Oat Groats substitute

Best substitute

Steel-cut oats

Use the same amount by dry volume, with about ½ cup more water per cup and roughly half the cooking time as the oat groats you are replacing

Best for breakfast porridge

Different texture

Steel-cut oats are the closest swap, since they are simply groats chopped into pieces: use the same volume but expect them done in 25 to 30 minutes instead of an hour, and use a little more water. For a chewy grain bowl or salad, wheat berries, hulled barley or farro all substitute 1:1. Rolled oats are the same grain but will not work here at all, because they cook to mush in ten minutes.

Other oat groats substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Wheat berries
Different taste
Use the same amount
Whole kernels of wheat with only the hull removed, the wheat equivalent of an oat groat.
What changes
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.
3Hulled barley
Different taste
Use the same amount
Whole barley kernels with just the hull removed, which is barley's exact counterpart to an oat groat.
What changes
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.
4Farro or spelt berries
Different taste
Use the same amount
Whole kernels of ancient wheats, nutty and springy when cooked.
What changes
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.
5Short-grain brown rice
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Whole grain rice with the bran layer intact, naturally gluten-free.
What changes
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.
6Rolled oats
Different texture
not a viable swap in a groat recipe
Groats that have been steamed and flattened between rollers, sold as old-fashioned oats.
What changes
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.

What is Oat Groats?

Oat Groats is Oat groats are whole oat kernels with only the inedible outer hull removed, so they are the intact grain that steel-cut and rolled oats are made from, and they cook up plump and chewy like a rice or barley grain rather than into porridge.

Cooking tips

The timing math is the whole substitution, so keep it straight. Oat groats: 1 cup grain to 3 cups water, 50 to 60 minutes. Steel-cut: 1 cup to 3 1/2 or 4 cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Rolled: 1 cup to 2 cups, 5 to 10 minutes. Same grain, three completely different recipes.
Soaking groats overnight in cold water cuts the cook down to about 30 minutes and makes the kernels swell more evenly. Drain the soaking water and cook in fresh. This is the easiest way to make groats fit into a weekday.
Toast the dry groats in a dry pan or a little butter for 3 to 4 minutes before adding liquid. Oats have a mild, milky flavor that can taste flat over a long cook, and toasting gives them a nutty depth that survives an hour of simmering.
For a chewy grain salad, cook groats like pasta in a big pot of well-salted water and drain them, rather than by absorption. Absorption cooking leaves them sitting in their own starch, which makes them tacky and slightly gluey once cooled.
Oats are naturally gluten-free but are very often cross-contaminated in the field and the mill, so if that matters, look for a bag specifically labeled gluten-free. Among the substitutes here, only brown rice, quinoa and millet are gluten-free by nature; wheat berries, barley, farro and spelt all are not.

Frequently asked questions

Are oat groats and steel-cut oats the same thing?

Nearly. Steel-cut oats are oat groats chopped into two or three pieces, nothing more. The chopping roughly halves the cooking time and exposes more starch, so steel-cut oats cook creamier while groats stay as intact chewy grains. You can substitute steel-cut for groats in almost any recipe as long as you cut the time and add a bit more liquid.

Can I use rolled oats instead of oat groats?

Only if you are willing to make a different dish. Rolled oats are pre-steamed and flattened, so they turn into soft porridge in under ten minutes and will never give you the chewy, separate grains that a groat recipe is after. If the recipe is a grain bowl or salad, use wheat berries, barley, farro or brown rice instead. If it is just breakfast, rolled oats are fine, but cook them as their own recipe.

Why is my groat substitute still hard after an hour?

Two usual causes. Salt added at the start slows the hydration of whole kernels, so salt in the last 15 minutes for whole grains. And acid, such as a splash of vinegar or a tomato in the pot, will keep a whole grain firm almost indefinitely. Add acidic ingredients only after the grain is tender. Very old grain can also simply refuse to soften, whatever you do.

Can I just leave the groats out?

If they are a small addition to a soup for body, yes, or replace them with a spoonful of barley or rice. If they are the base of a grain bowl, salad or porridge, they are the substance of the dish and something has to fill that slot. In that case pick whichever chewy whole grain you actually have and adjust the cooking time to match it, rather than trying to force the original timing.

What job do oat groats do in a recipe?

Chew and bulk. They supply the physical body of the dish and a specific springy, poppy bite that survives dressing, reheating and a night in the fridge, plus a mild, milky, slightly sweet flavor that stays in the background. Any substitute you choose should be judged on whether it will still be firm after cooling. That property, not the flavor, is what people buy groats for.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Oat Groats substitute

Other oat groats substitutes

2Wheat berries

3Hulled barley

4Farro or spelt berries

5Short-grain brown rice

6Rolled oats