Ten gluten free grains to help stock a gluten-sensitive pantry. 

These ten gluten free grains are worth a try whether or not you’re sensitive, intolerant, or allergic to gluten. But if you are gluten-sensitive, you probably know rice as a gluten-free staple.  Want to explore a world beyond rice?  Looking for variety? We’ve got nine more gluten-free grains for you to consider.  Because as good as rice is, there definitely comes a time when the gluten-sensitive pantry needs to explore what’s available and experiment with new gluten-free foods.

1. Grits

Grits are a corn-based southern staple and one of our favorite gluten-free grains.  Try quick grits topped with sunny side eggs from a buttery saute pan and lots of fresh ground pepper for breakfast (I find grits are an excellent alternative to standard buttered toast), or with savory stewed beef and vegetables ladled on top for lunch or dinner.

I prefer grits plain, but they are often flavored with shredded cheese.  Mild in flavor and creamy on their own, with a seductive creamy mouth-feel, they don’t even really need added butter or cheese on our plates.

Hominy grits are corn kernels treated with lime or another alkali (this treatment and a different grind  is what differentiates grits from cornmeal) to remove the hull before grinding. Derived from corn, grits are considered a grain.  Confused as to why corn grits are considered a grain instead of a vegetable? Dried corn products are grains. Fresh corn is a vegetable.

How to cook grits:  First, try to avoid instant grits.  Your options, once you eliminate instant grits, are quick grits (finer ground, cook in five minutes) and regular grits (medium ground, cook in 10 minutes), and stone ground grits (kernel and hull stone ground, cook in 15-45 plus minutes depending on recipe).

We use white hominy quick grits. The water to grits ratio for quick grits is to add three tablespoons grits to one cup boiling water. Turn heat to medium-low. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.  Regular and stone ground grits take quite a bit longer.

2. Polenta & cornmeal

Polenta and cornmeal are, like grits, also derived from corn.  Cornmeal is dried corn which is then ground quite fine (no alkaline treatment here as you would have with hominy grits), and polenta is simply cooked cornmeal.  Both cornmeal and polenta are yellow in color and have more of a recognizably “corn” flavor than grits.

Polenta is served hot similarly to grits, as a creamy side or base, or polenta is cooled in a mold and then sliced.  The slices can be baked, fried, sauteed or grilled. Polenta makes an excellent base or side for savory dishes. We cook polenta as a base for sauteed fresh mushrooms.

Cornmeal is familiar to all in the form of cornbread, an excellent accompaniment to chili stew, or even better “cracklin cornbread” with pork cracklings.

How to cook polenta and cornmeal:  For polenta, stir one cup of cornmeal into four cups of boiling water. Season with a teaspoon of salt.  Turn heat to low. Stir frequently. Cooking time varies to taste, from 15-30 minutes on low heat. For baking with cornmeal: check out King Arthur Flour’s cornbread recipe.

3. Millet

Millet is a small round gluten-free grain. It is high in protein, gluten free and easy to grow.  Millet absorbs flavors well in cooking. On its own, it can have a slight bitter taste.  Much like grits or polenta, millet can serve as a base for sweet or savory foods. What about sauteed rainbow chard spiced with garlic and lemon zest over a bowl of millet, or a fruit compote and rhubarb sauce drizzled over millet?  Millet that is still in the hull can be popped much like popcorn, or add crunch to baked goods. Millet is also available as a great all-purpose flour.

To cook millet:  You can toast millet before cooking to enhance the natural sweet yet neutral flavor of millet. For a porridge, boil three cups of water and add one cup of millet, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of butter. Reduce to a low simmer. Stir gently and frequently, cooking time is about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for about 10 minutes. For a fluffy rice or quinoa-like dish, reduce the water to two cups.

4. Amaranth

Amaranth (aka kiwicha)  has been used for thousands of years and is in the same plant family as quinoa.  Amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat seeds are known as “pseudo-cereal grains.” They are prepared and have a similar nutritional profile to cereal grains, although they are actually from a separate plant family altogether (true grains are generally from grasses, and the pseudo-cereal grains are from non-grass broadleaf plants).  All of them are gluten-free grains.

Amaranth is gluten-free, high in protein, and easy to grow. The leaves of the plant can be eaten like spinach (the plant’s abundant seeds though, are what we are after for this article).  The tiny amaranth seeds have a nutty somewhat earthy flavor, and some varieties are a little peppery. Some report it can be hard to digest, causing some to bloat or have gas, so do take it easy and just eat a little, or as part of a dish, when you first try amaranth. Amaranth is also available as a flour. It is better combined with other flours rather than used on its own for baking.

To cook amaranth: for a porridge, boil one and a half cups of water and add one-half cup of amaranth. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Top with chopped dried fruit or a dollop of fruit jam. Serve immediately.

Toast or puff amaranth as a yogurt topping.

Combine with other grains (one-quarter cup amaranth to ¾ cup quinoa or rice or other grain) and cook per recipe for the second grain to serve as a pilaf.

Amaranth can be used to thicken soups and stews (the liquid it cooks in gets quite thick so you may want to add six parts water to one part amaranth and then drain excess and rinse to avoid any stickiness).

5. Quinoa and Kaniwa

If you haven’t tried quinoa yet, you’re missing out on one of the most delicious gluten-free grains.  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is actually a pseudo-cereal grain, as Quinoa is in the same plant family as amaranth. It’s a complete protein, high in calcium and B vitamins, with a delightful texture.  Kaniwa is a closely related Andean plant more often grown in South America and not widely known in other areas.

Quinoa is excellent as a fluffy warm rice-like side dish, or the base for a cold salad.  It’s also a good morning cereal with some milk and fruit, or to top a fresh salad with a scoop ala chicken salad.  It’s also available as a flour.

To cook quinoa: add one cup quinoa to two cups boiling water.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. The seed germ will partially detach and look like a little spiral.

6. Teff

Teff is an Ethiopian whole grain with a whopping high calcium content, and it is gluten-free.  Tiny in size (the smallest grain in the world), this grain is a seed that can be used whole (prepared like quinoa) or ground to make an outstanding flour (it creates loft and binds).  Teff has a mild flavor, somewhat nutty. Excellent as a side or a savory main course meal base, teff is also used as a warm breakfast cereal. Teff flour is an ingredient in injera flatbreads.

Much of the teff in the United States is available thanks to Wayne Carlson.

To cook teff: 2 cups water to 1 cup of grain for a couscous or rice-like consistency.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed. Add more water for a cereal-type consistency.

7. Sorghum

Neutral in flavor, sorghum is a whole grain with an edible hull that can be cooked like wild rice  (it takes about the same time), puffed (as it is in Kashi GoLean cereal), rolled like oats, or ground into a flour.

Each of the raw grains is about the size of a pea, so it’s a nice contrast to some of the other smaller gluten-free grains like quinoa or teff.   It retains its shape well (cook ahead and use during the week, or freeze in serving size portions) and it has a pleasing chewiness.

Like many other gluten-free grains, sorghum is a warm side dish instead of rice, a hot or cold salad base, delicious under savory meat and veggie topping as a main dish, or even an alternative breakfast bowl when drizzled with syrup and topped with fruit.

Sorghum may also be familiar as a sweetener, a dark syrup that recalls molasses. Sorghum syrup is actually made from the stalk of a sweet variety of the sorghum plant and not the grain itself.

To cook sorghum: Simmer whole-grain sorghum for 45-55 minutes on the stove top.  A slow cooker would also work for sorghum.

8. Oats

While oats themselves are a gluten-free grain, many of them are cross-contaminated with gluten during processing.  So if you are sensitive to gluten, do be careful with oats.

The oat grain is known as a groat, or oat groats.  Old-fashioned rolled oats are flattened. Steel-cut oat kernels (aka groats) have been chopped into two or three pieces. Quick and/or instant oats have been pre-cooked, dried, and flattened.  Oats can also be ground into a meal or a flour. Oats are probably most familiar to many as oatmeal, a warm breakfast cereal or an ingredient in oatmeal raisin cookies.

Whole oat groats or plain steel cut oatmeal are easily (even if unexpectedly) used as a base for a savory dinner meal.  We recommend the whole oat groat or steel cut oats for savory pilaf cooking. The rolled or instant or quick cook oats tend to be “sticky” (some would say glue-y) but steel cut oats can be cooked into a pilaf style base without any gluey-ness.  It’s very similar to tabouli (which is a wheat) in texture when cooked as a pilaf.

We cook steel cut oats into a pilaf, topped with spicy kale, sauteed mushrooms, and decadent eggs or maybe flavored with turmeric and curry and topped with chickpeas. What about steel cut oats simmered in broth for a pilaf and then topped with bits of bacon and drizzled with warm melted cheese?

How to cook oat pilaf:  Toast one cup whole oat groats or steel cut oats in some olive oil.  Simmer steel cut cuts in chicken broth for 15 minutes, whole oats until desired tenderness, then drain.  Rinse with warm water until water runs clear. Add 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice, some thyme, and some salt for a savory base.

9. Rice

Most of the world is familiar with rice, but there are more than 40,000 varieties of rice in cultivation, and over 90,0000 varieties in existence. These include long grain rices, basmati, aromatic rices, and specialty rices used in risotto or sushi.

Freshly harvested rice has a hull and a bran layer.  If only the hull is removed, the result is brown rice.  Removing the hull and the bran layer (the bran layer actually contains most of rice’s nutrients) results in white rice.

Rice is a standard warm side dish, a base for savory meals, and can also be eaten sweet as a rice pudding or cereal.  Rice is also frequently used ground into a flour and used in products such as rice noodles. Consider exploring different varieties of rice to add texture and new flavors to your meals, or combining with other whole grains to make a tasty pilaf.

10. Buckwheat and Kasha

Despite its name, buckwheat is not a wheat at all, but a gluten-free seed (aka a pseudo-cereal like quinoa and amaranth) that stores and cooks like a whole grain.  Buckwheat may be familiar as an ingredient in Japanese soba noodles or buckwheat pancakes. Kasha is pre-toasted buckwheat. Buckwheat is reputed to have excellent health benefits.  Both buckwheat and kasha are gluten-free grains.

To cook buckwheat: unless you want porridge, you must coat buckwheat with egg or oil, then heat in a skillet until dry before cooking. Otherwise, buckwheat grains (or groats as they are actually called) collapse into a mass of mush.

Once toasted, cook one cup of buckwheat groats to two cups water and simmer for 15 minutes until done. The grains should remain separate.  Cracked buckwheat or kasha will cook far faster, within a minute or two, and the grains will clump together.

Not sensitive to gluten? Read about 11 more wheat, rye, and barley grains in our grain primer.  Do you have a favorite grain?