Barley
Barley is an ancient, chewy cereal grain used in soups, porridges, salads, and brewing across Europe and Asia. This page covers choosing pearled versus hulled barley, keeping it fresh, and where it shows up in classic cooking.
How to buy
Pearled barley has had its bran polished off, so it cooks faster and has a milder flavor; hulled (or 'pot') barley keeps more of the bran and germ, giving more fiber and a nuttier bite but a longer cook time. Either way, look for dry, uniformly sized grains with no musty smell or visible moisture clumping.
How to store
Keep in an airtight container in a cool, dry pantry for up to a year; pearled barley, with its bran removed, keeps a bit longer than hulled since there's less oil-rich bran to go rancid. Cooked barley holds in the fridge about 5 days and freezes well.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Nutty, earthy, and mildly sweet, with a flavor that deepens noticeably if the grains are toasted in a dry pan or in fat before simmering.
- Texture
- Pleasantly chewy with a slight resistance to the bite; it holds its shape well in soups and salads, and when cooked with extra liquid and stirred, it turns creamy enough to make a risotto-style dish.
- Aroma
- A toasty, grain-forward smell that becomes noticeably nuttier once dry-toasted before cooking.
How to prepare
- Simmered whole — Boiled in water or stock until tender, the base method for soups, pilafs, and salads.
- Toasted before cooking — Dry-toasted or toasted in fat first to deepen its nutty flavor before adding liquid.
- Risotto-style (orzotto) — Cooked gradually with stirred-in stock like risotto, releasing starch for a creamy texture.
- Malted — Sprouted and dried to convert starches to fermentable sugars, the essential first step in brewing beer.
Classic dishes
American
- Beef and barley soup — A classic diner-style soup where barley thickens a beef and vegetable broth.
- Mushroom barley soup — A deli staple pairing earthy mushrooms with chewy barley in a savory broth.
Italian
- Barley risotto (orzotto) — Pearl barley cooked risotto-style with stock, wine, and parmesan for a chewier alternative to rice risotto.
- Barley and bean minestrone — A rustic Italian soup where barley adds body alongside beans and vegetables.
Chinese
- Sweet barley dessert soup — Pearl barley simmered with winter melon or sweetened broth as a cooling Chinese dessert soup.
Japanese
- Mugicha barley tea — Roasted barley brewed into a caffeine-free iced tea popular in Japanese summers.
Mediterranean
- Barley salad with herbs and lemon — Cooked barley tossed with olive oil, lemon, and fresh herbs for a grain salad in the style of tabbouleh.
Greek
- Paximadia barley rusks — Twice-baked barley rusks from Crete, traditionally softened with olive oil, tomato, and cheese.
Korean
- Boricha barley tea — Roasted barley steeped in hot or cold water as a widely drunk everyday Korean beverage.
Middle Eastern
- Barley flatbread — An ancient staple flatbread made from barley flour, among the earliest cultivated grain breads in the region.
German
- Beer brewing — Malted barley is the backbone grain of German beer, providing the fermentable sugars that become alcohol.
- Gerstensuppe — A traditional German barley soup, often made with smoked pork or bacon for depth.
Ethiopian
- Genfo-style barley porridge — A thick Ethiopian porridge traditionally made from barley or wheat flour, served with butter and berbere.
British & Irish
- Scotch broth — A hearty Scottish soup of lamb or mutton, root vegetables, and pearl barley simmered until thick.
- Barley water — A traditional British drink made by boiling barley and straining the liquid, often flavored with lemon.