Lemon Cranberry Breakfast Farro | Instant Pot recipe - Pressure Cooking Today™ (2024)

Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Recipe

This easy farro recipe is mostly hands-off, and there’s no babysitting a pot on the stove, so you can manage a busy morning while you make a healthy family breakfast. It’s also just sweet enough and kid-approved!

What is Farro?

Farro is a grain that’s part of the wheat family. Therefore it does contain gluten, so this is not a gluten-free recipe.

Farro is a healthier grain option, higher in protein and fiber than the wheat that’s in regular flour. It also contains more micronutrients than regular wheat and even more than oats. In fact, a 1/4 cup serving of uncooked farro has 5 grams of dietary fiber, 6 grams of protein, and 10% of your daily recommended intake of iron. It also contains calcium and potassium.

What kind of farro should I buy?

You may find many different kinds of farro at the grocery store, and sometimes the packaging doesn’t specify which type of farro you’ll find inside.

In addition, the farro itself can be labeled under ingredients as farro emmer (medium-length) or farro spelt (longer length).

Here’s how to tell:

• Whole-grain farro leaves the grain with its nutritious outer layer in tact. (The packaging for this one will typically just read “farro.”) If your packaging directions call for cooking the farro at medium-high heat for 30 to 40 minutes, it’s probably whole-grain farro.
• Pearled farro means that the husk and the bran (the outer layer of the grain) has been removed. This helps the grains cook faster, but it also removes some of the nutrients. Typically you’ll see directions that cook at a medium-low heat. for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Semi-pearled farro has only had some of the outer layer removed. Typically packages of semi-pearled will write it out on the package itself and will include directions with a 15 to 20 minute stovetop cook time at medium heat.

Because this recipe is made in a pressure cooker, we generally opt for whole-grain farro for maximum nutrition (you still won’t have a long cooking time!)

However, if you have a quicker-cooking variety, follow the cook time instructions in our Brown Sugar Farro recipe.

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED

Here’s what you need for this creamy breakfast porridge with farro:

• Farro. You will need an entire 16-ounce package of whole-grain farro for this big-batch recipe.
• Brown sugar. Use light or dark brown sugar.
• Lemon extract. You could also use lemon bakery emulsion if you have it near you.
• Salt. Just a pinch of salt enhances the sweet flavors in this dish.
• Cranberries. Sweetened dried cranberries like Craisins are perfect for this breakfast.

How to Make Farro for Breakfast in an Instant Pot

✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.

The beauty of this recipe is that it’s a simple dump-and-go dish!

Just stir together the farro, water, sugar, lemon extract, and salt in your pressure cooking pot. Add the lid and cook at High Pressure for 20 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Finish with a quick pressure release.

In my experience, farro doesn’t foam as much as oats can, so the quick release should work fine. However, if any foam or food starts to come from the steam release, seal up the pot, wait 30 to 60 seconds, then release the pressure again. Repeat as needed. (This is called an intermittent release.)

Remove the lid and stir in the dried cranberries. The farro will thicken as it cools. Serve with a splash of milk or cream.

Important Tips for Making Lemon Cranberry Breakfast Farro

• Be sure to use the right proportion of water to grains in this recipe. Too little water, and your farro will burn. Too much, and the porridge will be soupy and mushy.
• Wait to add the cranberries until after pressure cooking for the best texture.
• If you prefer a sweeter or less sweet breakfast, you can adjust the amount of sugar accordingly.
• Feel free to use granulated sugar, maple syrup, or honey if you don’t have brown sugar.

Frequently Asked Questions about Farro Breakfast Porridge

MORE Instant Pot Breakfast Porridge Recipes

Try these other creamy and filling breakfast recipes in the Instant Pot next:

• Brown Sugar Raisin Breakfast Farro is another sweet and fruity farro recipe to enjoy in the morning.
• Grapenut Breakfast Pudding is made with Grapenut cereal for a super fast and fluffy bowl.
• Creamy Instant Pot Oatmeal is a perfect weekday meal for kids and adults that comes together in minutes with minimal effort.