This Instant Pot Farro Bowl is an easy and healthy vegetarian meal, packed with plant protein and fiber!
Ancient grain farro and butternut squash are cooked together, stacked above are the hard boiled eggs. Later we add kale, dried cranberries and season the dish.
Instant pot recipes are great but what about instant pot whole meals? The joy and convenience of cooking a whole meal complete with protein, fiber, veggies and greens all in one pot is so 2021!
Hello all, I hope you enjoyed the holiday season, quietly, embracing the changes and finding ways to be happy and grateful. I am certainly grateful for my new nightgown because that is what I wore for the past 10 days straight 🙂
One of my goals for this year is to focus on whole hearty healthy and delicious instant pot meals that are complete time savers and will take our IP skills to the next level.
I hope you are up for the challenge!
what is farro?
Farro is an ancient whole wheat grain that is packed with protein and fiber and is rich in nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants. Farro looks similar to barley and like barley, farro has a chewy texture when cooked.
what are the different types of farro?
Though farro is referred to as if it were one grain, it's actually three. There's farro piccolo (einkorn), farro medio (emmer), and farro grande (spelt).
Farro medio or emmer is what you'll find sold most often in the U.S. If you see farro at the healthfood store in a bag, know that it is typically the emmer variety and likely imported from Italy.
Should I soak farro before cooking?
Although it is no necessary, soaking farro will shorten the cooking time. If you soak farro overnight, you may be able to reduce the cooking times from 30 - 40 minutes down to 20 minutes or so.
what you will need to make this instant pot farro bowl
Because Farro can take some time to cook, even on the instant pot and I wanted to be able to boil the eggs and also cook the butternut squash perfectly, I decided to use particular farro.
If you have a Trader Joe's near you grab a bag of this pre-cooked farro otherwise you can order from Amazon here.
You will also need a trivet and egg rack accessories for the instant pot.
what to serve farro with?
This particular recipe for instant pot farro bowl is a complete meal with plant protein and fiber, veggies and greens.
However if you wish to add another source of protein, try tofu for a vegan/ vegetarian option or Roast Chicken, Pan Seared Salmon or this Mediterranean Shrimp.
recipe notes and suggestions;
- if you do not consume eggs you can simple remove from the recipe without making any alterations such as cooking times
- if not following a vegetarian diet you can enjoy this farro bowl with any other protein of choice.
- eggs can be substituted for salmon. Add salmon to the trivet, season with salt and pepper or any other seasoning of choice and cook for the same amount of time as per recipe.
- this recipe may not work with another farro variety as cooking times will vary.
- farro is a wheat grain and therefore is contains gluten.
- dried cranberries can be omitted or substituted for nuts and seeds.
If you make this Instant Pot Farro Bowl, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a star rating! I love to hear from you and always do my best to respond to all your comments. Also, don’t forget to tag #gardeninthekitchen on Instagram for a special shutout and/or a chance of being featured in my newsletter!
Instant Pot Farro Bowl
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup farro
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
- 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 2 cups water
- 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 cups kale, chopped, oiled and massaged
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 5 cage-free eggs
- fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Turn instant pot on sauté mode. Add coconut oil and let it melt
- Add farro and stir to coat in coconut oil for about 1-2 minutes.
- Next add the butternut squash, water and season with salt and pepper. Give it a stir
- Place trivet with egg holder on top of the farro/ squash. Add five eggs or however many you like.
- Turn sauté mode off. Close the lid and turn valve to lock position. Cook on HP for five minutes. When done allow five minutes of NPR, then QPR remaining pressure.
- Open the pot and remove egg and trivet. Place eggs in a bowl with cold water
- Drain any excess water from the farro. Transfer farro to a serving bowl.
- Add the kale and dried cranberries, fold to combine. Season to taste with oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper or any other spices you like, garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley. Top with sliced eggs and serve.
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Janna says
Easy, healthy, and delicious! My kind of meal!
Silvia Ribas says
Awesome, I'm so glad! 🙂
Anne Perry says
The Farro Bowl is excellent!! We made adjustments, as we had fresh spinach (used two bunches) and raisins (not dried cranberries). I used ghee and no salt, then used Ken's Steak House Lite Northern Italian dressing on top. Absolutely marvelous AND my husband loved it. We've never tried farro before!
Linda says
Just did this. I added some italian sausage to mine. followed the instructions for the eggs, they turned out perfect. Who knew. Thanks for sharing this recipe I have a different brand for ip. so I did increase the high pressure time to 6 mins. Everything came out fine. I love the idea of cooking different items in the same pot..awesome.
Silvia Ribas says
That's so great to hear Linda! I also love cooking a whole meal at once, easy and convenient. Thanks for your feedback