Wheat berries are a great addition into any diet and offer a lot of nutrition in a small package. They can be used in place of rice, added to salads and used to make flour!
What is a Wheat Berry?
A wheat berry is the name of the whole, unprocessed, wheat seed that is grown on the farm. Each one of those little bulbs on the wheat plant is a wheat seed or wheat berry. Wheat berries are also known as wheat kernels, or wheat seeds.
Wheat berries are the whole wheat seed before it is ground into flour. All wheat flour used to be a wheat berry!
A wheat berry contains all three parts of a whole grain: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. Having all the parts means wheat berries retain all the nutrients of a while grain.
They are a good source of fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Wheat berries contain 40 of the 44 essential nutrients! Being able to give my family so much nutrition in one form helps me be confident that they are all well feed.
Are Wheat Berries Just Wheat?
Yes!! Wheat berries are the most common name for the wheat seed or kernel.
Are Wheat Berries Healthy?
Wheat berries are healthy for you! There are so many ways that wheat berries help your body function!
Wheat Berries help regulate blood sugar levels. The fiber in the bran of the wheat berry can help slow the absorption of sugar in the blood. The berries have a low glycemic index of 30, which means that they should not raise the blood sugar levels very much.
Eating wheat seeds help you have a healthy heart. The fiber in wheat berries helps reduce the cholesterol in your blood. That means your blood is moving well throughout your body and can support you better!
Manganese is a vitamin that can be hard to get enough of these days. Nuts and seeds are a great source of manganese and wheat berries have your daily recommendation in one serving! Manganese is important for your bones. It helps create bone cartilage and collagen, which everyone needs to help your bones stay strong and healthy.
Wheat berries are a good source of iron. Your body uses iron to create new red blood cells. Each quarter cup of wheat berries supplies 10% of you the daily requirement of iron. Combine berries with food high in vitamin c to help absorb all the iron you can from them.
Eating wheat kernels is filling because of all the fiber in the bran. Feeling full leads to less snacking and eating less too! That fiber is also great for your digestive system. It relies on fiber to keep everything moving and regular!
If you want to learn more about the nutrition of whole wheat, then read Fresh Milled Flour Basics You Need to Know.
What do Wheat Berries Look Like?
Wheat berries look a lot like rice except that they are a little bigger and have a small divide in the middle. The berries are also different variations of red, yellow, and gold depending on the variety you get.
Milling Wheat Berries to Flour Yield
1 cup of berries yields about 1.5 cups of fresh milled flour.
When I am using volume measurements, I like to mill more flour than I need and store the leftovers in the freezer or use it to feed my sourdough starter.
This is why a lot of home mill bakers switch to weighing out their flour because the weight of the wheat berry is the same as the weight of the flour it makes.
My Favorite Conversion Chart
If you are converting from volume measurements to grams, having a conversion chart is helpful! You can mill the exact amount of flour you need so that you don’t have any leftovers.
You also may be someone who prefers to bake with volume measurements and the recipes you find are in grams. So having a conversion chart from grams to cups of wheat berries is helpful too!
I have made some conversion charts that I love! Get my free conversion charts here. I wish I would have had these from the beginning, they would have made the beginning so much easier for me!
What Can I Use Wheat Berries For?
You can use wheat berries instead of rice, quinoa, or farro. Try using them in a pilaf, risotto, salad, soup, chili, stews, or porridges. You can add cooked berries to morning smoothies, breakfast bowls, or omelets. The possibilities are endless!
If you like making sprouts at home, you can sprout wheat berries too!
You can grind them into flour as well. Once they are flour they can be used to make so many wonderful things! My family’s favorites are bread, cheesy bread, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits.
Long Term storage
My long term storage for my wheat berries is 5 gallon plastic buckets with gamma lids. You can buy them at Azure or Home Depots in the USA.
Using these buckets I have not had any pest or water problems and all my berries are just as good as when they were added to the buckets in the first place.
Some people like to add oxygen absorbers for long term storage, but I haven’t had any trouble without them.
Wheat Berries are easy to store for long periods of time, which makes buying them in bulk the best option for most. Wheat berries last properly stored for many years.
Soft wheat berries store for 8+ years. Hard wheat berries store for 10+ years and are sometimes considered a forever food.
Short term Storage
For everyday use, I store my wheat in these mason jars on a shelf in my kitchen. I like that they are see through so I know when I am running low and I like that they are air tight so they stay fresh.
I prefer the half gallon size with wide mouth tops because they store a lot and are wide enough I can use measuring cups to refill them.
How to Cook Wheat Berries
If you are cooking berries whole, then I recommend cooking a big batch all at once for the week or month and freezing them. Wheat takes a long time to cook so doing it all at once helps with your meal prep for the week.
Cooking wheat in bulk is a great way to meal prep for the week! They are an excellent addition to any meal.
Wheat berries can be substituted for rice, or used in soups, stews or chili. You can add wheat berries as a topping to salads too. The ways to add wheat berries to your diet are endless!
Optional Step – Soak the Berries the Night Before
Soaking the berries over night will reduce the cook time by half, so that you can keep moving with your day!
Put the amount of berries you want into water. The water should be about 1 inch higher than the wheat berries.
Leave the berries out overnight in the water. When you check them in the morning they should have grown in size and should be softer than they were.
Step 1 – Add the Wheat Berries to a Pot of Water
Add the berries and water to a large pot. Every cup of wheat berries you have needs 3 cups of water.
Einkorn only wants 2 cups of water for every one cup of berries.
Slow Cooker Option
According to step one add the water and berries into the crockpot, cover, and set it on low for 8-12 hours to cook.
Soaking the grains may shorten the cook time here, I would check them after 4 hours to see how cooked they are.
Drain any extra liquid and enjoy!
Step 2 – Cook the Berries
Bring the berries to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer them until you like how soft the wheat is. Remember that if you soaked them you only need half the time listed below to cook them fully.
Remove any extra liquid if there is any when finished.
Rye and Emmer (Farro) takes about 30 minutes to cook.
Einkorn takes about 40 minutes to cook.
Spelt takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes to cook.
Khorasan, Hard Red, Hard White, and Soft White all take about 2 hours to cook.
Step 3 – Store and Add to Everything!
You can cool and store the berries in the fridge and add them to meals throughout the week. Try using them instead of rice, quinoa, or farro. You can use them in a pilaf, risotto, salad, soup, chili, stews, or porridges. You can add them into your morning smoothie or omelet!
Adding wheat kernels into your weekly diet adds to much nutrition and helps you stay full longer!
What are the Different Types of Wheat Berries?
There are 2 main ways to categorize wheat berries: Modern vs. Ancient and Hard vs. Soft.
Modern wheat varieties are the ones that have been hybridized since World War 2. Ancient wheat varieties are grown the same way since before World War 2 and are not mass produced any more.
Hard wheat is wheat that has a hard exterior and is used to make food that needs to rise and hold air in. Think a loaf of bread, rolls, or pita pockets.
Soft Wheat is used to make baked goods that are soft and don’t need to rise or trap air. Think tortillas, cookies, apple crisps, or thickening stews.
Here are my VERY general thoughts on each variety of wheat. I go more in depth on each one in this article.
Hard Wheats
Durum – Semolina Flour is part of Durum. It is mostly used for Pasta
Hard Red – King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour is made from Hard Red
Hard White – White Whole Wheat is made from Hard White
Spelt – My favorite! It is kind of like the all purpose flour of whole grains.
Emmer – Can also be called Farro. I like to throw this one in breads when I run out of spelt.
Khorasan (KAMUT) – Khorasan is the name of the actual wheat berry, but KAMUT is it’s trade marked name. KAMUT is easier to find. Delicious and has a buttery flavor to it.
Rye – It is great for sourdough starters and tastes so unique! It does make doughs much stickier.
Einkorn – The original wheat berry! Is hard to work with in the beginning and when over worked makes the dough feel like glue.
Soft Wheats
Soft White Wheat – Mixed with Hard red to create All Purpose flour. Great for Biscuits!
Where Can I Buy Wheat Berries?
There are so many places that you can buy wheat berries!
I buy my berries from Azure Standard.
I appreciate that the people who run Azure are trying to make healthier food available for more people. Azure sells wheat berries cheaper than other places.
However, I do have to be able to drop everything to meet the truck when it comes into town once a month. It is hard to do when you work or have plans. Some drop locations are willing to store your goods for free or a small fee. Reach out to your drop coordinator to find out more!
They will ship it to you, but it is more expensive than Azure. They do offer different varieties than Azure or 4 Generations Organic Farms.
They will ship to you, but again, it is more expensive than Azure. They do offer different varieties than Azure or Guardian Grains.
They are in Georgia and do ship, but the shipping costs are high. They do have co-ops where they send out a truck that you can meet to pick up your order. Learn about the co-ops here.
Bob’s Red Mill – In Store’s Near You
Bob’s Red Mill is stocked in stores around the USA and has a variety of milled whole grain flours and wheat berries you can purchase to try them out.
Sources and Resources to Learn More
What are Wheat Berries – Bob’s Red Mills
Wheat Berry Nutrition Facts – Bob’s Red Mills
Is Fresh Milled Flour Better?- Unsifted
Exposing the Deception of Enrichment – Bread Beckers
How do You Feel about Wheat Berries?
Are you already using wheat berries in your kitchen? Are you experimenting or hoping to start soon?
Let us know in the comments below!
Other Articles You May Enjoy
How to Use Milk Gone ‘Bad’ – Buttermilk Substitute
Fresh Milled Flour Basics You Need to Know
Wheat Berry Varieties – Basics You Need to Know
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I have never heard of wheat berries but it sounds like it would be a healthy choice.
You are not alone! My parents had never heard of wheat berries before either! I hope you try wheat berries because they are delicious.
Thank you for commenting!
This is a great article. Saving it as a resource for later. Thank you!!
Thank you! 🙂
I really appreciate the break down on the different types of wheat berries. I’ve recently grown an interest in milling my own flour, but after searching for what type of berry to use for which baking good or breads, I became confused. This helps immensely.
Thank you so much!
I am so glad this helped! My next article dives into the wheat berry varieties so stay tuned!
If you have any questions please feel free to post them here! I would love to help. Thank you for commenting!
So interesting! I had never heard of this. I’ll have to look into this more, thank you!
It is so interesting once you start learning about the different ways you can use wheat berries! Enjoy the journey! 🙂 Thank you for commenting.
I was looking to learn more about wheat berries and came across your post! Very insightful, thanks for sharing.
I am glad to help! Thank you for commenting.