How to make healthy choices every day

Raspberry Ripple Buckwheat Porridge

Raspberry Ripple Raw Buckwheat Porridge

Does anyone out there latch onto a food and become totally obsessed with it? Do you find it making its way into almost everything you make? Lately, I’ve been riding the buckwheat wagon hard. And although I am not so much into food trends, I predict that buckwheat is going to be the new hotness. You heard it here first.

Okay, maybe it’s just me. This little seed (yes, it’s a seed!) has tumbled its way into my little heart and made a triangular burrow so deep that I can’t imagine what my life was like before it. Those beautiful, variegated, pale green-and-sand coloured pyramids, so humble yet majestic. The way it crisps up in the oven, like teeny, crunchy fireworks. The soft, creamy texture it has after cooking, and how it absorbs so many flavours, leaning either savory or sweet. The rich and nutty flour that turns into noodles, bread, muffins, pancakes, scones and waffles so deliciously.

And while I thought I had buckwheat all worked out, he pulled out his wildcard and now I’m scarfing raw buckwheat porridge like it’s my job. Looking for a power-packed breakfast this summer? High protein, high fiber, gluten-free, versatile, portable, and insanely delicious. It’s also super easy to make, and perfect for those mornings when you need to get outside in the sun as quickly as possible. Obsessed!

How is the porridge raw you ask? The trick to making this treat, is soaking overnight. It’s an easy way to enjoy completely uncooked grains, in their full nutritional force.

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The Right Way to Soak
Although soaking grains in pure, un-chlorinated water is good, if you really want to go the extra mile, the key is dropping some acid! And what I mean by that is, adding something acidic to the soaking water, fresh lemon juice and apple cider vinegar being my top picks. For every cup of grain, use 1 tablespoon of acidic medium (don’t worry –the sourness will not be noticeable in the end product, cooked or raw). It also helps if the water is relatively warm, recently boiled but cooled off to some extent.

Suggested soaking time is 7-8 hours, such as an overnight. Leave whatever you are soaking at room temperature. I just keep mine on the counter, covered with a clean tea towel. In the morning, drain the grains in a sieve and rinse well. FYI – buckwheat has a very unique property of making goo. Don’t be alarmed if your groats are on the snotty side the morning after – this is totally normal and it is easily rinsed off.

What these elements add up to, is making the grains far more digestible. Warm, acidic water helps to remove phytic acid, which would otherwise interfere with mineral absorption, and neutralize enzyme inhibitors. Soaking also allows the enzymes, lactobacilli (friendly folk bacteria) and other helpful organisms to break down some of the harder-to-digest starches. Overall, it’s a really good idea, even if you are in excellent health with stellar digestion. It’s these little steps that quickly add up to major life change – I can certainly attest to that.

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This porridge was actually inspired by my mother, eternal lover of raspberry ripple ice cream. As a kid, I could never understand how you could waste an entire trip to the ice cream shop on fruit. I mean, really. But I get it now, and raspberry swirling through a blushing pink, creamy, vanilla porridge seems almost too good to be true for breakfast.

If you have never eaten soaked, blended buckwheat before, be prepared for a pleasant surprise. Its mildly nutty, and slightly sweet flavour make it a perfect breakfast food during the warmer months. Plus, it is the easiest thing to whip up, taking less than five minutes from start to finish. The texture is up to you: if you like a chunky porridge, blend it just a little, or if you like it smooth, let your machine run for 30 seconds or so until it is beautifully silky. Even though you can use milk in this recipe, you will certainly achieve a creamy consistency with water alone. That is the magic of buckwheat!

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The raspberry is the shining star of this breakfast, giving the porridge a beautiful colour and juicy tartness. If raspberries aren’t in season where you are, use whatever berries or fruit you have. I added a little lemon juice for brightness and cardamom for a richer spiced flavour. This is optional, but really delicious. The frozen banana ups the creaminess, sweetness, and makes the porridge cold, which I really dig, but you could replace it with dates, honey or maple syrup too. The bee pollen is not essential to the recipe, but a wonderful way to boost the nutritional content of this dish even more. If it’s your first time using bee pollen, start small and work your way up. The amount given here is for those just starting out.

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Show me your porridge on Instagram: #buckwheatporridge



110 thoughts on “Raspberry Ripple Buckwheat Porridge”

  • Good, made just like the recipe but without the bee pollen. The porridge had a little chalky texture but the flavor was very good. I’m sure it was a blender problem not a recipe problem. My daughter accuses me of trying to figure out how to have dessert for breakfast, she may be right. Now how can I add a chocolate layer….

  • Hello Mrs. Britton,
    It ( this buckwheat porridge) taste wonderful!
    Thank you for this and other recipes.
    Your wounderful work make healthy vegetarian eating and living so much easyer!
    x Elei

  • Hi Sarah! I am new to your blog and very very interested to learn more about whole foods!
    This recipe looks amazing~ May I know if I can use soymilk in this recipe together with the fresh lemon juice? Will there be any sort of an unpleasant chemical reaction? I hope to hear from you asap so that i can try this recipe asap too! ^-^ Thank you!

  • I too am happily riding the buckwheat train. I was leary that this would be a little too…earthy? But no. It tasted like a dessert, except I feel amazing after eating it. The simple raspberry swirl was a luscious delight. Thanks for another great recipe Sarah!

  • I love Buckwheat, and this recipe! I made it with sesame milk, and it boosts the nutty flavour in the porridge. It was delicious. I have a post on how to do sesame milk on my site if someone is curious.

    • I thought this was fantastic and very easy to make! It was tough making the raspberry puree and then adding the other ingredients. My blender wouldn’t blend just the raspberries. It blended some and I dug that puree out of the bottom and then I added the other ingredients. I topped mine with the raspberry puree and a couple spoonfuls of my favorite granola. This will make a great regular summer breakfast.

  • I’ve had a packet of buckwheat sitting in my pantry for ages because I wasn’t sure what to do with it!! I can’t wait to try this, and the raspberry swirls look amazing!

  • This looks fantastically delicious! I bet delicious is an understatement. Ever since I transformed my body I’ve been looking for different kinds of cheat meals and this is a gem. I tried this the other day and decided to make more for the husband and kids and let’s just say, they’re dying for me 🙂

    Great post and thank you for sharing with us!

  • 😉 i was curious..i made this…yummy.it’s funny it tastes really similar to our porridge we eat almost every day, we use oats, pre soaked almonds, chia seeds, lemon peel, frozen banana,dates to sweeten it up, vanilla and some water……chuck it all in vitamix and put some bee pollen on top with some fresh chopped fruit…..
    this was nice…even just the porridge with some date syrup up on top. 😉

  • It sounds very familiar… Totally buckwheat addicted as well! I think it has been more than a year now that not a week goes by without one raw buckwheat porridge as a breakfast!
    Love this little seed!
    Interesting fact about the acidic water I have been soaking all my seeds/cereals/nuts for quite while now but I was not aware of that. Thanks for sharing Sarah!

  • Thanks so much Sarah! I am pregnant at the moment and finding it so hard to eat. I only want soft stuff so this hits the spot perfectly! Thank you! xx

  • I have made this 3 or 4 times and absolutely love it. I found gorgeous raspberries in my area. I don’t know if it’s the buckwheat or the bee pollen but am left with a lovely even glow! …none of the weird carb cravings that most cereal grains leave me with. I also appreciate that this dish is portable and I can take it to work! My husband enjoyed it with the addition of granola or cardamon cookies from your koldskal recipe. Thanks for making life so beautiful and delicious!

  • This looks so good! I have never tried buckwheat but have been wanting to since going gluten free. I can’t wait to try it this weekend. Thank’s for the beautiful post.

  • Sara! This is so brilliant. Creamy buckwheat porridge?! I never would have thought that was possible. I am absolutely going to try this ASAP. I’m always looking for new, healthy breakfasts. I get bored of the same ol’ thing all the time, you know? Oh p.s. I’ve totally been lurking on your blog since 2010 and never commented before. So… hi! You’re an inspiration, but I’m sure you hear that all the time.

  • I really love raw buchwheat porridge, but i’ve never tried it with tart fruits before trying your recipe. This was soooo good! Thank you to share your great talent with us. Salutations cordiales du Québec.

  • Hey! First, I love your website and recipes! always fresh and healthy.
    I have a question regarding the hemp seeds, is it possible to use hemp powder? And what brand of hemp seeds will you recommend?

  • Blueberries are delicious in this porridge also. I made it the first time with the raspberries and then tried the blueberry. Yum.

  • I just made this for breakfast today – and hate to say that my husband and I are not fans. We thought the porridge tasted like a dough – so to save our breakfast I made raspberry swirl pancakes out of the porridge and they were SO GOOD! This portion came out to be 16 small pancakes and they were so good – and because of the high protein in the buckwheat, it makes you full after 3 pancakes. Not the last time I will be using this recipe – but for pancakes 🙂

  • I’m sorry to say that my husband and I had one spoonful of this pooridge and then no mmore. We are not picky about our food and we eat almost everything – but this just tasted too raw – like raw pancake dough, we decided…..so we decided to save our breakfast by making raspberry swirl pancakes out of the porridge. It was the most amazing pancakes. Conclusion this is the best pancake recipe we know – will be making them again ☺

  • I made this and just ate it for breakfast now, DELICIOUS. Thank you! Quite easy to make but beautiful to look at and very satisfying to eat.

  • Like some other commenters, I tried this recipe and ended up with a porridge that had a chalky/dusty taste and texture (I don’t have a high-powered blender, just a regular one, so maybe that’s why!). I doubled the recipe because I usually love buckwheat in any form, so I was left with a ton of porridge and didn’t know what to do with it. So, I decided to experiment– I put in about a teaspoon of baking powder and put the porridge in the oven, baked at 375 F for 25 minutes, and it turned out AMAZING. (I also swirled some melted PB in, which made it even tastier). If you don’t have a high-powered blender and are finding that the texture of the recipe is not to your liking, I would highly recommend baking it– it yields a nutty, slightly sweet bread (it has the texture of banana bread) that I have been eating nonstop.

  • Sarah, try just cooking it as you would quinoa, then eat with a milk of your choice. This is a staple in the former soviet union countries, but here in the united states people have rarely heard of it.

  • Hi, I just made this for my breakfast. It was fun to split a vanilla bean for breakfast! Mine turned out more of a smoothie consistency so I am drinking it. It’s a great idea, I may make it again with less almond milk and a different fruit and spice mixture.

  • Oh how yummy! For fruit I used cooked apple and pear with cinnamon, it worked really well. I noticed the slight chalkiness but once I accepted the texture I really enjoyed that aspect of it… I’m looking forward to having the other portion for breakfast tomorrow, if it stays in the fridge that long! Thank you

  • love this recipe!! along with all the others i’ve tried. i used bob’s red mill raw whole grain organic buckwheat groats and i’m finding the texture is a bit gritty. i rinsed it really well and added a little extra banana. after soaking over night the buckwheat is slimy and when i bite into it it still has a slight crunch. i whip it in my vitamix on the highest speed. any tips on what i may be doing wrong?? i am still enjoying it (made it with cherries once, then raspberries) however you said it should be creamy and smooth…..

  • OK, this may be a new favorite for me! I got buckwheat at the health food store in bulk and they even told me there, oh, you’re in for a treat! Told them about your blog!

  • This porridge is beyond gorgeous!! I too am completely in love and obsessed with buckwheat. It’s been a favorite of mine ever since making the change to gluten-free – I swear, I couldn’t live without the little gems!! 🙂 The recipe looks absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to try it!

  • With a high-powered blender, this might be better. We just have an average-joe blender, and the consistency of this porridge was almost dusty. I would have rather just had whole buckwheat with raspberries and maple syrup and seeds and almond milk stirred in for better texture. The bitterness from the raspberry seeds and the groats were also a little too strong when they were blended together…I think I’ll have my yogurt and berries again for breakfast tomorrow.

  • buckwheat is so versatile. one raw site i know uses it a lot kitchenlovestories.com. you can make almost anything with it. looks good. i’ll have to try this.

  • Interesting, I saw something very similar on Green Kitchen Stories: are you guys telepathic? You should be friends!

  • So delicious! I swapped out cardamom for ground vanilla and it was equally good. Second day having this for breakfast! Thanks for the inspiration, Sarah!

  • so glad buckwheat is becoming popular outside japan. another way you might like it is to roast it and brew it into tea. caffeine-free, aromatic, totally delicious. and of course there’s soba [noodles] and soba sushi (like your quinoa sushi). you can also take the water that’s left over from boiling soba (sobayu) and use it as a mixer with shochu or other high proof grain alcohols for a nice hot toddy-like drink.

  • Gorgeous! This is genius and something I never would have thought to do with buckwheat. I love using a variety of grains, but sadly since my husband is not a fan of buckwheat I have not experimented much with it. I do have some hanging out in the pantry with no purpose until now, so I will definitely give this a try. Maybe this will be what turns my husband, or maybe I’ll just keep it all to myself. BTW, the bit about dropping acid, gave me a chuckle, so thank you for that dose of humor. Should/could the acid method be used for other grains??? Thanks for inspiring me once again!

  • Where do you buy whole buckwheat in Copenhagen? I found buckwheat flour in Føtex, but I haven’t found the whole grains in Super Brugsen, Føtex or Irma…

  • Made this for breakfast today – SO SO good. I was surprised at how much I loved it! My four year old loved it too, he says he wants to eat it every morning with a different flavor fruit 🙂 Our favorite part was the raspberry swirl on top!

  • I can honestly say I have no idea if I like porridge, but you’ve never steered me wrong yet! I’ll need to give this a try… plus, it’s just very pretty!

  • This recipe looks really delicious. I have been loving Raspberries lately – I always forget how delicious they are! I have been riding the Buckwheat train too, in flour though, I have been throwing out the flat breads! I am still yet to make my own something with the groats but I really need to! Whenever I get some buckwheat granola – the crunch is just heavenly!! Awesome tip re soaking grains – I never knew that adding acid helped! Thanks!

  • What a gorgeous breakfast! I hear you with the buckwheat, just yesterday I was thinking about it being so versatile while munching away on the crunchy granola at simpleRAW (we are currently on our first Copenhagen trip and live in an apartment literally 1 minute away from this magical place, yay!) It can be creamy, crunchy, nutty, so beautiful.
    I also like to use apple cider vinegar for the soaking process and have used warm tap water so far as the water is very clean where we live, will try to boiling version though as well, thanks yor that!

    Have a great time with your family!

  • Oh! I had a buckwheat craze when I went to Uni, then I ate so much I had to stop for years. This would be a beautiful way to get back to my old love, RAW LOVE. You are an artist Sarah : )

  • What a surprise this recipe is! I mean, I have always used buckwheat in savoury dishes and, even though it’s good, I got a bit bored of it so I still have some in my pantry waiting to be used in more creative ways… a sweet and delicious fruity summer breakfast seems just perfect! As for the soaking bit, what do you think about using kefir? I usually put a tbsp of it in the water I use to soak…
    Changing subject, I would be curious to know something about how you’re weaning your baby – if it’s not too personal and feel like sharing of course! I have a 4 month old and although I’m still breastfeeding, I’m already pondering how I’m going to do this… I’m tempted by baby-led weaning (which could also be a way to improve our diet even further) but it also kind of worries me (choking hazards among other things). I’d like to know whether your baby eats like you do or if you prepare special meals and if so, what tips and tricks you may have that can be shared…
    I remember you once mentioned a section on the blog about pregnancy and baby recipes… is that still going to happen? I imagine it would interest others too…
    Sorry about the truckload of questions and the extra long comment… I better go and pick those raspberries like NOW!
    have a lovely day
    L. x

    • Haha, the ‘latch onto’ terminology in the first sentence of the blogpost also triggered my babyquestions, so like Linda F., i am also very interested in a babysection on your site as well!

  • Yumbo!! This looks divine!! Can’t wait to try this one. It looks so pretty. Reminds me of raspberry swirl ice-cream from my childhood…

  • Oh yes, you are so right, raw buckwheat porridge is absolutely delicious! And since I use my flaker (I hope this is the right English word) I even do not have to soak the buckwheat overnight anymore. Usually I mix the soaked buckwheat flakes with mashed banana and a grated apple. But I love buckwheat also for baking and because of that you can also find on my blog some buckwheat recipes for tartes, cakes or buns. By the way, the photos of your porridge looks great and I love also the idea to use berries!

  • I posted a raw buckwheat porridge on my blog a few weeks ago. It has definitely become one of my favorite things ever! I can’t believe it too me so long to discover buckwheat.
    Your photos are just so gorgeous, and I love that you included raspberries. My raspberry bushes are just starting to produce now (I live in British Columbia), and I have been thinking about uses for them-Thanks for the idea!

  • I love raw buckwheat porridge! I often do a combo of half buckwheat, half walnuts and then throw in an apple when I blitz it in the blender. I’ve experimented with a few different combinations, but I’m looking forward to trying this one!

  • What a delicious recipe.I love buckwheat. Its texture and colour and simplicity. so beautiful.
    I have tried a simple porridge with just almond milk and chia and raw honey and most recently with figs. Unbelievable. I will try this recipe with blueberries. Can’t wait
    Thanks Sarah for the beautiful healthy recipes your post.

  • Could kasha grouts (toasted buckwheat) be used instead? It’s very difficult to find raw buckwheat in Toronto. Thank you!

    • Bob’s Red Mill makes a buckwheat groat that is bagged. I’m in Calgary & most health food stores sell it here. Kasha groats have a really toasted smokey flavour……not sure how it would taste in this recipe. Good luck in your search 🙂

  • I’ve tried an oatmeal shake for a breakfast some time ago, but your recipe is like another level 🙂 I like to eat things that are healthy and delicious at once, so it lands on a list “to try”.

  • Looks amazing! can’t wait to try your version! I recently tried raw buckwheat porridge- it was delicious but I found the texture to be chalky. I soaked for 12 hours. Is that the normal texture?

  • I’m very glad you put it all these things together. Buckwheat is one of the few foods I feel a fuzzy affinity for, and it immediately sprouted to mind when I read your thought that sweet potato was your totem food (or something like that :D). But I didn’t know it was a seed; thought it was fruit! I’m looking forward to this very mush.

  • Hi, in Australia I think you may not be able to get hemp hearts so I’m wondering what else I may be able to use instead? Also, great article!

  • Can I substitute powdered hemp for the seed measurement? This looks yummy and I look forward to trying this.

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