Instant Pot Farro

Learn how to cook farro in the Instant Pot. It’s ready really quickly and is exactly the right texture every time.

What is Farro?

Farro is an ancient grain that’s been around possibly longer than any other grain. It might even be the grain from which all others derive.

When cooked, farro looks a bit like barley but it has a chewier texture. That chewy texture remains even after long-cooking so it’s great in soups and stews where it never gets soggy. That chewy texture also makes for tasty salads. You can pretty much take any pasta salad recipe and turn it into a farro salad recipe successfully.

What To Make With Farro

You can mix farro in with meat like in these amazing meatballs with farro and rosemary in them and you can mix it with cheese to make a really delicious side dish, like this easy creamy side dish with spinach and cream cheese.

I also really like using farro in places where I would typically use rice, like in this Special Fried Farro.

And of course, soup! Farro is wonderful in soup because it really holds its texture for a long time. This Beef and Farro Soup is one of my favorites.

Do You Need To Soak Farro Before Cooking?

You can speed up the cooking time for farro by soaking it in cool water but this isn’t necessary at all if using an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot since it takes such a short time to cook in there anyhow.

Do You Need to Rinse Farro?

I usually do rinse farro although it’s not as important when cooking it using other methods as it is when cooking it with the pressure cooker. Definitely rinse the farro before cooking it in the pressure cooker, like in the Instant Pot.

To rinse farro, measure it into a fine mesh sieve and then rinse it under cool tap water. Allow the water to run down the drain. Once it is rinsed, give the sieve a shake a couple times to remove excess water.

How To Cook Farro In The Instant Pot

In terms of portion sizes, farro doesn’t expand as much as rice or barley. So I tend to make a bit more than I would other grains. Where I would have started with 1 cup of uncooked rice or barley, I’ll use 1 and 1/2 cups of uncooked farro.

You can cook farro on the stove, in the oven, in the slow cooker, or in a pressure cooker like the Instant Pot. I’m giving instructions for the pressure cooker today.

Note: There are different kinds of farro out there (whole grain, pearled, semi-pearled, and different varieties too) and it’s not always easy to tell which kind you have. This means that cooking times aren’t exact. I’m giving the cooking times that were needed for Bob’s Redmill Brand, which is what I typically buy. I order it on Amazon here. That brand says on the package to pressure cook for 12 minutes and then do a quick release. I find it a bit too hard at that time and prefer to do it for 13 minutes with a 5 minute natural release followed by a quick release.

How To Reheat Farro

Since farro cooks so quickly in the Instant Pot, it’s often ready before I need it. If this happens, you can leave the Instant Pot set to Keep Warm for 30 minutes.

If the farro gets cold or is refrigerated, you can heat it in the microwave. Just add a bit of water (1 tablespoon per 2 cups of cooked farro) and loosely cover it. Microwave it for 45 seconds at a time, stirring in between heats, until heated through.

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