Grains, rice & flours · Whole grains
Whole wheat berries
Whole, unprocessed wheat kernels; firm and chewy, used in salads, porridges and festive sweets like ashure.
Also called: wheat grains, whole wheat kernels, hulled wheat, harees wheat, aşurelik buğday, korkot
Around the world: harees wheat, jareesh (ar) · aşurelik buğday (tr) · korkot (hy)
Photo: Raman Deep, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
What it is
Wheat berries are the entire wheat kernel with only the inedible hull removed, so bran, germ and endosperm are intact. They are round-ended, tan grains that stay chewy and pop slightly when bitten, even after long cooking. Hulled (aşurelik) wheat used in Turkish ashure and Arabian harees is a lightly polished form. They can be sprouted or milled into whole-wheat flour.
Triticum aestivum / T. durum
How it’s used
- Ashure (Noah's pudding)
- Harees and other slow-cooked wheat porridges
- Koliva and kutia
- Hearty grain salads
- Milled at home into whole-wheat flour
Characteristics
Storage
Pantry-stable. Whole kernels keep well airtight in a cool, dry place.
Diet, allergens and safety
Contains Wheat, Gluten.
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Soy-free
- Caffeine-free
- Contains wheat and gluten; unsuitable for people with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy.
Nutrition per 100 g
- Energy
- 327 kcal
- Protein
- 12.61 g
- Carbohydrate
- 71.18 g
- Fat
- 1.54 g
- Fibre
- 12.2 g
- Sugars
- 0.41 g
USDA FoodData Central: Wheat, hard red winter.
Substitutes
Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.
- Farro — Closest in chew; cooks faster.
- Pearl barley — Softer and starchier; good in puddings and soups.
Related ingredients
Recipes with whole wheat berries
Armenian harissa
Armenian · 4 h 40 min · 385 kcalBoko boko
Burundian · 2 h 45 min · 589 kcal
Haleem
Pakistani · 4 h · 364 kcal
Harees
Gulf Arab · 3 h 10 min · 423 kcal
Jareesh
Saudi Arabian · 4 h · 553 kcal
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