Wheat Berries Instant Pot

What are wheat berries?

Wheat berries are an edible whole wheat kernel that has the husk removed: leaving the bran, germ, and endosperm intact.  It’s where whole wheat flour comes from.  There are different varieties: hard or soft, red or white, and winter or spring.  

Hard wheat has a higher protein content, while soft has lower protein and more moisture.  Red wheat has a nuttier flavor, and white is milder.  Winter or spring refers to when the wheat was planted.

How to enjoy wheat berries?

Cooked wheat berries are chewy with a slightly nutty flavor and can be used in salads, grain bowls, soups, stir fry, and can usually be a replacement for rice in most dishes.  

My favorite way to enjoy them is in my wheat berry breakfast bowl that has sliced bananas, a pile of fresh berries, unsweetened plain dairy-free yogurt, ground cinnamon, and a little maple syrup.  If you use a sweetened dairy-free yogurt, you might want to skip the maple syrup.

Where to buy wheat berries?

You may find them at a health food store near the rice, but I purchased mine from Amazon.

How to cook wheat berries in the instant pot

Rinse the wheat berries in a colander and drain, this removes any dust or debris. Add 1 cup rinsed wheat berries and 3 cups water to an instant pot and close the lid.

Move the venting valve to seal, and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.  It may take about 10 minutes to come to pressure.

When the time is up let them naturally release pressure for 10-15 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure by moving the valve to venting. Drain the wheat berries and use them or store them for later.

How to know when the wheat berries are cooked?

The wheat berries are done when they are no longer firm, but chewy.  Some of the kernels will most likely have split open.  The longer you cook them the softer they’ll be.

Tips for instant pot wheat berries

• If you’re using the wheat berries in a savory recipe, add a pinch of salt.
• Rinse them in a colander before cooking to remove any dust or debris. 
• Cook wheat berries with a 1:3 ratio.  For each cup of wheat berries use 3 cups of water.
• The wheat berries are done cooking at the 30-minute mark, but I much prefer letting the instant pot naturally release for about 10-15 minutes.  Then there’s not much steam to deal with.  

How much will one cup of dry wheat berries yield?

About 3 cups of cooked wheat berries.

Will they freeze?

They do freeze well, once cooled completely, store in an airtight container for about 3 months.

Storage

Store cooked wheat berries in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.  They keep well in the fridge and work great as an alternative for oats (for breakfast) or rice (for lunch or dinner) for meal prep. 

More Instant Pot Recipes

• Instant Pot Apple Steel Cut Oats
• Instant Pot Red Lentil Chili

I hope the tutorial on how to cook wheat berries in an instant pot was helpful!