Oat groats substitutes

Oat groats cut into two or three pieces with steel blades, which is the same grain with more cut surfaces exposed.

Best for

breakfast porridge, savory oat bowls, baked oatmeal

The single closest substitute, because it is literally the same product chopped. What changes is texture and timing: the cut faces release starch, so steel-cut oats come out creamy with chewy bits suspended in it, where groats stay as separate, distinctly bouncy whole grains you can chew individually. Cook 1 cup steel-cut in 3 ½ to 4 cups water for 25 to 30 minutes against 1 cup groats in 3 cups water for 50 to 60. If you were using groats specifically for a grain salad, steel-cut is too soft and starchy to hold up.

Whole kernels of wheat with only the hull removed, the wheat equivalent of an oat groat.

Best for

grain salads, grain bowls, pilafs, soups

Nearly identical in behavior: about the same 50 to 60 minute simmer, the same satisfying pop between the teeth, the same ability to sit in dressing for a day without going soft. The flavor is plainly wheaty rather than sweet and milky the way oats are, so a breakfast bowl tastes more savory. Not gluten-free, unlike oats.

Whole barley kernels with just the hull removed, which is barley's exact counterpart to an oat groat.

Best for

soups and stews, grain salads, pilafs, porridge

Same 50 to 60 minute cook and a very similar chew, but barley sheds more starch, so the cooking liquid thickens and the grains feel slippery and cling together rather than staying loose. Rinse the cooked barley in cool water if you want a clean, separate-grained salad. Flavor is earthier and a bit mushroomy next to the mild sweetness of oats.

Whole kernels of ancient wheats, nutty and springy when cooked.

Best for

grain salads, grain bowls, warm sides, soups

A very good swap in anything savory. Semi-pearled farro is the fastest grain on this list at 25 to 30 minutes, which is a real practical advantage, though it is softer at the center and turns mushy if you walk away. Both taste distinctly nutty, which is welcome in a salad and slightly odd in a sweet breakfast porridge.

Whole grain rice with the bran layer intact, naturally gluten-free.

Best for

grain bowls, pilafs, porridge, gluten-free cooking

Cooks in about 45 minutes, close enough to slot in without rethinking anything, and it is the easiest of these to find. It is softer and less bouncy than a groat and its flavor is quiet, so a salad will lean much harder on the dressing. Also the only substitute here besides oats themselves that is reliably gluten-free.

Groats that have been steamed and flattened between rollers, sold as old-fashioned oats.

Best for

quick porridge, granola, baking

Worth listing so you do not waste a batch. Rolled oats are the same grain but the steaming and flattening pre-cooks and pre-breaks them, so they collapse into soft porridge in 5 to 10 minutes and cannot hold their shape. If you have only rolled oats and the recipe wants groats for chew, switch dishes rather than substituting, or use a different whole grain entirely. In the reverse direction the mismatch is just as bad: groats in a 10-minute oatmeal recipe will still be raw and crunchy.