15 Scrumptious Sorghum Recipes (Savory & Sweet!) (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between sorghum and sweet sorghum? ›

Sweet sorghum is predominantly grown for sorghum syrup. Unlike grain sorghum, sweet sorghum is harvested for the stalks rather than the grain and is crushed like sugar cane or beets to produce a syrup.

Takeaways. Sorghum can be used as a replacement for various sweeteners or as a gluten-free grain in baked goods. It is a good source of antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and iron.

Sorghum flour: Ground grain sorghum, or sorghum flour, can be used in any number of recipes, especially ones that call for whole wheat flour. Sorghum flour is particularly useful for gluten-free baking, and can be used to make flatbreads, like injera, quick breads, muffins, pasta, and desserts.

Sprinkle it in Salads

Tossing in precooked whole grains, such as sorghum, is a great way to add slow-digesting carbs, fiber, and nutrients to a light meal. Use sorghum flour in baked goods, such as this recipe for Vegan Whole Wheat Banana Bread.

It takes stomach enzymes longer to break down the wall to reach the nutritional proteins in sorghum than it does to reach the proteins in similar grains, such as corn.

Sorghum Syrup: Sorghum syrup is often considered a healthier option compared to molasses. It is a good source of several essential nutrients, including potassium, iron, and antioxidants.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if sorghum is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Sorghum is rich in phytochemicals that have been reported to have glucose-lowering (7) and cholesterol-lowering properties (8). Scientific evidence has also shown that sorghum extracts has hypoglycemic activity in diabetic rats, thus helping to control the negative effects of DM (9, 10).

The USDA recognizes sorghum as 100% gluten-free, meaning it's safe for people with Celiac's Disease and gluten intolerance to eat on a regular basis. Both sorghum flour and whole-grain sorghum are great substitutes for wheat-based recipes.

Yield – 1 : 3 – 1 cup of dried wholegrain sorghum cooked in 3 cups of water will give around 3 cups of cooked sorghum. Preparation Tips: As for most whole grains, it is always a good idea to soak the sorghum first, ideally for 6-8 hours, so that it is easier to digest.

Should you rinse sorghum before cooking? ›

Rinse and drain the sorghum.

Place 1 cup (192 g) of whole-grain sorghum into a fine mesh strainer. Hold the strainer under cold running water and rinse the sorghum. Sorghum comes in whole-grain or pearled form. If you want to use pearled sorghum, just reduce the liquid to 3 cups (709 ml).

While beer and whiskey are the primary types of alcohol that can be made from sorghum, vodka and other spirits, such as baijiu, a popular Chinese liquor, can also be produced using sorghum.

Sorghum is a versatile crop, serving as an excellent substitute for rice, oatmeal, and other grains such as quinoa and barley.

Sorghum's mild sweet flavor can easily be subbed for quinoa. Just like fluffy quinoa, this tasty chewy whole grain has a relatively high protein content, making it a great choice for a plant-based meal. It's gluten-free, but contains TWICE the amount of fiber as quinoa!

In addition to the high content of anti-inflammatory phenolic compounds, sorghum contains several groups of bioactive compounds with the capacity to induce pro-inflammatory immune responses.

It is the only crop that provides both grain and stem that can be used for sugar, alcohol, syrup, jaggery, fodder, fuel, bedding, roofing, fencing, paper, and chewing. Sweet sorghum juices usually contain approximately 16–18% fermentable sugar, which can be directly fermented into ethanol by yeast.

There are four main types of sorghum: grain, forage, biomass and sweet. Their most popular uses are: for food (grain sorghum), as livestock feed (forage sorghum), to produce bioenergy (biomass sorghum), and as syrup (sweet sorghum).

Red, orange or bronze sorghum are very versatile and can be used in all segments of the sorghum industry. Tan, cream and white colored sorghum varieties are typically made into flour for the food industry. Black and burgundy varieties contain beneficial antioxidant properties and are used in other food applications.

Shields, in his book Southern Provisions, describes the flavor, “Liquid sorghum tastes like the coppery evening sun: more mellow and malty than blackstrap molasses, less brilliant and wholesome than cane syrup, less piquant and poetic than maple.” (p 272) Use it as you would any sweetener--in coffee, in baked goods, ...