Buckwheat is the new and exciting superfood that you should be keeping in your pantry. This vegan buckwheat salad makes an extremely tasty gluten free lunch. Easy to make and can be adapted for the whole family to enjoy.
Did you see our latest post on how to cook buckwheat? Here is an amazing salad using cooked buckwheat, inspired by our favorite bulgur salad. It is a fantastic gluten-free lunch idea that is packed with delicious flavors and tons of essential nutrients.
The slightly acidic salad dressing helps enhance the flavors of the buckwheat, while ingredients like the cucumber help tame it. All in all, this is a beautifully balanced and well-rounded meal that can be served as is or as an accompaniment.
Today, we will have a look at exactly how to make this amazing and versatile salad and most importantly, the incredible seed it is made from, buckwheat. We will also give you some helpful tips and tricks for making it and look at some ways you can adapt the recipe to your liking.
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Is Buckwheat Gluten-Free?
Yes, it is! Despite the name, buckwheat actually has no relation to wheat and therefore doesn’t contain any gluten. It is really a type of seed closely related to rhubarb and therefore naturally contains a ton of nutrients.
Buckwheat groats can be used as a gluten-free substitute for many other grains like spelt, barley, and rye. They can all be used in the same ways, but have different cooking times and very different textures and flavors.
Buckwheat can also be found in flour form which means it can be used to make various gluten-free baked goods like cakes, pancakes, and muffins.
Ingredients
The main ingredient in this gluten free salad recipe is cooked buckwheat. Cooking buckwheat is extremely easy and you only require the groats, water, salt, and a bit of oil.
For this mouth-watering salad, you only need fresh cucumbers, red onions, cabbage, and a few different herbs for flavor. These ingredients are all very easy to find and complement each other beautifully. They are also easy to substitute if you cannot find them or if you want to change them up a bit.
The lemon and olive oil dressing and pickled beets finish off the salad and add a bit of tang and acidity.
Alternative Add-Ins
This salad is extremely flexible and the flavors can be easily adjusted. Although this is a vegan buckwheat salad, it is very easy to add meat too if you like. You can add sweet and sour beef strips, barbeque chicken pieces, or bacon bits.
If you are close to the coast you can turn it into a seafood buckwheat salad and add some delicious pan-fried prawns, or a seafood mix.
If you are not after vegan ideas, you can top this salad with some cheese of your choice. Ours would definitely be feta cheese.
Also, you can add nuts like pecans, walnuts or cashews and make it even healthier.
If you are lucky enough and have some fresh fava beans on hand, use them in this salad!
Instructions
This buckwheat lunch recipe is incredibly easy to make and most of it can even be made in advance! The ingredients are also extremely easy to substitute and you can even change the entire flavor profile!
First, cook the buckwheat groats. Follow the instructions in our basic method of cooking buckwheat to perfectly cook your groats. Allow the cooked and fluffed buckwheat to cool down completely before using it.
Second, prepare the vegetables and make the dressing. Once all the vegetables have been prepared, combine them with the cooled buckwheat and mix well.
To make the dressing, simply combine lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Pour the dressing over the salad, stir it well and serve with pickled beets on top.
Tips
To make meal prep much easier, you can pre-make the buckwheat and store it in the fridge. When you are ready to make the salad, simply combine all of the ingredients and serve.
The dressing can also be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Shake the dressing before adding it to the salad to make sure the oil and lemon juice combines well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients that will complement buckwheat best include winter fruits, cheeses with prominent flavors like parmesan or chevin (goats cheese), umami mushrooms, and virtually any fresh herb.
There is a lot of controversy regarding the wheat versus buckwheat topic. When you look specifically at their carb content, both are very good sources of carbs. However, buckwheat has a low GI and is gluten free. They're also both equally great sources of fiber and micronutrients.
The biggest problem with wheat might be the refining process. At the end of the day, deciding which is healthier is based on the type and quality of the products you use.
Yes, you can! This buckwheat lunch recipe is made using cold buckwheat, so it is a perfect example showing how to eat it cold.
Sure! As we have mentioned before, buckwheat isn’t related to wheat and doesn’t contain any gluten, therefore it is definitely safe for gluten-free people to eat.
As you might know, both quinoa and buckwheat are gluten-free pseudo-grains making them extremely popular ingredients for easy gluten-free lunches.
Both of these ingredients are relatively unprocessed and therefore easier to compare in terms of “healthiness”. However, comparing them side-by-side it became pretty obvious that they are both equally nutritious and have many of the same health benefits.
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📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Buckwheat Salad
Cooked buckwheat groats mixed with cabbage, onions, cucumbers and herbs. Pickled beets on the top enrich the flavor even more.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Salad:
- ½ cup buckwheat
- ½ cup cucumbers, finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 3 stalks green onion, chopped
- ½ cup parsley, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ cup red cabbage, finely chopped
- 1 small pickled beet, diced
Dressing:
- 1 limon, squeezed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Cook buckwheat groats as told in our basic buckwheat recipe. Let it cool down completely.
- Put all the chopped veggies, herbs and cooked buckwheat in a salad bowl.
- Prepare the dressing by whisking lemon juice, salt and olive oil in a bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and stir well.
- Serve with pickled beets on the top.
Notes
- To make meal prep much easier, you can pre-make the buckwheat and store it in the fridge. When you are ready to make the salad, simply combine all of the ingredients and serve.
- The dressing can also be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Shake the dressing before adding it to the salad to make sure the oil and lemon juice combines well.
- If you are not after vegan ideas, you can top this salad with some cheese of your choice. Ours would definitely be feta cheese.
- Also, you can add nuts like pecans, walnuts or cashews and make it even healthier.
Nutrition
- Calories: 170
- Sugar: 5.5g
- Sodium: 715.1mg
- Fat: 7.8g
- Carbohydrates: 24.4g
- Protein: 3.9g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: buckwheat salad, gluten free lunch, gluten free lunch ideas
Philip says
Such an amazing use of buckwheat. I use it to make porridge mostly for a gluten free breakfast. And I made this salad for lunch today. So good! I added some walnuts and summer tomatoes too. Also, I topped mine with pickled cucumbers.
★★★★★
Yusuf says
Hi Philip, so happy to hear that you liked the recipe. Adding walnuts and pickled cucumbers is brilliant!