no guar or gums and comes in BPA free cans – make sure to shake the can, and get the one where you can hear the milk swishing around, as it will be easier to work with. If you don’t want to use coconut milk, then increase the almond milk to 2 cups.
• 1 cup almond milk, or alternative milk of choice – for store bought, I love Three Trees almond milk, as it’s as close to homemade as you can get. Ingredients are; filtered water, organic almonds, organic vanilla, plus they are a small female based SF company.
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract –I love this vanilla from Morton and Bassett, as it doesn’t have added sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt

Suggested Toppings – This porridge is a base recipe, and you will need to add a bit of sweet to it

• Pure maple syrup, or honey – I love Manuka honey
• Fresh fruit such as; strawberries, blueberries, smashed raspberries, pomegranate seeds, blackberries or sautéed cinnamon apples. I also use frozen fruit and just leave it out overnight on the counter in a strainer set over a small bowl to capture the juice.

• Blackberry chia compote – no added sugar – I do this in the fall and winter months where there isn’t fresh fruit, as it uses frozen berries

• Spoonful of almond butter, walnut butter or peanut-butter – I am obsessed with this almond butter from Sam’s Adventure Snacks. It’s locally made in SF and has the perfect consistency and the sea salt really amplifies the flavor. 
• I love this tahini with dates from Soco – use code mmcooks15 for 15% off
• Sprinkle of bee pollen

Do you like buckwheat? Have you ever tried a raw buckwheat porridge? Let me know in the comment section below, rate this recipe, or let’s connect on Instagram.