This Instant Pot buckwheat with Mashrooms recipe is super easy and delicious. Made with mushrooms, onions and garlic for added flavor, it's fantastic as a main vegetarian or vegan dish, or it can be served as a side. Plus, it's gluten-free and budget-friendly, so make sure to add it to your buckwheat recipes to try!
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What Is Buckwheat?
Buckwheat, (also known as “kasha” or “grechka”), is a grain-like seed that can be used in both sweet and savory cooking.
Buckwheat seeds are known as groats and while you might think of them as grains, they are classified as pseudograin or pseudocereals (similar to quinoa and amaranth). Despite its name, buckwheat is not related to wheat and is thus gluten-free.
Buckwheat is packed full of nutrients, is gluten-free, has a low GI and is high in plant-based protein and dietary fibre. It is a nutritional powerhouse with a mild nutty flavour and is highly versatile in the kitchen. Read more about buckwheat here.
You can use buckwheat in a similar way you use rice, barley or quinoa - serve it as a simple side dish, or breakfast porridge, use it as a casserole, bake with it and turn it into granola, to name just a few ideas.
Instant Pot Buckwheat
In this recipe, we show you how to make easy buckwheat in the Instant Pot. We love the additions of onions, garlic and mushrooms but you can use the same cooking times for making buckwheat on its own.
Cooking times for Instant Pot buckwheat are 5 minutes on HIGH with 5 minutes NPR and you need to best ratio 1 cup of buckwheat to 1+½ cups of water (depending on what else you're adding in).
This mushroom buckwheat is perfectly cooked and fluffy. It can be served as a main vegetarian and vegan meal alongside some vegetable sides or a salad. Alternatively, you can dish it up as an accompaniment to a protein dish or as part of a bigger dinner spread.
Buckwheat Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this buckwheat dish. As we mentioned, this is a template recipe so you can make it with buckwheat on its own or by adding other vegetables or seasonings.
- Buckwheat: You will need simple, uncooked buckwheat groats, which you can get in most supermarkets and online.
- Onions & garlic: For that aromatic, savory flavor and a little sharpness.
- Mushrooms - Good old cremini, button mushrooms will do the trick but you can use any kind here.
- Extras: Vegetable stock to cook everything in will add loads of flavor! Olive oil used to saute the mushrooms will keep the buckwheat from getting dry and add some healthy fats to the dish. Plus, some salt, pepper and scallions to finish things off.
How To Cook Buckwheat In Instant Pot
You will find the full recipe with ingredients and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below.
There are two simple stages to making this mushroom buckwheat in the pressure cooker. The first stage is to pre-sautee onions, mushrooms and garlic. The second stage is to cook the buckwheat. Let's break it down step-by-step. You can use a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot
STAGE ONE - SAUTE MUSHROOMS
- Step 1. Press the Saute on Normal mode and allow the pot to heat up, Add the olive oil and onions and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Step 2. Add the mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times. Then press Cancel to stop the Saute.
PRESSURE COOKING BUCKWHEAT
- Step 3. Add the buckwheat and vegetable stock and stir through, scraping the bottom of the pot.
- Step 4. Secure and lock the lid. Set to Pressure cook for 5 minutes on HIGH with 5 minutes natural release. Then use the quick release and open the lid.
- Step 5. Fluff and stir the buckwheat with a spatula and garnish with plenty of scallions/green onions.
Variations
- Cheesy Buckwheat: You can make it the same way (with or without mushrooms) and once cooked, stir in grated cheese of choice.
- Bacon or Chorizo Buckwheat: Instead of mushrooms, saute diced bacon or chorizo.
- Vegetable-loaded buckwheat: As well as mushrooms, you can add ½ cup of frozen peas, ½ cup diced carrot, ½ cup diced bell pepper, ½ cup celery, ½ cup zucchini. Increase water by ½ cup but keep the cooking time the same. You can also add an extra ½ cup of tomato sauce or canned diced tomatoes, instead of the extra water. Simply spread it on top without stirring in just before you set it to cook.
- Tex Mex Buckwheat: Put a Mexican twist on this dish with the addition of Tex Mex spices or taco seasoning, peas, corn and bell peppers, and diced tomatoes. Finish with a side of fresh guacamole, diced tomatoes, onions and cilantro, plus a dollop of sour cream or cheese on top.
Storage Tips
Leftover cooked buckwheat can be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
To freeze, cool and transfer the buckwheat to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat thoroughly.
MORE VEGETARIAN INSTANT POT RECIPES
- Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta & Bean Soup)
- Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta
- Instant Pot Mushroom & Kale Risotto
- Instant Pot Meal Plan #9 (Vegan Edition)
- Instant Pot Minestrone (Vegetarian & Vegan-Friendly*)
Full Recipe
Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let us know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.
Rate This Recipe
Instant Pot Buckwheat With Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion finely diced
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup uncooked buckwheat groats
- 1.5 cups vegetable stock we used Vegeta stock powder and water
- ¼ cup green onions chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Press the Saute on Normal mode and allow the pot to heat up, Add the olive oil and onions and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Add the mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times. Then press Cancel to stop the Saute.
- Add the buckwheat and vegetable stock and stir through, scraping the bottom of the pot.
- Secure and lock the lid. Set to Pressure cook for 5 minutes on HIGH with 5 minutes natural release. Then, use the quick release and open the lid.
- Fluff and stir the buckwheat with a spatula and garnish with plenty of green onions.
Frank Carter
Hello, to make this for the InstaPot mini 3 qts would I halve the recipe but cook for same time?
thank you
Frank
Instant Pot Eats
Hey Frank, yes the same time 🙂
Pam
Making this now. The burn sign came on almost immediately. I’m adding more liquid and hoping for a better outcome. Is 1.5 cups liquid too little?
Instant Pot Eats
Hey Pam, sorry for not getting back to you sooner. The liquid should be fine. It's possible that some of the food was burnt and stuck to the bottom during the Saute stage (e.g. onions/mushrooms). When you add the liquid, make sure to scrape the bottom really well. Another reason could be if you are using an 8-quart Instant Pot as the surface is wider and the water level is more shallow, so it evaporates quicker. In that case a little more water would work better.
J
Thank you for this recipe. It proved that you can have PERFECTLY cooked kasha in 15 min with so little effort.
Ann Fabrizio
Thank you for the feedback!