What is Sorghum? Cooking with Grains Like Sorghum Grain

Knowing what you eat can be important and knowing what is sorghum may change the way you look at food. Sorghum grows naturally in many countries of the world and at one time, every culture on earth ate some type of Sorghum grain or syrup. Today not many people eat this beneficial grain or use the syrup commonly known as Sorghum Molasses. Sadly only animals eat this amazing grain, except for the 15 or so percent that is used to produce ethanol.

Exactly What is Sorghum?

It is a grain produced by the Sorghum bicolor plant which looks like a cross between Johnson grass and corn, with a Smooth Sumac seed head. The tight packed seed head contains thousands of small black seeds which can be crushed and cooked as a hot cereal, winnowed and ground into flour or sautéed and added to many dishes including salads, soups, and stews, and as a sprinkle for breads, crackers and other baked foods.

What is Sorghum Nutritionally?

Nutritionally Sorghum contains 651 calories in every six ounces of Sorghum, gluten free flour that contains six grams of fat, no cholesterol, 12 milligrams of sodium and 12 grams of fiber. Fiber is essential for proper digestive health and making pancakes using sorghum flour is an easy and nutritional way to improve your digestive health. Sorghum also contains 22 grams of protein, calcium and one six ounce serving of sorghum contains 47% of the recommended daily intake of iron. There are three B Vitamins in Sorghum, Niacin, Thiamine and Riboflavin plus Phosphorus and Potassium.

What is Sorghum Benefits?

Antioxidant health can be improved by learning what is Sorghum as it contains 125 milligrams of Omega 3 fatty acids and 2505 milligrams of Omega 6 fatty acids. Antioxidants including the phytochemicals found in Sorghum help remove toxins from the body, stabilize blood sugar levels, and improve cardiac health. Other phytochemicals found in Sorghum which may help reduce other medical conditions including cancer are policosanols, tannins, phytosterols and phonolic acids which affect a wide range of body systems. Phyto-tannins help improve weight gain naturally and strengthen muscles without stress which may help improve cardiovascular health.

Plant-based sterols are proving to have a more beneficial effect on lowering blood cholesterol levels naturally and help prevent blood platelets from clumping decreasing stroke risk.

Sorghum Molasses

Sorghum is naturally sweet and many people used to grow Sorghum bicolor and take it to a water or animal grist mill to be turned into Sorghum Molasses. Adding a tablespoon of Sorghum Molasses to your morning beverage not only sweetens but provides iron, calcium, B Vitamins and potassium. Eating a hot breakfast made from Sorghum with fresh fruit and milk could provide most of the daily nutritional trace elements and vitamins recommended by nutritionists.

Sorghum can also be sprouted providing a fresh addition to a salad or sandwich or eaten as a side dish when combined with rice. Sorghum is very important to people with a high melatonin count, as this plants molecular structure is more efficiently used by those whose skin tones contain high quantities of melatonin.

Other Sorghum Uses

• Brooms - When the seeds are removed from the stalk a broom like stem is revealed and many pioneers planted Sorghum as a food crop and broom making material.


• Weaving - The stalks have been used for weaving mats and light fencing


• Fuel - The entire plant is a much sought after as an alternative fuel source. Almost 17% of the ethanol produced in the United States is created from Sorghum bicolor.


• Animal Feed - The primary use of Sorghum in the United States is for animal feed as it produces a fatter, leaner and healthier animal without the use of chemicals, steroids and growth hormones.

Sorghum Flour Pancakes

• 2 Cups sorghum flour


• 3 teaspoons of baking powder


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 3/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 cup non-fat dry powered milk (or powdered buttermilk)


• 1 Tablespoon corn oil


• 3 eggs


• 1 1/2 cups of water

Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil and water then mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto a hot griddle or fry pan. Allow to brown and turn once.

This recipe makes about 20 four-inch pancakes.

For thinner pancakes add additional water. Other additions can include applesauce, cinnamon, nuts, berries or seeds.

Adapted by Mary Schluckebier

Now that you know what is sorghum and how beneficial and nutritional it is adding it to the daily menu will be easy plus the wide variety of uses allows it to be included at every meal.

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