Overnight Refrigerator Buckwheat Groats

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

These overnight refrigerator buckwheat groats are an easy, healthy, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, grab and go breakfast that will keep you full for hours. This is another one of my go-to travel and weekend breakfasts, as well as busy weekday breakfasts. I’m the breakfast queen and since I’m obsessed with buckwheat, I’ve been adding it to some of my favorite breakfast recipes. I basically took my overnight refrigerator steel cut oats with chia and strawberries and replaced the steel cut oats with buckwheat groats, and added my blackberry compote instead of fresh berries, because it’s winter, and I can’t find fresh berries anywhere.

Don’t be afraid of buckwheat, it actually is similar in flavor and texture to steel cut oats when soaked!

For this recipe, I am using raw buckwheat groats, not kasha, which is toasted buckwheat, as I want to make sure my groats are soaked to activate the nutrients, and make them more digestible. Store-bought kasha may not have been soaked prior to being toasted, and it imparts this toasted nutty flavor, and doesn’t get as chewy as the soaked buckwheat groats.

Recipe by Jackie at Marin Mama Cooks

  • Servings: 1

    • 1/4 cup almond milk, or alternative milk of choice

    • 1/4 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk

    • 1/4 cup raw organic buckwheat groats, not kasha – pre-soaked, rinsed

    • 1 tablespoon chia seeds

    • 1 tablespoon hemp hearts 

    • Pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

    • 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

    • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

    • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

    • 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries, or smashed raspberries, pomegranate seeds, or frozen blueberries of choice

    • Optional – 1 tablespoon goji berries

    • Optional – 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon bee pollen

    • Spoonful of almond butter, walnut butter or peanut-butter in the morning before you consume them

    • Spoonful of tahini

    1. *Note: You will have to soak the buckwheat groats ahead of time, for at least 6 hours, and they can soak up to 20 hours. Soaking the groats enlivens the grain, activating nutrients, as well as making them more digestible.

    2. Soaking groats: The night before, or the morning of, put 1/4 cup buckwheat groats and double the amount of filtered water into a glass container fit with a lid. The 1/4 cup groats will expand and turn into 1/2 cup after they soak, so you can make 2 of the above concoctions. If you just want to make one of these, then soak 2 tablespoons of raw buckwheat groats. Let the groats soak on the counter all day, or night if soaking them overnight (or place in the refrigerator, if it’s hot in your kitchen, think summer). This may all seem like a pain, and an extra step, but it takes 2 minutes, and you will get used to the routine, and it will become a habit.

      You will notice that the soaked buckwheat groats look a bit goopy and slimy, but that will go away after you rinse them. Pour soaked buckwheat groats into a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water, tossing them around with your hands, until most of the sliminess is gone.

    3. Get out a small glass jar with a lid, or glass container with a lid.

    4. Pour in the almond milk, soaked groats, chia seed, hemp seed, sea salt, shredded coconut, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and give the mixture a good stir. If you’re adding goji berries, and/or bee pollen add them at this time too.

    5. Stir in the berries, or berry compote, and give it another good stir to incorporate everything.  Put the lid on, and store it in the refrigerator till morning. 

    6. Note: You don’t have to make this up right before bed, you can make it up in the afternoon as well, or even the morning before if you've soaked your groats overnight. I usually make it up while I’m prepping dinner.