This post may contain affiliate links, view our disclosure.
This vegan porridge is the perfect nourishing breakfast – creamy, luscious wheat berry hot cereal topped with an easy 3-minute gingered blueberry sauce!
We’re over a month into the New Year, and I’m always curious as to whether people make New Year’s resolutions or not.
I’ve noticed that people I talk to are split just about down the middle in their line of thinking. About half make resolutions at the start of a New Year, and the other half say they try to make a resolution any time a change is needed.
Whether or not you make New Year’s resolutions, I’m guessing you want to start off the New Year on a healthy note. Even if you slipped already, this creamy wheat berry hot cereal is an easy way to get your breakfast routine back into healthy mode.
This stick-to-your-ribs porridge is a completely satisfying cure for a cold winter morning and a nice change up from a regular bowl of oatmeal or other type of hot cereal. I like to make a batch of this vegan porridge at the beginning of the week and reheat it each day for a super quick hot brekkie all week long.
I love the blueberry ginger sauce here, but you can switch up the toppings to keep it exciting. And if you’re a fan of cold overnight oats, I think you’ll enjoy this creamy wheat berry porridge chilled as well.
Cheers to a healthy breakfast no matter how you do it!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It lasts for a while in the fridge, so it’s perfect for healthy breakfast meal prep. Anything I can do to make busy weekday mornings run smoother is a help.
- This vegan porridge is creamy and luscious. You’d never guess it’s vegan!
- The 3-minute homemade blueberry ginger sauce takes this hot cereal over the top. And the nice thing is, you can play with the ingredients to come up with your favorite fruity sauce.
The Best Creamy Wheat Berry Vegan Porridge Recipe
Ingredients in Vegan Porridge with Wheat Berries
Creamy Wheat Berry Porridge:
- Hard red winter wheat berries – they’re available in many health food stores or buy hard red winter wheat berries on Amazon
- Water – to cook the wheat berries into a porridge-like consistency
- Sea salt – so this creamy wheat berry hot cereal isn’t bland
- Vegan milk – use your favorite dairy free vegan milk here, such as almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, etc.; one of my favorites is coconut milk because I love the creamy rich texture it gives this vegan porridge recipe
- Chia seeds – bumps up the protein and healthy fat, and helps create the perfect texture
- Coconut oil – adds healthy fat and satiety factor, and makes this porridge luscious
Gingered Blueberry Sauce:
- Frozen blueberries – or any type of frozen berries you like (yup, you can use fresh berries too, you just might need to add a little splash more water)
- Maple syrup – to sweeten the fruity sauce; or you can use any sweetener you like
- Water – to thin out the sauce to the right consistency
- Freshly grated ginger – blueberry + ginger is an incredible flavor pairing; if you don’t have fresh ginger, you can use a scant 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger instead
- Fresh lemon juice – to brighten the flavor
- Sea salt – to balance and elevate the flavors
How to Make Vegan Wheat Berry Porridge
Step 1: Cook the Porridge and Let it Sit:
Add the wheat berries, water, and salt to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, turn the heat down, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Turn the heat off and let the porridge sit for an hour (or overnight).
Step 2: Add the Milk:
Stir in the milk, chia seeds, and coconut oil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Step 3: Make the Gingered Blueberry Sauce:
After you add the milk to the porridge, make the blueberry sauce.
To do so, combine all ingredients for the topping in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover the saucepan, bring it up to a boil, and let it cook for 3 minutes, adjusting the heat down as necessary so it doesn’t boil over.
Step 4: Serve:
Serve the porridge with the gingered blueberry sauce on top, drizzled with coconut milk.
Wheat Berry Recipes FAQs
What do Wheat Berries Taste Like?
They’re delicious! Wheat berries have a slightly chewy texture and a subtly sweet and nutty flavor.
Are Wheat Berries Healthy?
Wheat berries are a healthy whole grain.
The fact that wheat berries are a whole grain means that their kernels have three parts:
- Bran – the hard outer part containing fiber, minerals, and antioxidants
- Endosperm– the middle portion that contains mostly carbs
- Germ – the inner layer that has vitamins, minerals, and protein
Because wheat berries are less processed and more complete than refined grains (which are missing one of those three parts), they are considered a whole grain. Other examples of whole grain foods are brown rice, popcorn, hulled barley, and oatmeal.
Find out more about whole grains on Mayo Clinic.
Let’s dig deeper into wheat berries nutrition information and health benefits.
Wheat Berries Nutrition Information
According to Live Strong, a 1/4-cup portion of uncooked hard red wheat berries (which is about 50 grams and cooks up to be about 1/2 cup) has the following nutritional information:
- 163.5kcals
- 1 gram fat
- 6.5 grams protein
- 35.5 grams carbohydrates
- 6 grams fiber
Additionally, wheat berries supply essential vitamins and minerals like magnesium, potassium, B vitamins, and vitamin E, to name a few.
Health Benefits of Wheat Berries
What does all nutrition that do for you?
Fiber promotes digestive health and regulation of bowel movements, helps lower cholesterol levels, assists in stabilizing blood sugar, and helps maintenance of a healthy weight.
Magnesium helps regulate blood pressure and may help prevent type 2 diabetes.
B vitamins are crucial for energy metabolism.
You can read more about wheat berry nutrition on Verywell Fit.
More Hot Cereal Recipes to Try
- Easy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Recipe in Less Than 10 Minutes
- Irish Oatmeal with Hot Buttered Cinnamon Apples
- Keto Oatmeal (aka Noatmeal or Low Carb Oatmeal)
Let’s Connect
Did you make this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment below. You can also tag @anediblemosaic on social media.
To stay up-to-date, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!
Vegan Creamy Wheat Berry Porridge with Gingered Blueberry Topping Recipe
Email This Recipe
Get this recipe link emailed straight to your inbox!
Ingredients
Creamy Wheat Berry Porridge:
- 1 cup hard red winter wheat berries
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups unflavored unsweetened vegan milk such as almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, coconut milk, rice milk, soy milk, etc.
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Gingered Blueberry Sauce:
- 1 1/4 cups frozen blueberries
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Other:
- 6 tablespoons full-fat canned coconut milk for drizzling on top
Instructions
For the Porridge:
- Add the wheat berries, water, and salt to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, turn the heat down, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat off and let the porridge sit for an hour (or overnight).
- Stir in the milk, chia seeds, and coconut oil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
For the Gingered Blueberry Sauce:
- After you add the milk to the porridge, make the blueberry sauce.
- To do so, combine all ingredients for the topping in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover the saucepan, bring it up to a boil, and let it cook for 3 minutes, adjusting the heat down as necessary so it doesn’t boil over.
To Serve:
- Serve the porridge with the gingered blueberry sauce on top, drizzled with coconut milk.
Notes
- Nutritional Information: The nutrition information for this recipe was calculated using plain unsweetened almond milk.
- Storage and Reheating: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat this porridge in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium-low heat while stirring frequently, adding additional water to thin it out as necessary. Alternatively, you can eat leftovers cold, similar to chilled overnight oats.
- If Keeping This Dish Vegan Isn’t a Concern: Feel free to use any kind of milk you like in the porridge, and heavy cream instead of coconut milk to drizzle on top. Also, if desired, you can use honey instead of maple syrup as the sweetener.
- Make-Ahead Breakfast That’s Perfect for Meal Prep: This porridge is perfect for meal prep! Whip up a batch on the weekend and enjoy it for weekday breakfasts.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
Share it with me on Instagram and leave a comment to let me know your thoughts!
This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on January 7, 2015. I updated it with more information on February 23, 2023.
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
Free Bonus
Just put the blueberry mixture together. Fabulous! The touch of salt, the touch of acid (lemon) and fresh ginger for a little zip!
Just the right amount of sweetness for us! I used frozen wild Maine blueberries, tiny and juicy and tons of blueberry flavor
I’ll use on top of our steel cut oats.
I melt a pat or two of butter and ‘toast’ the raw steel cut oats in the butter until very fragrant, then add the water and salt, and cook very al dente. That toasting really gives another dimension to grains
I love grating zucchini into my oatmeal and posted that recipe recently. You won’t even know it’s there! Looking very forward to trying your porridge as I love foods that are warm and creamy.
To make it truly vegan, I inserted Agave Syrup for the honey! Great recipe!!!
Chef Doug, Thanks so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I changed the recipe to maple (my favorite vegan sweetener for this recipe), and I bet agave would be delicious too. Thanks for catching that!
I haven’t had wheat berries, but this looks like a wonderful, wholesome breakfast. Trying soon!
I am always looking for new ways to start the day in a delicious (but healthy!) way….this. is. awesome. Definitely making it this week!
I like to ‘take stock’ at the beginning of a new year – just to check in on what I think is going well and contemplate what is out of balance. It’s more of a mental exercise than making a list because I find myself making lists all year long…
Your porridge looks so inviting! I love how versatile it is – mixing up the toppings for what you’re craving or happen to have on hand.
I usually make some general goals…but I really didn’t this year? I know there is always room for improvement…I guess I just feel really happy where I am :) I guess if I had to pick a couple areas to focus on it would be 1. patience (this is tested once you have a child) and 2. being present in the moment! This dish looks incredible! I could eat this morning noon and night
So comforting and delightful! An original porridge.
Cheers,
Rosa
I love learning about a new grain! Though I’ve had wheat berries in the traditional Ukrainian dish kutia, I’ve never had porridge made out of them. I imagine they would have that bite of texture that oatmeal generally lacks – and that’s right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!
Wow now that sounds like an awesome breakfast! Love the ginger + blueberry combination :)