Cracked Wheat substitute

Best substitute

Coarse Bulgur (grade 3 or 4)

Use the same amount by volume, but steep rather than simmer as the cracked wheat you are replacing

Best for tabbouleh and grain salads

Close match

Coarse bulgur is the best substitute and swaps 1:1 by volume, but you must change the method: bulgur is already parboiled, so it steeps in hot liquid for about fifteen minutes instead of simmering for twenty-five. That difference is the whole point of this page. For a dalia-style porridge, steel-cut oats are a close textural match at 1:1. For a bread that wants texture in the crumb, coarse bulgur or soaked rolled oats will do the job. Cracked wheat is not adding flavour so much as chew, bulk and a nutty wheat background, so any coarse grain that holds its bite will read correctly.

Other cracked wheat substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Steel-Cut Oats
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, with roughly 3 parts liquid to 1 part oats
For any use where cracked wheat becomes a porridge, such as dalia or a savoury breakfast, this is a genuinely good swap.
What changes
Steel-cut oats are also whole raw kernels chopped into pieces, so they cook in a similar twenty to twenty-five minutes and hold a similar nubbly chew. The clear difference is flavour and creaminess: oats release more soluble starch, so the porridge comes out creamier and unmistakably oaty rather than nutty and wheaty.
Best for
dalia porridge, savoury breakfast bowls, sweet milk porridge
Gluten free in the sense that oats contain no wheat gluten, provided the packet is certified for it. They thicken more than cracked wheat, so keep extra hot liquid at hand.
3Cracked Freekeh
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, about 20 minutes simmering
An excellent and underrated match.
What changes
Cracked freekeh is young green wheat that has been roasted and then cracked, so it is the same grain in the same physical form, with a similar firm bite and a similar cook time. What it adds is a pronounced smoky, grassy flavour from the roasting, which is delicious in pilafs and salads but will make a plain porridge or a loaf of bread taste distinctly different.
Best for
pilafs, grain salads, soups, stuffed vegetables
Buy cracked rather than whole freekeh for this swap. Whole freekeh takes about forty minutes and eats much chewier. Rinse it well, since it often carries fine ash and chaff from the roasting.
4Coarse Semolina (sooji or rava)
Different texture
Use the same amount by volume, but with about half the liquid and a fraction of the time
The standard Indian pantry alternative for dalia-style dishes, and the swap to reach for if you want upma-textured results.
What changes
Semolina is the same wheat, ground rather than cracked, so the flavour is right and the texture is completely different: soft, fluffy and fine within five to eight minutes rather than firm and chewy after twenty-five. It absorbs less liquid and it will not give you any bite.
Best for
upma, savoury quick porridge, sweet halwa-style dishes
Dry-roast it in a pan until it smells nutty and no longer looks chalky before adding liquid, or it clumps. This is a real swap of dishes rather than of ingredients, so expect upma rather than dalia.
5Buckwheat Groats or Kasha
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, 15 to 20 minutes
A gluten-free option with the right form: whole raw kernels of similar size that cook to separate, chewy grains.
What changes
The flavour is the trade-off, because buckwheat is assertively earthy and slightly bitter, especially toasted kasha, so it takes over a dish rather than sitting in the background the way cracked wheat does. Best in savoury pilafs where onion, mushroom and pepper can meet it.
Best for
gluten-free pilaf, savoury grain bowls, stuffings
Raw groats are mild and pale; kasha is the toasted version and much stronger. Use raw groats if you want the flavour to stay quiet. Buckwheat cooks faster than cracked wheat and overcooks into mush quickly, so check at fifteen minutes.
6Quinoa
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume, 15 minutes with 2 parts liquid
The most widely available gluten-free stand-in.
What changes
Cook time is shorter, the grains are much smaller, and instead of a firm chew you get a soft grain with a small popping bite from the germ. Flavour is grassy and slightly bitter unless you rinse it well. It works fine as bulk in salads and bowls and poorly anywhere the recipe wanted the substantial, wheaty chew of cracked wheat.
Best for
gluten-free grain salads, bowls, soups, stuffed peppers
Rinse it thoroughly in a fine sieve to wash off the saponin coating that causes the bitterness. Toast it dry in the pan for two minutes first to bring the flavour closer to a nutty grain.
7Pearl Barley
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume, 30 to 40 minutes
Chewier and starchier than cracked wheat, and slower to cook.
What changes
Barley releases a lot of soluble starch, so a soup made with it turns thicker and slightly silky and a salad dressed with it looks cloudy. In exchange you get a very satisfying, plump, springy grain that holds up beautifully in soups and stews for hours.
Best for
soups and stews, hearty grain salads, pilafs with long cooking
Contains gluten, like wheat. If you are using it in a salad, boil it like pasta in plenty of salted water and rinse briefly so the dressing does not go gluey.

What is Cracked Wheat?

Cracked Wheat is Cracked wheat is raw whole wheat berries broken into coarse pieces without being cooked first, sold as kibbled wheat in Britain and as dalia or samba godhumai in Indian shops.

Cooking tips

The single most useful thing to know: cracked wheat is raw and bulgur is not. Cracked wheat is simply wheat berries broken up, so the starch inside has never been cooked and it needs twenty to twenty-five minutes of simmering in about two and a half times its volume of liquid. Bulgur was steamed or boiled and dried before being cracked, so it only needs to rehydrate. Swap them 1:1 by volume and it works; swap the method too and you get either crunchy grain or mush.
Toast cracked wheat, and any of these substitutes, in a dry pan or in a little butter or ghee for three or four minutes before adding liquid. It smells nutty when it is ready. This is the difference between dalia that tastes of something and dalia that tastes of hot water, and it also helps the grains stay separate.
For a porridge, use three parts liquid to one part grain and stir occasionally. For a pilaf where you want separate grains, use two parts liquid, bring it to a boil, then cover and leave it completely alone on the lowest heat until the liquid is gone, and rest it ten minutes before fluffing.
Cracked wheat is a whole grain with the germ intact, which means it contains oil and will go rancid. Smell it before using an old bag: it should smell sweet and faintly grassy, not sharp or like old crayons. Store it in the freezer if you use it slowly.
In bread doughs, soak cracked wheat in an equal weight of boiling water and let it cool completely before mixing it into the dough. Dry cracked wheat added straight to a dough will steal water from the gluten and leave you with hard gritty flecks and a tight crumb.

Frequently asked questions

Is cracked wheat the same as bulgur?

No, and this is the most common mix-up in the grain aisle. Both are wheat berries broken into coarse pieces, but bulgur is parboiled and dried before cracking, so it is already partly cooked, while cracked wheat is entirely raw. In the kitchen that means bulgur only needs to soak in hot liquid for ten to fifteen minutes, whereas cracked wheat needs a genuine twenty to twenty-five minute simmer. They swap 1:1 by volume as long as you change the cooking method to match, and they taste very similar, with bulgur a little more toasted.

Can I use bulgur in a recipe that says cracked wheat?

Yes, and it is the best substitute available. Use the same volume, but stop simmering it. Pour about twice its volume of boiling salted water or stock over the bulgur, cover it, and let it sit for twelve to fifteen minutes for coarse bulgur or ten for medium, then fluff it with a fork. If the recipe simmers the grain in a soup or stew, add the bulgur in the last fifteen minutes rather than at the start. The finished dish will be slightly softer and a touch more toasted in flavour.

Is dalia the same as cracked wheat?

Yes, for practical purposes. Dalia is the Hindi name for broken or cracked wheat, sold in fine, medium and coarse grinds, and samba godhumai is the Tamil name for a cracked wheat made from a particular wheat variety. All are raw cracked wheat and all need real simmering rather than soaking. Fine dalia cooks faster, in about twelve to fifteen minutes, and gives a softer porridge, while coarse dalia takes closer to twenty-five minutes and holds more bite.

Can I just leave the cracked wheat out?

It depends on what it was doing. In a bread recipe it is there for texture and crust interest, and you can leave it out entirely and simply have a smoother loaf, though you may want to add a tablespoon or two of water back since the soaked grain was carrying moisture. In a pilaf, salad or dalia porridge it is the main substance of the dish, so leaving it out means there is no dish left. Swap in another grain instead rather than omitting it.

Is cracked wheat gluten free?

No. It is wheat in its most direct form, just chopped up, so it contains gluten and is not suitable for anyone with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy. The gluten-free swaps in this list are buckwheat groats, quinoa and, if the packet is certified gluten free, steel-cut oats. Buckwheat groats give the closest physical match, though the earthy flavour is much more assertive than wheat.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Cracked Wheat substitute

Other cracked wheat substitutes

2Steel-Cut Oats

3Cracked Freekeh

4Coarse Semolina (sooji or rava)

5Buckwheat Groats or Kasha

6Quinoa

7Pearl Barley