Mezonot: The Blessing on Grains

Food that is made from grain (wheat, barley, rye, spelt or oat) but is not bread gets the blessing mezonot (מְזוֹנוֹת). This includes cakes and pastries, most crackers and cereals, pasta and other cooked grain products like farfel and couscous.

The blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא מִינֵי מְזוֹנוֹת

Bah-rookh ah-tah ah-doh-noi eh-loh-hay-noo meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm boh-ray mee-nay mi-zoh-noht.

Blessed are you L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, Who creates various kinds of sustenance.

Listen to this blessing

After eating Mezonot, say Al Hamichyah, the After-Blessing on the Five Grains, (click here for audio and text).

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29 Comments

AJ January 26, 2024

If I make apple pie, do I do a combination of blessings, or just one in particular? Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org January 29, 2024

in response to AJ:

Generally, if a dish is made of dough as its base, then it only has one blessing -- mezonot. Reply

Sue Israel September 20, 2023

If a cake recipe calls for liquid to be added, would using water or tea cause the brocha to be hatmotzi? Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org October 19, 2023

in response to Sue:

If it's sweet (i.e. more sugar and flavoring than typical bread), then it would still be mezonot. Reply

anon June 21, 2023

which type of crackers Reply

Matis Galus July 4, 2023

in response to anon:

any traditional crackers that are made of grains Reply

Sarah NJ March 27, 2023

Would I make a mezonot on oatmeal/porridge? Reply

Chabad.org Staff March 28, 2023

in response to Sarah:

Yes, that's right :) Reply

Mushky January 24, 2023

What Brocha is granola? Since it's made out of oats Reply

Rabbi Mendel Adelman January 25, 2023

in response to Mushky:

Granola is made of rolled flat oats. According to most opinions, since the oats remain whole, they retain their status as a plant, and the correct bracha should be ha'adamah (Vezot Habracha p. 284). Some opinions say that they should be mezonos. Each person should ask their own Rav. Reply

Sarah Glaser August 19, 2024

in response to Rabbi Mendel Adelman:

As an extension to the granola question- Is the brocha on overnight oats (made from rolled oats) ha’adamah or mezonos? Thanks. Reply

Nicole Sanfilippo Fairfield October 19, 2022

Is rice included? Not to be obtuse. This is not listed but that doesn't mean it's not included necessarily. I don't want to make assumptions. Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org October 21, 2022

in response to Nicole Sanfilippo:

Not necessarily. Please see this article chabad.org/743800 for more information about rice. Reply

Jacob New York February 20, 2024

in response to Eliezer Zalmanov:

Please clarify if I eat cooked rice only with no other food Reply

Fern Weiss Minneapolis January 19, 2022

What would the blessing be for a gluten-free bagel made with cassava flour(which is a root vegetable) as main ingredient with also tapioca starch and potato starch? Thank you so much. Reply

Rabbi Mendel Adelman January 19, 2022

in response to Fern Weiss:

The Shulchan Aruch 208:2 rules that mezonot and hamotzi may only be made on products of the five grains. As such, a bagel made with cassava flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch will be shehakol. Reply

Morris September 22, 2021

Since grains come from the earth, why not say shehakol? Reply

Rabbi Adelman October 14, 2021

in response to Morris :

Shehakol is the blessing for things that do not grow from the ground. The blessing for produce of the ground is Ha’adamah.

The reason we do not say ha’adamah is because these foods provide a unique form of sustenance, so they were given a special blessing. Reply

Anonymous October 14, 2019

What is the proper blessing for corn and rice? Thank you. Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org November 11, 2019

in response to Anonymous:

Corn is Haadama.

There is an uncertainty about rice, therefore it is best to only eat it in a meal where one has already washed for bread and said Hamotzi. Reply

Anonymous Tacoma, WA July 25, 2019

Proper Bracha What is the proper bracha for a gluten-free food item which, had it not been for the effort to make it gluten-free, would have required either hamotzi or mezonot? For example, for people who are severely gluten intolerant, there are recipes that make a pseudo-challah from cassava flour, or honey cake from almond flour. In these cases, given the lack of grain, would one say the shehakol bracha? Reply

Rabbi Mendel Adelman for Chabad.org July 25, 2019

in response to Anonymous:

The Shulchan Aruch 208:2 rules that mezonot and hamotzi may only be made on products of the five grains. As such, anything that is gluten free without oat flour is shehakol. Almond flour cakes would be shehakol as well. Reply

Anonymous Owings Mills, MD January 8, 2020

in response to Rabbi Mendel Adelman for Chabad.org:

I often make challah for my synagogue. Because we have several gluten-free people, I have been making gluten-free "challah" for the gluten-free people. I was disappointed to learn that it is not Hamotzi (the best recipe I found uses rice and millet flours). I have started exploring making challah with oat flour, but I am uncertain how much of it needs to be oat flour to count as Hamotzi. Reply

Devorah Taitz cedarhurst April 26, 2018

Is there a conflict of whether to say hamotzi or mezonos on wraps that clearly states mezonos? I have read an article stating that there really is no mezonos. Reply

Rabbi Mendel Adelman April 29, 2018

in response to Devorah Taitz:

Hello Devorah,

There is indeed a conflict, as with many matters in Jewish law. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 168) rules that if bread is made from fruit juices rather than water, than the proper blessing is mezonot.

Many rely on that opinion in matters of mezonot wraps and bread.

However, there are many authorities who disagree, stating that the spirit of that rule was meant to apply only to more snack-like foods that are sweeter, not imitation bread made with fruit juices. Additionally, they require most of the liquid to be fruit juices, without counting juice from concentrate.

On top of that, many authorities write that if the mezonot bread is being used as a meal, then it does not make a difference how much fruit juice is used; the blessing is always hamotzi.

Since there are so many differing views and cases, one should always ask their personal rav what to do and what blessing to make. Reply

Caleb Alexander von Schloer Monsey, New York July 11, 2018

in response to Rabbi Mendel Adelman:

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck: it has to be a duck.

“Mezonos bread” products were made for people who rely on such leniencies because (unfortunately) they simply do not want to say bircas hamazon thinking it is a hassle.

One might also think how thanking G-d properly is a hassle when we derive everything out of His goodness and Grace.

Even the OU website (and many other veritable kashrus agencies’ websites) have said likewise.

Make sure to not just rely on a lenient rav but the spirit and letter of halacha too.

All the best. Reply

Jeremy Tampa, FL December 10, 2019

in response to Caleb Alexander von Schloer:

I like to see things like this as a kindness, not as laziness. Life is complex. We are put here on the earth to lessen suffering. Not increase it. It's not as though a person is going to drive a tortilla to shabbos, no? Reply

Cindy Kaplan Brooklyn August 11, 2021

in response to Caleb Alexander von Schloer:

That is not my personal reason. I have been in a wheat and mostly grain-free diet since the early 1980’s - before any of us ever heard of gluten. Reply

Cindy Kaplan Brooklyn August 11, 2021

in response to Jeremy:

I like how you think! Reply

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