This sweet and creamy farro breakfast porridge is a cinch to prepare and comes together in about 30 minutes. Sweetened with dates and spiced with a touch of cardamom. Free from oil and refined sugar.
It's late November, and temps are in the 20s here in Asheville. Brrrrr! I was planning to share a farro breakfast recipe soon, but with a morning as chilly as this one, I decided to move it to the front burner....literally. After doing a little work at the computer early this morning my hands felt like icicles.
So I stood over the pot of creamy farro pudding, stirring and savoring the warm steam enveloping my hands and face. And everything about it was wonderful.
When you need a break from oatmeal, farro is a perfect choice. It's an ancient grain that cooks in about 30 minutes (or faster if you soak it overnight) and has a satisfying, chewy texture similar to barley.
It's often used in savory dishes but is also a perfect vehicle for sweetness. For today's recipe I chose dates, vanilla and cardamom because, well, I love cardamom, and just thinking about it makes me feel warmer.
If you've cooked with cardamom before you know it's a spice to use sparingly, like very sparingly. To me, the perfect amount of cardamom is one that causes you to go "mmmmmm" when you take a bite, not "WOW! How much cardamom is in here!?!" It pairs really well with the warm, caramel-like sweetness of dates.
On that note, you can easily add more sweetener to this porridge, either during cooking or to the individual servings. A drizzle of maple syrup is perfect. For most people the dates probably make it sweet enough for breakfast, but if you wanted to turn this into a dessert (yes, please!) try adding a bit of brown sugar, maple syrup, sucanat, coconut sugar or more dates.
As for toppings, this healthy farro breakfast pudding is delicious with a bit of coconut flour, nuts, seeds, or nut butter.
Here's to staying warm with a nourishing, refined sugar-free breakfast. Enjoy!
More vegan breakfast ideas:
Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
Crunchy Oil-Free Granola
Ginger-Turmeric Granola
Chocolate Banana Baked Oatmeal
Pistachio Muffins
Pasta Frittata
Loaded Vegan Breakfast Muffins
You might also like this Baked Vegan Rice Pudding made with brown rice.
Farro Breakfast Pudding With Dates and Cardamom
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened plant milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 cup farro, rinsed and drained
- 8 to 10 large medjool dates, pitted and chopped
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan heat the milk and water over high heat. Once boiling add the vanilla, cardamom, farro and dates. Stir and return to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove the lid, and stir the farro for 3 to 5 minutes. This will release more of the starch and thicken the pudding. Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com.
Jenny
Wow! Great breakfast or dessert option. I think the sweetness is spot on if you don't like it overly sweet. I served this as a dessert and some people chose to add a touch of maple syrup with nuts, others chose a homemade fruit compote to top it with. My husband and friend, who don't like things too sweet, ate it as is and were super happy with it. I read an earlier comment that said it was too sweet. I'm thinking they must have used candied or sweetened dates. Plain, unsweetened medjool dates work perfect. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!!
Susan
Can this be made in a pressure cooker like an Instant Pot? Is so, how long to cook? Natural or quick release?
Lori
Hi Susan,
I'm sure it can though I haven't tried that yet myself. A quick google search will help with cook time - looks like 10 minutes is the normal time for farro. I would probably bump up the amount of water just to make sure there's enough liquid. You can also add the vanilla and more milk at the end if it's not creamy enough after cooking. If you try it let us know how it turns out!
Ari
Delicious! Only recently discovered Farro & this tasty recipe is my 1st time using Cardamom. Simple, wholesome & fairly quick. Thank you for sharing.
LaLa
I tried this morning, I used what I had (almond milk was bad so opened up some coconut milk instead) I used nutmeg and cinnamon along with some raisins and a few dates. Also when I rinsed the farro I allowed it to soak a little in the water while waiting for the liquid to boil. Absolutely delicious.
Robin
Just made this and it came out great! Can this recipe be doubled?
Lori
Great, Robin! Glad you liked it. Yes, doubling the recipe is no problem at all.
Irma
I used 1 cup almond milk and 2 cups water and mine came out very watery. Wonder what I could have done wrong. Smells really good though.
Lori
Hi Irma,
Hmm it sounds like it wasn't simmering/cooking at a high enough temperature maybe? Did you bring the liquids to a boil first, then add the farro?
julia
i love the texture but too datey -- and wow dates are sweet! next time I think I'll try another fruit - or no fruit and add the fruit after cooking.
Sara
Medjool dates are extremely sweet. You may try a different variety of date. Deglet Noors aren't as sweet. This would also be good with raisins.
Radha
Oh, this is great! I did 2 cups plant based (coconut milk) and 1 cup water, because why not? 😂 I didn’t have vanilla extract so I added about 7 sprigs of saffron. Cardamom and saffron are a classic combination and with the dates? Excellent. Mixing at the end is key for good texture.
I tried making breakfast like this in my Instant Pot and think the consistency of heat was worth the extra time. Thanks!
Jennifer Margopulos-Kelenske
Lori,
What kind of "milk" do you think tastes best w/this recipe?
Lori
Hi Jennifer,
I used unsweetened soy milk because I like its creaminess, but coconut would also be great. Most of the creaminess in this recipe comes from the starch in the farro, so it's pretty much wide open.
susan spalding
Beautiful and delicious. Thanks for the inspiration!
Lori
Thanks, Susan! 🙂