Easy Green Buckwheat Porridge Recipe- Crockpot Option, Vegan, Gluten Free

One of the hardest things about being frugal and gluten free is figuring out good, cheap, healthy breakfasts. Porridge is an easy, cheap breakfast, but the standard porridge recipes are based on semolina wheat or oatmeal, both no nos for our family. I've made rice pudding before, but I find it annoying, because you first have to cook the rice, then re-cook it to make the pudding, mixing it well to make sure it doesn't burn. I've made corn meal porridge but it's not so nutritious. I was looking for something, and then it hit me- buckwheat!
But not just any kind of buckwheat- the green kind specifically. I've used it in so many recipes in place of oats, like in granola and granola bars- so why not as a mock oatmeal?
I've played around with this recipe a lot, and find the best way to make it is in the crock pot. I put it on low overnight and we wake up in the morning to a nice healthy meal. You can also make it not in the crock pot, but it's more work and finicky that way.

Easy Green Buckwheat Porridge Recipe- Crock Pot Option

Ingredients:
1 cup green buckwheat
5 cups water
1 pinch salt
Toppings and sweeteners

Instructions:
1. Put your buckwheat and your water in the crockpot.

2. Turn the heat to low.

3. Leave for 5-9 hours.

4. All done! Ok- now what?

You put on your toppings. You can sweeten it with honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, jaggery, regular sugar... Add cinnamon, fruit, milk, coconut, whatever...

Here's what I regularly put on mine and my kids individual bowls': (some or all of the following)
Cinnamon
Peanut butter
Whole grain tahini
Sliced bananas
Chopped apples
Chopped persimmons
Raisins
Apple juice concentrate
Date syrup
Coconut
Milk
Honey
Nuts
Blueberries
Strawberries

With these toppings, it's more nutritiously balanced and even more filling. The bowl showed above- it was filling enough that I only ate half of it for breakfast this morning- and had the other half for lunch.

I make sure to only put the toppings on each person's bowl individually, so that way I can make each person's porridge to their individual preferences. And that leaves the leftovers as a blank slate to be repurposed into other things- two weeks ago I took leftover porridge and mixed it with tuna and egg and onion and made the kids tuna patties they were raving about.

If you don't have a crock pot you can also make this, it's just more annoying.

Take 1 cup of buckwheat and 2 cups of water and boil it until the water is absorbed.
Then add 3-4 more cups of water, mix it in well, and mix constantly, cooking on a low heat, until you get porridge-like consistency.

Note- leftover porridge thickens considerably, so if you want to reheat, you'll need to add water to make it a good texture.

Just have to say- my kids absolutely love buckwheat porridge and are so excited on mornings that they see it waiting.

Ever have buckwheat porridge before? Are you or your kids porridge fans? What is your favorite type of porridge? What is your favorite porridge toppings?
Does this look like a recipe you'd try?

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