Curried Barley Porridge (Easy & Vegan)

A cozy and savory bowl of creamy curried barley porridge with red lentils and peas, resulting in a flavorsome and nourishing meal.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• A ridiculously simple and tasty vegan meal, that is very easy to prepare.
• Cost-effective - doesn’t use expensive ingredients and is filling.
• Savory barley porridge is a simple combination of barley, lentils and veggies.
• Makes a great camping meal (one of our favorite meals when camping - we make it without the frozen peas.)

Ingredients and Variations

Pearl barley is great in soups, stews, porridge, salads and more. You can easily find this ingredient at your local supermarket or buy pearl barley online. For your reference, I placed a close-up pic of this ingredient below.

Red lentils cook so easily and pair nicely with peas (frozen) which add a lovely sweetness. You can leave these out if you prefer. My friend cooked this for me once, using this recipe and he used a frozen vegetable trio - peas, carrot, and corn.

Brown onion - should be finely diced.

Curry powder - I prefer to use Keens curry powder in this barley curry as it's simple and tastes delicious, with a very mild spiciness.

Vegetable stock - Massel is a good option it's gluten-free and plant-based. If you are on a WFPB no-oil diet, make sure the vegetable stock/broth you are using is oil-free.

Optional Olive Oil - Opt for extra virgin olive oil or you can leave this out if you are not cooking with oil.

Replace with a couple of tablespoons of veggie stock. I alter between cooking with and without oil and both are equally delish!

For added greens, stir through some chopped spinach or kale leaves in the last five minutes of cooking this barley curry to avoid overcooking them.

Sweat

In a non-stick heavy-based pot, heat olive oil over high heat. Add onion and sweat until translucent. 

If you prefer to cook without oil, use a couple of tablespoons of vegetable stock to sweat the onions.

Simmer The Pearl Barley

Add red lentils, pearl barley, vegetable stock and curry powder. Stir contents, cover and bring to a boil. 

Turn heat to low-med and allow to simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes, bringing up the bottom to the top. This will help this pearl barley curry not stick to the bottom of the pot.

This curry porridge will naturally soften during cooking and fall apart, no blending is needed.

Stir Peas Into The Porridge

Stir through frozen peas and cook for another 5 minutes or until peas are completely soft. Serve warm.

If desired stir through a little amount of water before serving to make the consistency runnier.

FAQ

Serving Suggestions

Pair this vegan barley porridge with steamed vegetables, a fresh simple salad such as a roca salad or Croatian salad made of cabbage (my favorite with this meal) and some pickled vegetables. 

Curry Recipes and More

If you are a curry lover, you must cook my chickpea and lentil curry, ready in 20 minutes and it's so creamy! Or try my easy curried mung beans or my curried vegetable puffs.

Otherwise, check out this vegan chickpea curry by Dizzy Busy and Hungry.

Barley does naturally contain gluten. For a grain that is gluten-free check out how to cook buckwheat.