This nourishing buckwheat breakfast porridge is a nice change from oats! Topped with optional spiced + sauteed pears, this naturally gluten free and vegan porridge is hearty and flavourful.

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Given how obsessed I am with overnight oats, you would be forgiven for thinking I don’t eat anything else…but in fact, dear reader, I actually grew up eating Cream of Wheat!! So I am all for a breakfast porridge that isn’t oats. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life.

It’s good for your gut too.

And this healthy, satisfying buckwheat porridge is well worth adding to your rotation. It’s not buckwheat porridge in the classic, Eastern European, sense…it’s more like an American style porridge that just so happens to be made with buckwheat, your favourite milk and almond butter so it’s creamy but with plenty of texture so it’s satisfying.

I know that buckwheat has got to be one of the most confusingly named grains (I am a dietitian after all) so let me assure you that it’s totally gluten free. And not even a grain, actually: buckwheat is a seed we eat like a grain. Plants are weird and wonderful.

I’ve topped this naturally vegan breakfast porridge with quick sautéed pears, but once you fall in love with this gluten free porridge, feel free to switch it up!

I would be amazing drizzled with cashew cream and maybe a dollop of strawberry chia jam. 

Looking for healthy, flavourful plant-based recipes you’ll actually love eating? Check out my latest cookbook Plant Magic.

Let’s make this filling buckwheat breakfast porridge, shall we?

In less than 30 minutes, you can have a warm + nourishing breakfast ready with no soaking necessary…and it actually keeps + reheats super well too!

I am all about simplifying a recipe as much as humanly possible…so on the soaking front, I find that a simple rinse is all that is required for the buckwheat. The porridge won’t be slimy!

Nutrition Corner: A few other buckwheat porridge recipes use coconut milk but as a dietitian (who’s also in her 40s!) I’m always conscious of saturated fat (and protein content!) so I prefer the blend of protein-rich soy milk and almond butter. Each serving of this porridge, as written, has 11g of protein and 6 grams of fiber before any additions. Need to bump up the protein? Add more soy milk, some chopped almonds or even a little bit of protein powder.

More yummy breakfast porridge ideas:

Easy, No-Soak Buckwheat Porridge with Spiced Pears

4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

This nourishing buckwheat breakfast porridge is a nice change from oats!

Topped with optional spiced + sauteed pears, this naturally gluten free and vegan porridge is hearty and flavourful.

Buckwheat Porridge

• 1 cup buckwheat groats, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups milk, I use unsweetened soy milk, see below for low FODMAP swaps
• 1 cup water
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons almond butter, or your favourite alternative
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Spiced Pears

• 2 medium firm pears, I use Bartlett
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon butter, I use Earth Balance or Becel Plant Butter
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
• pinch nutmeg
• tiny pinch salt

• If making the pears, prep the ingredients before you start cooking the porridge as you’ll cook everything at the same time.

• Place buckwheat, milk, water and salt in a medium pot and bring to the boil on medium. Lower heat just slightly and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until buckwheat is tender and most of the liquid has absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Looks too dry? Feel free to add more milk or water!

• To make the spiced pears, as the buckwheat bubbles away, place the pears, butter and maple syrup in a medium nonstick skillet on medium heat.

  Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes. Remove lid, stir in spices and salt and then simmer until the sauce thickens and pears are fork tender, about 2-5 minutes.

• Stir in the cinnamon and almond butter into the porridge and serve with spiced pears if using.

Low FODMAP note: buckwheat groats are low FODMAP, as is a small serving of almond butter, so if you use a LF milk like almond milk, or macadamia milk, the porridge – but not the pears – is low FODMAP!