Curried Barley Porridge (Easy & Vegan)

A savoury bowl of curried pearl barley with lentils and peas, resulting in a flavoursome nourishing meal.

A couple of months ago, Eddie and I went camping with a couple of our mates. 

It was the first time in a couple of years we had been camping. 

I love the back-to-basics and being so close to nature. 

In my (limited) experience with camping, I have found it to bring people closer together - technology is limited and there tends to be more human interaction.

I adore playing games around a camp-fire, making simple good food every day and waking in the morning to the great outdoors.

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Jump to:

• 🥘Ingredients
• 🔪Cooking Instructions
• 📝Recipe Notes
• 💭Recipe Tips
• 🥄Serving Suggestions
• 🗒️Recipe variations
• ❓FAQ
• ⚙️Equipment
• 🔖Other One Pot Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Community

During this last camp trip, Eddie and I arrived late in the evening, so our friends graciously cooked dinner, not knowing I had made my famous Lebanese rice vegan recipe. 

They had made us a lovely curried pearl barley porridge. Needless to say, we all happily ate both the rice and porridge.

It had been years since I last had a porridge made with barley, and so guess what - it’s now back on the menu.

I wanted to share my version of this curried barley recipe, I know you’re going to love it, not only for the taste, but also because it’s a one pot recipe!

This barley recipe is vegan friendly. Just a note for those who are gluten-free, barley does naturally contain gluten. For a grain that is gluten free check out how to cook buckwheat.

The kids love to eat this savoury porridge with shredded chicken, which I normally cook the chicken separately and then at the end, stir it through their portions.

🥘Ingredients

• Pearl barley - this can easily be purchased at your local supermarket
• Red lentils
• Peas (frozen)
• Brown onion - diced
• Curry powder - I prefer to use Keens curry powder*
• Vegetable stock - I prefer to use Massel* it's gluten free and plant based.
• Olive Oil - Opt for extra virgin olive oil
• Water - to add at the end (optional)

🔪Cooking Instructions

Step 1 - In a tall pot, heat olive oil over high heat. Add onion and sweat

Step 2 - Add red lentils, pearl barley, vegetable stock and curry powder. Stir contents, cover and bring to the boil. Turn heat to low-med and allow to simmer for about 40 minutes.

Step 3 - Stir through frozen peas and cook for another 5 minutes or until pearl barley is completely soft.

Step 4 - Serve warm

📝Recipe Notes

• Whilst simmering, stir the porridge every five minutes or so, bringing up the bottom to the top
• Optional - to thin the porridge out at the end, add one cup of water and stir through
• Pearl barley will double in size when cooked, so this recipe will feed around 6 people with some left-overs
• The contents of this curry porridge will naturally soften during cooking and fall apart, no blending is needed

💭Recipe Tips

• Use a heavy based pot, as a thin pot will burn the contents
• This barley porridge curry can store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days

🥄Serving Suggestions

Pair this barley recipe with a simple salad such as Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad or some pickles such as my Pickled Vegetables.

🗒️Recipe variations

• Omit peas altogether
• Add diced carrot instead of peas
• Or you can add frozen vegetable trio - peas, carrot and corn
• Try some small pieces of cubed firm tofu

❓FAQ

⚙️Equipment

• Pot
• Ladle

Like this vegan recipe? Let me send you some more like this

🔖Other One Pot Recipes

• Another delicious savoury porridge you must try is my Lebanese lentil porridge 
• Foul Akhdar Bi Zeit vegan green broad beans in extra virgin olive oil
• Heres’s a fragrant yellow split pea dahl curry recipe

📖 Recipe