This easy barley salad with roasted vegetables is a Mediterranean-inspired dish excellent for meal prep, potlucks, and as a nourishing and tasty meal.
The combination of chewy barley, tender caramelized veggies, fresh herbs, and a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon juice make this salad delicious and satisfying.
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Barley is one of the oldest grains cultivated by humans; it has a satisfying chewy texture and slightly nutty flavor that works wonderfully in salads in combination with most vegetables.
Also, barley is a nutrition powerhouse with plenty of fiber, protein, minerals, and vitamins.
Our barley salad is a delicious and satisfying recipe to enjoy this wonderful grain.
It's easy to make, colorful, vibrant, and has a combination of flavors and textures that will remind you of the Mediterranean.
It's perfect as a standalone meal, and you can meal prep it in advance as it keeps well for days.
As usual, use our recipe as a guideline, and feel free to experiment with different veggies, herbs, and condiments depending on what you have available where you live.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Barley
There are two main types of barley you can find in stores. Whole grain barley, sometimes called hulled barley and pearled barley.
You can use both. Whole grain barley takes longer to cook (45 to 60 minutes), and it's more nutritious. Pearled barley is a little less nutritious but still very healthy and cooks faster in about 30 minutes.
Follow the cooking instructions on your package and cook it al dente.
You can substitute wild or brown rice (a good option for gluten-free), farro, buckwheat, couscous, quinoa, and amaranth for barley.
Vegetables
We use zucchini, eggplant, onion, mushrooms, and carrots. We roast these veggies in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt for 30 minutes or until tender and slightly caramelized.
Other vegetables that work well for roasting are cherry tomatoes, fennel, beets, shallots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower, and parsnip.
Fresh herbs
We recommend fresh parsley and fresh basil.
Other good options are dill, chives, mint, fresh cilantro, thyme, and even finely chopped scallions, although not technically a herb.
Sun-dried tomatoes
Sun-dried tomatoes are so tasty and fit perfectly in this salad. Get sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drain them, and chop them in the salad.
You can substitute kalamata olives, capers, marinated artichoke hearts, and pickled cucumber for sun-dried tomatoes.
Condiments
Season the barley salad with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, grated lemon zest, sea salt, and black pepper.
You can substitute red wine vinegar for fresh lemon juice.
Feta cheese
Optionally, you can garnish the barley salad with some crumbled non-dairy feta or Greek feta cheese on top. It's delicious with roasted vegetables and chewy barley.
You can substitute crushed pistachios, almonds, or pine nuts for the feta.
How to make barley salad
Cook the barley
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and season with a half tablespoon of sea salt.
Add barley, reduce heat to a low, and let simmer as per package instructions.
When the barley is tender and chewy, drain it and spread it on a baking sheet to help it cool down without overcooking.
Roast the veggies
While the barley cooks, preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C.
Cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces, add them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and toss them with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Arrange them on a single layer and bake them at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes or until tender and slightly charred.
Mix the barley salad
When the barley has cooled down, transfer it to a large bowl.
Add finely chopped parsley, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper, and toss to combine.
Add the roasted veggies, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and give it a final toss.
Taste and adjust for salt before serving on a platter.
Optionally you can add crumbled feta cheese or non-dairy feta on top and a pinch of za'atar.
Serving suggestions
Barley salad is excellent as a standalone meal because it's nutritious and fulfilling, but you can also serve it as a starter or side dish in smaller portions.
The recipe is excellent for meal prep, picnics, cookouts, barbeques, and potlucks, as it keeps well for days.
Hummus platter with barley salad
Our favorite way of enjoying this salad for lunch or dinner (actually, Louise just had it for breakfast as I am writing this) is on a bed of homemade hummus.
The flavor and texture of blended chickpeas and tahini perfectly complement the barley and roasted veggies.
Also, from a nutrition standpoint, adding a legume like chickpeas makes this recipe even more nutritionally complete.
You can substitute hummus with whole chickpeas and even with fried tofu cubes.
Variations
Barley salad with raw vegetables
Suppose you want to make this barley salad even easier without roasting the vegetables.
In that case, you can choose a combination of raw bell pepper, arugula, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, avocado, and red onion.
Chop the veggies into bite-size pieces, add them to the barley, then season with our Dijon mustard dressing to add a pleasant tang and sweetness that make the veggies pop.
Mediterranean farro salad
Farro is another wholesome and nutritious whole grain perfect for salads and grain bowls. Its texture is similar to barley, so you can easily swap the two.
Check out our Mediterranean farro salad with cumin dressing.
Vegetable couscous salad
Couscous with vegetables is a delicious way of enjoying couscous. You can make This easy recipe in less than 30 minutes with seasonal veggies and herbs.
Serve this dish warm, or make it ahead and serve it cold for a quick lunch.
Check out our couscous with vegetables.
Tips
- Add salt to the cooking water: when cooking barley, the rule of thumb is to salt the boiling water with a small handful of sea salt. Salt will add flavor to the grain, and you'll need less dressing later.
- Cool down on a sheet pan: avoid cooling the barley under cold running water. That will remove a lot of the flavor and texture. Instead, spread it out on a cold baking tray to help it cool down fast.
Questions
Yes. Barley is a whole ancient grain cultivated for over 10000 years. Eating more whole grains and vegetables is the number one recommendation in the scientific community to live a longer and healthier life.
Barley will not only make you strong and fit, but thanks to its dietary fiber content, it will help reduce inflammation in your body.
Although fiber-rich, barley is not free from gluten, so it's not suitable for people with gluten intolerance.
It depends. Whole grain barley and hulled barley can take from 45 minutes to one hour. Pearled barley (which is still a very healthy choice) takes about 30 minutes.
To speed up the cooking time of whole grain barley, you could soak it in water overnight; this will save you about 10 minutes of cooking time. However, pearled barley does not require soaking.
To be sure, check the package instructions and taste the barley to ensure it's ready.
Storage
Make ahead: barley salad is an excellent recipe to make ahead and for meal prep as it keeps well for days, and the flavor melds as the salad sits in the fridge.
Refrigerator: keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Take it from the refrigerator 15 minutes before eating it, as the flavors are best at room temperature.
Freezing: we don't recommend freezing this recipe. However, you can freeze cooked barley for up to 3 months. To do so, let the barley cool down completely, then transfer it to a freezer-friendly bag and freeze it.
More Grain Salads
If you liked this veggie-packed barley salad, you might also enjoy our other salad recipes. Serve them for lunch, dinner, and cookouts:
For many more salad ideas, check out our salads category page.
Recipe
Barley Salad
Ingredients
To cook the barley
- 1 cup pearled barley uncooked
- ½ gallon water to cook the barley
- ½ tablespoon salt to season the cooking water
Other ingredients
- 1 (9 ounces) zucchini diced
- 1 (13 ounces) eggplant diced
- 1 (4 ounces) onion sliced
- 1 (4 ounces) carrot diced
- 7 ounces mushrooms halved
- 4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes diced
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 10 leaves basil chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon to roast the veggies
- 1 large lemon the juice and grated zest
- 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 ounces feta cheese or non-dairy feta
Instructions
- Bring ½ gallon water to a boil, and season with ½ tablespoon salt.Add 1 cup pearled barley, reduce heat to a low, and let simmer as per package instructions (usually 30 minutes).When the barley is tender and chewy, drain it and spread it on a baking sheet to help it cool down without overcooking.
- While the barley cooks, preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C.Cut zucchini, eggplant, carrot, and mushrooms into bite size pieces and thinly slice the onion. Add veggies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and toss them with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
- Arrange them on a single layer and bake them at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes or until tender and slightly charred.
- When the barley has cooled down, transfer it to a large bowl.Add finely chopped parsley, basil, grated lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper, and toss to combine.
- Add the roasted veggies, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and give it a final toss.
- Taste and adjust for salt before serving on a platter.Optionally you can add crumbled feta or non-dairy feta on top and a pinch of za'atar.
Notes
Nutritional Values
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Linda
Perfetto!!
Nico
💕