Emmer substitute

Best substitute

Farro (Off the Shelf)

Use the same amount by dry volume as the emmer you are replacing

Best for grain salads

Close match

If a recipe calls for emmer, the bag labelled farro on the shelf is almost certainly already emmer, so buy that and stop worrying. Failing that, spelt berries (farro grande) and wheat berries both swap 1:1 by dry volume and behave almost identically, and hulled barley is a fine third choice. Emmer's job in a dish is bulk and a springy, nutty chew, not a distinctive flavour, so any whole unpolished grain covers it. The one thing to check is not the species at all but whether the grain is whole, semi-pearled or pearled, because that changes the cooking time from fifty minutes to twenty.

Other emmer substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Spelt Berries (Farro Grande)
Close match
Use the same amount by dry volume
The largest of the three farro grains, a close relative with the same chew.
What changes
Best for
grain salads, soups, pilafs, warm grain sides
Whole spelt takes 40 to 50 minutes, similar to whole emmer. The kernels are a bit longer and plumper and taste slightly sweeter and more buttery, which is a difference you would notice eating them plain with olive oil and salt but not in a dressed salad or a bean soup.
3Wheat Berries
Different taste
Use the same amount by dry volume
Whole modern wheat kernels, cheap and stocked almost everywhere.
What changes
Best for
grain salads, grain bowls, stuffings, soups
Cook 50 to 60 minutes. They hold their shape even more stubbornly than emmer and taste plainer, less nutty and less sweet, so a simple emmer-and-olive-oil side made with wheat berries can taste a little flat. A squeeze of lemon and a handful of toasted nuts covers the difference.
4Einkorn Berries (Farro Piccolo)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by dry volume
The smallest and oldest of the farro grains.
What changes
Best for
grain salads, soups, porridge, delicate side dishes
The grains are notably smaller and softer, they cook faster at 30 to 35 minutes, and they turn slightly creamy and eat almost like a fine pilaf rather than a chunky salad grain. Flavour is distinctly sweeter and more golden. It is a lovely grain but a real texture change, so expect a softer dish, not a like-for-like one.
5Hulled Barley (Pot Barley)
Different taste
Use the same amount by dry volume
Whole unpolished barley, the best non-wheat stand-in.
What changes
Best for
soups, stews, grain salads, mushroom dishes
Ready in 45 to 55 minutes. It stays chewy but feels slicker and leaks more starch, so an emmer soup made with barley turns out thicker and cloudier. Flavour is mild and faintly malty. In a salad it holds up perfectly well and only a careful eater would flag the swap.
6Whole-Grain Sorghum or Buckwheat Groats
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by dry volume
Gluten-free grains for when wheat is off the table.
What changes
Best for
gluten-free grain salads, bowls, chilis
Sorghum cooks in 50 to 60 minutes and gives little round beads that pop rather than yield, which is a genuine change from emmer's soft-then-springy bite. Buckwheat groats are ready in 12 to 15 minutes but go soft fast and taste assertively earthy, so watch them closely and undercook slightly. Neither imitates emmer, but both keep the dish structurally intact.

What is Emmer?

Emmer is Emmer, known in Italy as farro medio and to botanists as Triticum dicoccum, is an ancient hulled wheat whose whole kernels cook into firm, nutty, chewy grains and which is the grain most often sold simply as farro.

Cooking tips

The three farro grains are the single biggest source of confusion here, so it is worth learning once. Farro piccolo is einkorn, small and soft. Farro medio is emmer, the medium one and the default. Farro grande is spelt, the biggest. Italian packets often say only farro, and unless the label names the species you are almost certainly holding emmer. All three swap for one another 1:1.
Understand the job emmer is doing before you replace it. It supplies substance and a springy chew plus a mild nutty flavour, and it soaks up dressing and broth without going to mush. It is not carrying salt, acid, fat or aroma, so you never need to compensate for flavour when you swap it, only for cooking time and softness.
Pearling matters more than species. Pearled emmer has the bran polished off, cooks in under 20 minutes and releases enough starch to make a creamy farrotto. Whole emmer keeps its bran, needs 40 to 50 minutes and stays firm and separate. Swapping one grade for another will change your dish far more than swapping emmer for spelt.
Boil emmer like pasta in plenty of well-salted water and drain it, rather than trying to hit an exact absorption ratio. Kernel size varies between mills and brands, so cook to feel and taste a grain at the earliest time given.
Soak whole emmer overnight in cold water, discard the water, and it will cook in around 30 minutes instead of 50. Semi-pearled and pearled emmer do not need soaking.
Dress cooked emmer while it is warm so it drinks in the vinaigrette, and let it steam dry in the colander for a couple of minutes first if it is going into a cold salad.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the emmer out?

If it is a soup or a minestra di farro, yes, and you will get a thinner but perfectly good soup, though you may want to add a handful of small pasta or a tin of drained beans to restore the body. If the recipe is an emmer salad or a farrotto, no, because the grain is the dish itself. Reach for any chewy grain, or even orzo or short pasta, before you skip it.

Is emmer the same as farro or the same as spelt?

Emmer is one of the three species that Italians call farro, and it is the most common one, so a bag labelled just farro is usually emmer. Spelt is a different species, farro grande, and it is bigger and slightly sweeter. They are close enough that swapping either way is invisible in most recipes, but they are not botanically the same grain.

Is emmer gluten-free?

No. Emmer is a species of wheat, so it contains gluten and is not safe for anyone with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy. Spelt, einkorn, kamut and wheat berries all contain gluten too, and so does barley. For a gluten-free grain with roughly comparable chew, use whole-grain sorghum, buckwheat groats or short-grain brown rice.

Can I use emmer flour where a recipe wants emmer berries?

No. Milled emmer flour thickens and binds rather than staying as separate grains, so it turns a salad or pilaf into paste. If you only have the flour, cook a different whole grain for the body of the dish and use the flour for its intended purpose in bread or pasta instead.

How much cooked emmer does a cup of dry emmer make?

Around two and a half cups, sometimes closer to three for whole emmer, which serves four as a side. Spelt, wheat berries and barley expand by about the same amount, so a 1:1 dry-volume substitution keeps your yield and your liquid ratios right.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Emmer substitute

Other emmer substitutes

2Spelt Berries (Farro Grande)

3Wheat Berries

4Einkorn Berries (Farro Piccolo)

5Hulled Barley (Pot Barley)

6Whole-Grain Sorghum or Buckwheat Groats