You may be asking yourself, what in the world is greenwheat freekah!?! Part of the recent return to using “ancient grains” in modern cuisine, freekah is young green wheat that has been toasted and cracked. Some fabulous freekah features are that it contains more fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals than mature grains. It is also easier on your glycemic load than most varieties of wheat; meaning is has less of a spiking affect on your blood sugar. Of course, since it is wheat it does contain gluten, so if you are trying to avoid gluten you may opt for brown rice or quinoa.
For me, unless I know how to use a food, it doesn’t matter how amazingly healthy it is, I won’t use it. I’ve done the work for you and provided a rich, hearty stew recipe to get you started with your freekah adventures.


- 1 whole chicken
- 1 cup greenwheat freekeh (cracked variety)
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/2 cup hulless barley
- 1/2 cup rye berries
- 9 cups of chicken stock, made with ingredients below
- 1 yellow or sweet onion, chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon sage
- To start this recipe you need to cook the chicken and create the stock. One of my favorite ways of doing this is putting a large, whole chicken in a slow cooker the day before with some water, as well as the onion, celery and spices listed above. Then enjoy the chicken as part of your evening meal and reserve the leftover meat and strained stock for making this stew recipe the next day. If didn’t plan ahead, you can simply boil a small whole chicken using the same ingredients to prepare the chicken and make the stock.
- Cook each of the grains as directed on their packages using salted water. You will use 2.5 cups water to 1 cup of freekah, and 1-1/4 cups water each for the 1/2 cups of brown rice, barley and rye.
- Bone the chicken and cut into bite-seized pieces.
- Dissolve 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour in 1 cup of room temperature stock. Bring the rest of the homemade chicken stock to a rolling boil in a large stockpot and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of sage. Slowly pour in the flour-broth mixture as you stir continually to thicken the broth.
- Turn the stock down to medium and stir in the grains and chicken. Once the chicken and grains have warmed thoroughly, turn the stew down to low to avoid overcooking.
- Taste the soup and add salt and fresh cracked pepper as needed. Serve warm and store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
- If time does not allow for homemade stock, you can substitute canned stock and use baked chicken instead.
- When cooking whole grains, rinse them thoroughly under running water and then remove any dirt or debris that you may find. After rinsing, transfer to a heavy bottomed pan; add water and a pinch of salt. After the liquid has come to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer until the grains are soft. Drain any unabsorbed water.
- This stew can be made with any whole grains of your choice. Simply substitute the grains you prefer. For example, you can make this using only brown rice or a combination of brown and wild rice.
- This stew freezes well, so make extra and enjoy it at a moment’s notice.
Never heard of this grain but it looks appetizing and love that it has more fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals !
I found mine at Costco!! Very reasonable and they also had some in a mix with a variety of ancient grains.
I hadn’t heard of this grain before. I’m going to need to check it out!
You’ll love it! See my reply above — I found mine at Costco!
I have never heard about this grain before, but I really want to try this! Sounds great!
Have you ever thought about creating an e-book or guest authoring on other websites?
I have a blog based on the same topics you discuss and would
love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would value your work.
If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
Hello, I would love to guest author for you. What is your blog url and email address? An e-book is a great idea. Do you have experience with that?