How to cook barley - 8 step by step recipes

Pearl barley is a healthy grain that is often served as a side dish to traditional Slavic cuisine. It is useful, contains many vitamins and microelements, moreover, it quickly gives saturation and has almost no contraindications to use. To prepare a delicious crumbly porridge, you need to choose the right ratio of water and cereal.

How to cook friable pearl barley in water?

Barley can be cooked without presoaking, but you must first boil it in boiling water, and then cook until the side dish is brought to perfection. A crumbly porridge is obtained if the liquid is allowed to evaporate completely.

Cooking time: 1 hour. 5 minutes.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 4.

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  Sort the barley, remove foreign debris from it and rinse thoroughly, changing the water several times.
• 
  Pour boiling water in a volume of 3 cups into a saucepan of a suitable volume and add pearl barley, cook for 5 minutes over high heat, and then drain the water.
• 
  Pour the groats again with a new portion of boiling water - already in the amount of 2 glasses.
• 
  Add salt and butter to a saucepan, mix.
• 
  Cover and cook over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour, so that all the liquid is absorbed into the cereal, and the pearl barley grains increase in size.

How to cook barley for a side dish without soaking?

Loose pearl barley can be served as an independent dish, if you add fried vegetables or mushrooms to it, as well as a side dish that goes well with pork, beef or lamb dishes.

Cooking time: 1 hour.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 4.

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 1 tbsp.
• Water - 1.5 l
• Salt to taste.
• Seasonings to taste.
• Dried greens - to taste.

Cooking process:

1. Remove debris from the cereal, rinse it thoroughly in running water and let the liquid drain.
2. Boil water in a saucepan, add cereal and boil it with strong heat for a couple of minutes, then drain the water.
3. Re-pour boiling water over the cereal and put on low heat, cook for about 1.5 hours.
4. At the end of cooking, add salt, taking into account what the porridge will be served with, as well as your favorite spices and herbs. Mix everything well.
5. Serve barley as a side dish for meat or mushroom dishes. Barley goes well with frying, which can be made with the addition of carrots, onions, garlic or celery root.

Barley porridge in a saucepan with presoaking

If the barley is cooked with preliminary soaking, the cooking process will be shorter, but the taste will not change. To give the cereal more taste and appetizing, various spices or seasonings can be added to it, in particular, turmeric, which gives the porridge a pleasant golden hue and is also very useful.

Cooking time: 6 hours. 35 minutes

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 4.

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 1 tbsp.
• Water - 1 liter.
• Salt to taste.
• Turmeric to taste.
• Boiled carrots - to taste.

Cooking process:

1. Sorted out cereals should be well rinsed until the water becomes clear. In a deep bowl, pour the pearl barley with cold filtered water and leave to soak for at least 6 hours.
2. After the specified time, drain the water in which the cereals were soaked, rinse again and pour into the pan, adding water at the rate of 1 tbsp. cereals per 1 liter of water.
3. Bring barley to a boil, remove from heat and drain.
4. Pour fresh water again and cook for about half an hour over low heat.
5. Turn off, season with salt and add turmeric, stir, leave covered for 5 minutes, and then serve. You can add boiled carrots, and garnish with chopped dill.

How to properly cook barley in a slow cooker?

Barley turns out to be very tasty if you cook it in a slow cooker. You can choose any suitable mode available in the device - "Porridge", "Buckwheat" or "Rice" and cook according to the duration, taking into account whether the cereal was soaked in advance.

Cooking time: 4 hours. 5 minutes.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 4.

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 1 tbsp.
• Water - 1 liter.
• Salt to taste.
• Dried greens (dill, parsley, celery) - to taste.

Cooking process:

1. The groats are moved to remove foreign debris from it. Then you need to rinse it until the water becomes completely transparent.
2. To soak, pour the required amount of pearl barley into the bowl of the device and fill it with cold filtered water. We leave for a few hours. The lid does not need to be closed.
3. After that we drain the water, rinse the grains again and fill it with fresh water.
4. Add to the cereal the desired amount of salt, other spices or seasonings, as well as dried herbs, mix and close the lid.
5. We turn on the multicooker to any mode for cooking porridge and cook for about an hour. Stir and serve hot. Bon Appetit!

A simple and tasty way to cook barley in a pressure cooker

The pressure cooker makes the process of cooking pearl barley faster, preserves the nutritional properties of the porridge and frees up time and energy for other dishes. If you pour broth on the cereal, rather than water, the taste of the porridge will be unsurpassed.

Cooking time: 5 hours. 5 minutes.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 2.

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 0.5 tbsp.
• Water - 3 liters.
• Salt to taste.
• Dried greens - to taste.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.
• Butter to taste.

Cooking process:

1. The groats are washed and soaked in cold water for up to 12 hours, and then the liquid is drained and the barley is allowed to drain.
2. Pearl barley grains are placed in a pressure cooker, water is added and the container is sealed. The pressure cooker valve should hiss and seal the pot.
3. The pressure cooker is turned on or put on fire for 20 minutes.
4. When the specified time has elapsed, the pressure cooker is turned off or removed from the heat and left to steam for another 40 minutes. For electronic pressure cookers, use the Heat setting and simply leave the cooker pressure cooker closed.
5. When the porridge is ready, it needs to be salted and spiced, and then served with butter or mushroom sauce.

How easy is it to cook barley in the microwave?

A delicious side dish of pearl barley can also be cooked in the microwave: the process does not take much time and is very simple. The dish will be more flavorful if you add fried onions with bacon or freshly chopped herbs to it.

Cooking time: 45 min.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 4.

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 0.5 tbsp.
• Water - 3 liters.
• Salt to taste.
• Fresh greens - to taste.

Cooking process:

1. We sort out the groats and rinse until the water becomes clear.
2. Put the pearl barley in a dish suitable for microwave cooking and fill it with hot water.
3. We put it in the oven, start the timer for 20 minutes, and cook at full power.
4. We check the grits for readiness, add more boiling water, mix and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
5. Add the required amount of salt, cover and leave for another 10 minutes to infuse. Then add fresh herbs and serve.

Delicious pearl barley porridge with stewed meat in a saucepan

Stewed barley is somewhat of a camping recipe, but you can also make it at home for a nutritious and appetizing meal for lunch.Frying onions and carrots will make the taste of porridge even brighter and more attractive.

Cooking time: 3 hours 45 minutes.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 4.

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley - 300 gr.
• Canned stewed beef - 300 gr.
• Bulb onions - 1 pc.
• Carrots - 2 pcs.
• Salt to taste.
• Seasoning "Khmeli-suneli" - to taste

Cooking process:

1. Soak the washed cereal in boiled water for several hours.
2. Transfer the barley to a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes.
3. Chop the peeled onions and carrots: dice the onion, grate the carrots.
4. In a skillet, fry the onions and carrots using the fat from the stew.
5. Put the meat to fry and stir. Then add strained cereals there. Season with salt, season and mix well. Leave to infuse under the lid for 10-15 minutes, and then serve. Enjoy!

Hearty and aromatic pearl barley porridge with meat

Pearl barley can be used not only as a side dish, but also to prepare a full-fledged dish like pilaf. Barley with pork is good to serve for lunch or dinner: the whole family will like the dish, and even an inexperienced chef can cook it.

Cooking time: 3 hours 45 minutes.

Cooking time: 5 min.

Servings - 6.

Ingredients:

• Pork (fillet) - 600 gr.
• Pearl barley - 1 tbsp.
• Water - 3 tbsp.
• Carrots - 2 pcs.
• Bulb onions - 2 pcs.
• Celery (root) - 70 gr.
• Vegetable oil - 5 tablespoons
• Salt to taste.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.
• Bay leaf - 2 pcs.
• Allspice peas - 2 pcs.
• Parsley - 1/2 bunch.

Cooking process:

1. Pour the washed barley with cold filtered water and leave for several hours to swell, and then drain the water.
2. Pour cereals into a heat-resistant dish, pour water, bring to a boil and keep on low heat for about an hour, stir the contents of the pan several times during this time.
3. Cut peeled carrots and onions as for frying, grate celery or cut into small cubes. Fry everything in a deep frying pan to brown the vegetables.
4. Rinse the meat, pat dry with paper towels and cut into small pieces. Fry to create a delicious crust.
5. Mix the grilled meat, season with salt and seasonings and cook for about 6 minutes. Then pour hot water and simmer with low heat for half an hour.
6. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, transfer the barley to the meat and vegetables and mix well. Cook covered, add salt if necessary. Serve hot with herbs.