Fertilizer NO₃-N may represent a benefit over NH₄-N containing sources in semiarid regions where rainfall is often not sufficient to leach fertilizer-N out of crop rooting zones, denitrification concerns are not great, and when NH₃ volatilization concerns exist. The objective of our study was to contrast plant-N derived from fertilizer-¹⁵N (¹⁵Ndff), fertilizer-¹⁵N recovery (F¹⁵NR), total N uptake, grain yield, and protein of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from spring-applied NaNO₃ relative to urea and urea augmented with urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl)thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT). We established six fertilizer-N field trials widespread within the state of Montana between 2012 and 2017. The trials incorporated different experimental designs and ¹⁵N-labeled fertilizer-N sources, including NaNO₃, NH₄NO₃, urea, and urea + NBPT. Overall, F¹⁵NR and ¹⁵Ndff in mature crop biomass were significantly greater for NaNO₃ than urea or urea + NBPT (P < 0.05). Crop ¹⁵Ndff averaged 53.8%, 43.9%, and 44.7% across locations for NaNO₃, urea, and urea + NBPT, respectively. Likewise, crop F¹⁵NR averaged 52.2%, 35.8%, and 38.6% for NaNO₃, urea, and urea + NBPT, respectively. Soil ¹⁵N recovered in the surface layer (0–15 cm) was lower for NaNO₃ compared with urea and urea + NBPT. Wheat grain yield and protein were generally not sensitive to improvements in ¹⁵Ndff, F¹⁵NR, or total N uptake. Our study hypothesis that NaNO₃ would result in similar or better performance than urea or urea + NBPT was confirmed. Use of NO₃-N fertilizer might be an alternative strategy to mitigate fertilizer-N induced soil acidity in semiarid regions of the northern Great Plains.