Delicious Curried Barley Porridge (Easy and Vegan)

Name: Curried Barley Porridge (Easy and Vegan)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 cup Pearl barley; 2 cups Red lentils; 1 cup Frozen peas; 1 medium Brown Onion (diced); 8 cups Vegetable stock; 1½ tbsp Curry powder

Jump to Recipe

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 great source of fiber from the 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

Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the full recipe card below.

Pearl barley is great in soups, stews, porridge, salads and more. This grain also offers a good range of vitamins, minerals, and other health benefits. 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 are a good source of protein and fiber.

Peas (frozen) 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!

Omit peas altogether and or add diced carrot instead of peas

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.

How To Cook Curried Barley Porridge

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.

adding barley, red lentils, curry powder and stock to the onions in a black frypan

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.

frozen peas added to yellow barley porridge in a pan

hand stirring frozen peas into the yellow porridge

Pro Tips and Storage

This curried porridge will double in size when cooked, so this recipe will feed around 6 people with some left-overs.

This porridge can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, after it has cooled down to room temperature.

You might be interested in reading about substitutes for barley.

FAQ

Barley vs Pearl barley?

Barley is a whole grain, generally hulled to remove the indigestible outer husk, whilst pearl barley is processed by polishing (pearling) the outer bran layer. Pearl barley is more commonly found in supermarkets.

Does pearl barley need to be soaked?

No, it doesn't need to be pre-soaked before cooking and will cook easily. The reason is as it has been pearled removing the outer layer. Whole grain barley, is the variety that requires soaking.

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.

two gray bowls of yellow porridge with a side of cabbage salad

Did you make this? I'd love to know! Leave me a comment below with a ★★★★★ rating or tag @plantbasedfolk on social media.

Recipe

Curried Barley Porridge (Easy and Vegan)

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

Print Pin Rate Save Recipe

Course: main

Cuisine: Australian

Diet: Low Fat, Vegan

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 45

Total Time: 50

Servings: people

Author: Janelle Hama

Ingredients

1 cup Pearl barley
2 cups Red lentils
1 cup Frozen peas
1 medium Brown Onion diced
8 cups Vegetable stock
1½ tablespoon Curry powder

Instructions

In a non-stick pot, add 2 tablespoons of veggie stock or olive oil (see note #1). Add onion and sweat until translucent.
1 medium Brown Onion
Stir through the red lentils, pearl barley, vegetable stock and curry powder. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low-medium and allow to simmer for about 40 minutes.
1 cup Pearl barley, 2 cups Red lentils, 1½ tablespoon Curry powder, 8 cups Vegetable stock
Stir through frozen peas and cook for another 5 minutes or until pearl barley and peas are completely soft. Serve warm. If desired stir through a small amount of water to make this porridge a little runnier.
1 cup Frozen peas

Video

Notes

Note #1- use 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to sweat onion, otherwise if you would like to avoid oil, use a couple of tablespoons of veggie stock.

Stir the porridge every five - 10 minutes whilst it is simmering to avoid it burning at the bottom.

Once cooked this curried barley porridge will double in size.

Optional - Keep a spare cup of water, to add at the end if too thick.

You may also like this yellow split pea dahl

This recipe feeds about 6 people and may have some leftovers.

This recipe article was originally released in November 2020 and has since been updated with relevant information.

Nutrition

N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.

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Comments

4.93 from 42 votes (33 ratings without comment)

Curried Barley Porridge (Easy & Vegan)

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Ingredients and Variations