How to Cook Barley

This simple guide will teach you how to cook barley perfectly every time! You can use hulled barley or pearled barley (I personally prefer the no-fuss, quick cooking pearl barley). Hulled barley will benefit from soaking in water for a few hours before cooking, and it will take longer to cook than pearl barley.

Prep time: PT5M

Cook time: PT25M

Rating

4.82 stars (16 reviews)

Keywords

barley, pearl barley

Ingredients

1 cup barley,
3 cups water (or broth)
kosher salt
Parsley, (for garnish (optional))

Cuisine

Mediterranean

Steps

If using pearled barely, you do not need to soak it (skip to the next step). If you are using hulled barley, you have the option to soak the grains in water for a while before cooking. To soak the hulled barley, place 1 cup dry barley grains in a large bowl and add 3 cups of water. Set aside to soak for a few hours or up to overnight.
Boil 3 cups of water or broth and add 1 cup of barley. Season with a big dash of kosher salt.
Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed (or mostly absorbed) and the barley is tender with a slightly chewy texture (about 25 to 30 minutes for pearl barley and up to 1 hour for hulled barley). Drain.
Fluff the cooked pearl barley with a fork. Add parsley for garnish, if using.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 176 kcal
Carbohydrates: 38.9 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 0.6 g
Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
Sodium: 13.4 mg
Sugar: 0.4 g
Unsaturated Fat: 0.4 g

Reviews

Bill on 2025-09-01 (5 stars):
Suzy, love your recipes. They are simple and delicious. Thank you!
Jonathan on 2025-03-01 (5 stars):
I was looking for a grain with less carbohydrate and more fibre and happened upon your recipe. I used a good quality stock and as i did not have any parsley to hand, I added dill, stalks and all. This is a fabulous alternative to potatoes, pasta or rice. My memories of barley were that they are an essential ingredient to a lovely lamb Irish stew; however, as a side that is richly infiltrated with a good stock and herbs, this is a little wonder. Thank you for enabling me to eat for my health!!
Dana on 2025-01-10 (2 stars):
This recipe may work for pearled barley that is not soaked, but for the hulled barley that has been soaked overnight, this recipe calls for far too much water. I think I would use only 2 cups of water next time I try it.
Ubonrat Iawprasert on 2024-09-02 (5 stars):
I will swapping white rice to pearl barley today. Great 👍 and thanks 🙏
Tom on 2024-08-19 (5 stars):
Too bad I can't give it more stars. Thank you so much!
Yahir Smith on 2024-06-23 (5 stars):
Thank you your article was very helpful. This is my first time making barley, i was simple to follow it came out good. I switxhing to barley no more rice.
Helen on 2023-02-18 (5 stars):
When I want something different for a meal I always turn to your Mediterranean Dish site. Yesterday I happened to buy scallops, fresh vegetables and pearled barley; then went searching for recipes. Bingo, almost instant meal: prepared the barley in my rice cooker, created the easy Mediterranean-style scallop recipe to serve as a 'bowl' meal and am enjoying the leftovers today. Winner all the way--thanks for great recipes and meals. BTW--I'm also a fan of your shop for spices, grains and EVOO.