Why Trader Joe's 10-Minute Farro Is Such A Massive Time Saver
Ancient grains are popping up on trendy menus and added into meal plans all over the place, thanks to growing interest in whole grains and Mediterranean diets. One of the latest "it" grains, farro, is a longtime Italian favorite that Americans are seemingly just starting to embrace. This whole-grain variety of wheat boasts a ton of protein and fiber and can add a satisfying, nutty flavor to salads — plus, it's great in pilafs and soups. Unfortunately, the one major drawback to farro is that it takes a long time to cook. No need to worry, though, because Trader Joe's has a quick-cooking version that will give you a farro fix in no time.
There are tons of fan favorites at TJs, and they even maintain a product hall of fame, but one of their most solid staples that probably deserves more recognition than it currently enjoys is the brand's 10 Minute Farro. True to the name on the little blue package, you can have a bowl of chewy, nutritious grains in less time than it takes to hard boil an egg, which is unheard of if you tried cooking farro from scratch. The reason Trader Joe's farro only takes 10 minutes to make is that it's sold partially cooked.
Parboiling for the win
The trick to Trader Joe's farro is that it's parboiled, which is a process of partially cooking grains to gelatinize the starches inside the grains, and then drying them. This process is also known as converting the starches, which is why parboiled rice is also called "converted rice." So instead of soaking the farro grains to soften the hulls, then boiling them for an hour to convert the starches, all you have to do is boil some water and cook your grains like pasta — no special cooking skills or knowledge required.
Once your farro is fully cooked, drain it in a fine mesh strainer and fluff it up like rice or quinoa and it's ready for recipes. Farro is delicious on its own as a side with just a little olive oil, salt and pepper. However, since it's so easy to make, you can try your hand at an ancient grain pilaf, or use it for meal-prepping some mason jar farro-chickpea salads.
You can even try cooking it like you would a risotto, by slowly adding the liquid to a pan and constantly stirring to create some sticky starchiness. Finish it with fresh herbs and Parmesan and you've got what Italians affectionately call "farrotto." At just a dollar or two and change, you can try all kinds of recipes with your Trader Joe's farro, and save a lot of time, too.
Farro facts
Technically, there's no official definition of what an ancient grain is, according to the Whole Grain Council, but basically anything can be an ancient grain as long as it's remained the same for hundreds of years. Farro is a type of ancient wheat berry that comes in three varieties, spelt, emmer and einkorn, and according to Nation's Restaurant News it was found on 4.2% of U.S. menus in 2021, which doesn't sound like much but is actually a 41% increase over 2017.
If you're shopping for farro at the grocery store, your cooking time and method will depend on what type of grains you're getting. Farro is sold as whole, semi-pearled, and pearled, which corresponds to how much the grains are processed. Whole, as the name implies, has the whole bran intact, which is the tough outer coating of the seed. Semi-pearled and pearled varieties have some or all of the bran removed. Normally it takes more than an hour to cook farro from its whole form, and many chefs soak the grains overnight first to soften the bran. However, even pearled and semi-pearled varieties take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to cook. Trader Joe's knows that not every whole grain lover has that kind of time, so they took a cue from instant rice, barley, and oatmeal to make a farro go a lot faster.