Sorghum 101: What It Is, How It Compares To Other Grains & 6 Ways To Cook With It

As grains go, sorghum isn't the most widely known in the U.S. At mealtimes, other choices like wheat, rice, or quinoa are more popular. Yet with so many benefits, this ancient plant could easily be the next big thing in foodie circles. Highly nutritious, sustainably grown, and easy to cook, sorghum checks all the boxes as a smart choice in your diet.

Sorghum is a healthy whole grain packed with fiber, protein, and a variety of micronutrients.

It grows in red, bronze, yellow, tan, white, or black clusters atop stalks throughout the so-called "sorghum belt" of the U.S.—a line of states stretching from South Dakota to Texas. In fact, though it's not always a regular menu item or home-cooked side, more sorghum is grown in the United States than in any other country.

That said, this plant originated in Northern Africa, where its roots stretch back (literally and figuratively) to 8,000 B.C. Along with foods like amaranth, quinoa, and chia, its lengthy history earns sorghum the title of an "ancient" grain. 

Never tried sorghum? You're in for a nutty, earthy, chewy treat. The individual grains can be cooked to create a side dish much like quinoa (though they do take longer to soften up). You can drop sorghum into soups and stews, pack it into burger-like patties, or use it as the base of a tasty grain bowl.

Sorghum is naturally gluten-free, so it's a great choice for people with trouble digesting gluten. Besides its versatility as an everyday food, sorghum is also used to make sorghum molasses, some alcohols, and livestock feed.

With so much fiber, it's no surprise that sorghum can support a healthy GI tract. Increased daily fiber intake normalizes bowel movements and helps maintain overall bowel health. 

According to dietitian Ashley Oswald, RDN, L.D., CNSC, CLT, IFNCP, sorghum contains not just plenty of fiber but prebiotics, too.

"You can think of prebiotics as food for the trillions of microorganisms you have living in your gut (mostly your large intestine)," she says. These good gut bugs feast on fiber, ultimately creating short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). "One SCFA is called butyrate, which is a powerful supporter of your immune system2. Butyrate can also decrease chronic inflammation, improve your gut barrier function (in other words, help with leaky gut), and more," Oswald says.

The benefits of sorghum's fiber content extend even further—all that roughage could be helpful for diabetes management.

"Just a half cup of sorghum provides 7 grams of fiber, making it a low-glycemic grain option for [those with diabetes]," says clinical dietitian Huma Chaudhry, R.D., LDN. "It is high in insoluble fiber, which absorbs water during digestion and turns into a gel-like substance which can help slow down digestion and prevent blood sugar spikes."

According to the FDA, 90% of American adults4 eat more than the recommended amount of sodium—which can lead to high blood pressure levels.

One way to combat excess dietary sodium is to balance it with potassium. Since sorghum provides an impressive 350 milligrams of potassium (and negligible amounts of sodium), it's an excellent choice for your BP.

Vegetarians and vegans often have trouble filling their daily protein needs (100+ grams a day for most active people) with plants alone. Sorghum contains more than twice the protein of other grains, an impressive 20.4 grams per cup1. A cup of sorghum also contains over 2.5 grams of the amino acid leucine, enough to activate muscle protein synthesis and support muscle growth and maintenance.

If a recipe calls for sorghum and you don't have any on hand, various substitutes will suffice. In a simple side dish or as an addition to soups, consider barley, brown rice, millet, or quinoa.

Sorghum isn't among the top food allergens, so you're unlikely to have an adverse reaction to it. But there may be other cases where you'll want to skip sorghum.

"If someone is having gut issues and doesn't tolerate fiber well, then they will want to try a small amount of sorghum for their first time and ramp up from there, given its high fiber content," says Oswald.