Easy Farro Recipes

These Easy Farro Recipes can be made quickly throughout the week after prepping four simple ingredients during your food prep session. Component food prep is the key to saving you time during the week while still keeping your meal plan flexible.

Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post.

Hi friends!

I am SO excited to kick off this new 4×4 series on the blog. You guys have been asking for something like this for a long time now and I finally got my act together. You know I love food prep but my deeper, more specific love, is for component food prep. Instead of prepping full meals ahead of time, I like to prep ingredients and then quickly throw them together to make meals during the week. 

Many of my readers have told me that they like the concept of component food prep but they’re unsure how to execute it. They can make the ingredients but then can never figure out how to put them together during the week so that they don’t end up eating the same thing over and over. Well, I’m here to teach you. 

This is the first post in the series. In each post, I’ll give you four ingredients to prep (at a minimum). You should be able to prep these four ingredients in under an hour so I’ll try to give you suggestions of other things you can prep as well if you have additional time. 

Today the four recipes I’m sharing feature Bob’s Red Mill farro. Farro is one of my favorite things to food prep. If you’ve followed me for any length of time you know I make it pretty much ever week. And I always get lots of questions about what exactly it is, what it tastes like, how to cook it, how to eat it, etc so I thought this would be a good way to introduce you to it!

Farro (pronounced FAR-oh, although i’ve always called it FAIR-oh) is an ancient grain and relative of modern day wheat. It’s not gluten-free but it does have less gluten than wheat and it’s a good source of protein and fiber. Although similar in shape to rice, it’s much chewier (which I love), but it can be used in most recipes that call for rice. Bob’s Red Mill’s farro grains are lightly scratched for a faster cooking time. Although the bag says to cook for 30 minutes, I’ve found mine to be done in 15. 

To cook it, I simply add to a pot, cover with water (you don’t have to measure because you can just drain the excess water when it’s done cooking) and then put a lid on the pot and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling I crack the lid and reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes. 

Some sources say 1 cup dry farro yields 3 cups cooked but I’ve found that for me 1 cup dry yields just over 2 cups cooked as farro doesn’t expand as much as some grains do when cooked. 

I hope you’re excited to try farro if you haven’t already because it’s definitely a favorite around here. 

The Game Plan

Alright, so what’s on the menu this week?

• Chicken Farro Enchilada Bake
• Chicken and Farro Spinach Salads
• Farro Power Bowls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
• Italian Meatball and Farro Soup

Here’s what you need to prep to help make this week’s meals easier:

• Grilled Chicken (2 pounds. You’ll use one pound in the enchilada bake and one pound for the salads)
• Turkey Meatballs (recipe below)
• Farro (about 3 cups dry)
• Roasted veggies (3-4 cups carrots, 1 pound green beans and 2 whole red peppers)

Let’s talk options:

• Too cold to grill or don’t have a grill? Make some shredded chicken in the Instant Pot or Crockpot or even just chop and saute it on the stove. 
• Not into meatballs? They’re for a soup so you could make it vegetarian by just cooking some dried beans. 
• Don’t like green beans or carrots? Check out the recipes below and pick another vegetable to sub. Broccoli, cauliflower or sweet potatoes would all be good options!
• If you don’t like one of these recipes, you could easily make a few minor adjustments and swap one of yours into the meal plan.

Have more time? 

• You can actually prep the entire enchilada bake and/or soup ahead of time and just reheat during the week. 
• Roast some extra veggies to use as side dishes. 
• Make the roasted red pepper sauce ahead of time. 
• Hard boil some eggs or saute some shrimp for your power bowl. 
• If you want to use kale in the salad and soup instead of spinach, you could prep that ahead of time.
• Prep the salad dressing.

Now let’s dive into the recipes. What I love about these recipes is that they’re very forgiving. You don’t need exact quantities or measurements. You can add or subtract things according to your taste preferences. And you can easily make a small or large amount depending on how many people you’re prepping for. Enjoy them for lunch or dinner!

Chicken and Farro Enchilada Bake

Ingredients

• 1.5 – 2 cups cooked farro (about 3/4 cup dry)
• 1 pound cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, frozen or canned)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup hummus (plain or spicy)
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese, optional
• 1 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce (mild or hot)
• avocado and salsa for topping

Directions:
1. In a skillet, saute peppers, onions, corn and garlic for 5 minutes over medium-high heat to soften.
2. Transfer to a large bowl with remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Pour into casserole dish, cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20-25 min until heated through.

Notes:
-Make it vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding extra beans. 
-Make it dairy-free by leaving out the cheese and adding some extra hummus.
-Make it even quicker by sauteing the veggies, then just adding the rest of the ingredients to the skillet and stirring until it’s heated through…no baking required.

Chicken & Farro Spinach Salad

Ingredients (for 4 salads)

2 cups cooked farro
1 pound grilled chicken
8 cups baby spinach (or kale)
2 cups chopped apples
3 cups roasted carrots
1 cup diced red onion, to taste
1 cup diced cherry tomatoes 
Crumbled feta, Craisins and pecans (or other nuts) to taste 

1/4 cup avocado oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced (or a little garlic powder)
splash of honey or maple syrup, to taste

Directions:
1. Divide salad ingredients between four bowls. 
2. In a jar or small bowl, combine garlic, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, honey or maple syrup and oil and whisk or shake until well mixed. Pour over salads and enjoy!

Notes: 
-Don’t like carrots? Try roasted sweet potatoes or another veggie of your choice! 
-Don’t like feta? Try goat cheese!
-Don’t like honey mustard dressing? Use your favorite – storebought or homemade.
-Swap massaged kale for spinach to change things up.

Farro Power Bowl

Ingredients (for 4 bowls)

2-2.5 cups cooked farro (about 1 cup dry)
1 large avocado
3/4 cup sliced red onion
1 pound roasted green beans, chopped
8 hard-boiled eggs (or other protein of choice)
2 medium sweet potatoes (or other roasted vegetables of choice)

2 roasted red peppers, skin, seeds and stem removed
juice from and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup avocado oil
3-4 cloves garlic

Directions
1. Slice sweet potatoes into rounds. Spray with oil and sprinkle with curry powder and paprika. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes flipping once. 
2. In a blender, combine roasted red peppers, lemon juice and zest, oil and garlic and blend until smooth. Taste and add additional garlic or lemon if desired. 
3. Assemble the bowls. In each bowl, place a heaping 1/2 cup farro, 2 hard boiled eggs, some sweet potato rounds, avocado, onion and green beans. Top with red pepper sauce and serve.

Notes:
-This is a vegetarian option. You could skip the eggs and top with some sauteed shrimp instead…or even grill some extra chicken to throw on top.
-If you don’t like green beans, try broccoli. 
-If you’re not a fan of roasted red pepper sauce, mix some salsa with hummus or plain yogurt and use that as a dressing!
-To bulk up the red pepper sauce, add some almonds or plain greek yogurt. You could also roast some garlic along with the peppers during your prep and use the roasted garlic in the sauce.

Italian Meatball Farro Soup

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tsp parsley (or 2 Tbsp fresh parsley)
1 tsp oregano

1 cup cooked farro (about 1/2 cup dry)
1-quart broth
2-3 handfuls baby spinach
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup diced onion
1 red pepper, diced
2 Tbsp oil
More oregano, fresh lemon juice or fresh parsley to season if desired.

Directions:
1. Make meatballs during food prep: Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Form into tablespoon-sized mini meatballs (I got about 24) and bake at 400 for 12 min or until internal temp reaches 165 degrees, flipping once.
2. To make soup: Heat oil in a dutch oven. 
3. Add onion, pepper and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add meatballs, broth and farro. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in baby spinach until wilted. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. 
4. Top with extra parmesan if desired and serve with bread!

Notes:
-This soup could easily be made ahead of time and simply reheated.

Here’s a basic grocery list for you. Be sure to double check it and remove items you already have and read the recipes to see if you’re going to make any changes and adjust the grocery list accordingly.

Grocery List

• Bob’s Red Mill Farro (approx 3 cups dry)
• 2# boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 red peppers
• 1 can black beans
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 large red onion
• Plain hummus
• Shredded Mexican cheese
• Taco seasoning
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 2 bags baby spinach
• 2 apples
• 4 large carrots
• Feta or goat cheese
• Craisins
• Pecans (or other nuts)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Large avocado
• 1 pound green beans
• 8 Eggs to hardboil (plus one raw egg)
• 2 lemons
• Avocado oil
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 # ground turkey
• Breadcrumbs
• Parmesan cheese
• Fresh parsley (or dried)
• 1 egg
• Oregano
• 1 qt chicken broth
• Dijon mustard
• Honey or maple syrup
• Red wine vinegar
• Veggies of choice to roast
• Almonds or plain yogurt, optional

Join me over on IG stories this weekend and next week to see me prep these ingredients and make these meals right along with you! And be sure to grab a bag of Bob’s Red Mill farro before you get cooking!

Oh, and if you have extra farro and are looking for another idea, try this Berry Breakfast Farro!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–