If you’re looking for a warm and filling breakfast, this 1-pot barley porridge might just be your answer. Made with barley, cashews, shredded coconut, and raisins, and spiced with cardamom and ginger, this porridge is hearty, fragrant, and comforting. What better way to start your day?
The Ingredients
1-Pot Barley Porridge is made with pot barley, a slightly nutty, chewy grain. Barley does contain gluten, so this is not a recipe for those that are gluten-free.
The other ingredients are cashew milk, coconut milk, cashews, shredded coconut, raisins, vanilla, and spices: cardamom and ginger. There’s no sugar in this recipe, but if you like you can use your favourite sweetener, along with some extra milk for serving.
Types of Barley: Hulled, Pot, Pearl
The 3 main types of barley you might come across are hulled, aka hull-less, pearl barley, and pot barley. Hulled barley is minimally processed, with only the outer hull removed. Both pot and pearl barley go through a pearling machine which removes the hull and polishes the barley kernel. Pearled barley goes through the pearling machine for longer, so it is the most processed. Both hulled and pearl barley need be be soaked and even with soaking the cooking time will be longer. Pot barley does not require soaking and cooks faster, that’s the type we recommend using for this recipe.
Figuring Out What Type of Barley You Have
If you buy your barley in a bulk bin, it might not be labelled very specifically. You can use the image below to identify the type of barley you have. If you don’t have pot barley, you can still make the porridge, you’ll just have to soak the grain first and cook it for longer, see the image below and the notes in the Recipe Card for more information.
Making 1-Pot Barley Porridge
This is a straightforward recipe that comes together in one pot in two simple steps.
Step 1
The first step is to cook the barley in water for about 25 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed.
Step 2
Next, you’ll add the remaining ingredients: the cashew and coconut milks, the shredded coconut, raisins, chopped cashews, vanilla, and the spices.
Let this simmer for another 25 minutes or so, until the porridge is creamy and the barley is soft and chewy. If the barley is still too chewy for you, add about 1/4 cup more liquid (your choice of milk or water), simmer until it’s been absorbed and test again. You can repeat this if necessary, it’s hard to overcook barley, so don’t be too concerned if you have to do this.
Making 1-Pot Barley Porridge for Mixed Groups
The recipe as written is vegan. If you’ve vegetarian, you can swap the cashew milk for regular dairy milk. If you’re cooking for mixed groups, make the porridge vegan and offer both plant-based and dairy milk for serving.
Other Breakfast Ideas
- Dairy-Free Fruit Parfait
- 1-Bowl Donut Peach Scones
- Pear Zucchini Bread
- Blood Orange Breakfast Salad
- Moon Milk Farina
Recipe Card: 1-Pot Barley Porridge
1-Pot Barley Porridge
and raisins, and spiced with cardamom and ginger, this 1-pot Barley Porridge is both hearty
and comforting.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pot barley
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup cashew milk (or sub your favourite plant-milk, or dairy if you are not vegan/dairy-free)
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk (not the milk substitute kind, the thicker coconut milk that's typically found in a can)
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/4 cup chopped cashews
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
For serving
- milk of choice
- sweetener of choice
- shredded toasted coconut (Place coconut on baking sheet and toast under broiler for a few minutes until golden brown.)
- fresh fruit, such as blueberries, peaches, mango, plums
Instructions
- Combine the barley and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium low and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed.
- Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the barley is soft and chewy and the porridge is creamy.
- Serve topped with your choice of milk and sweetener, toasted coconut, and seasonal fruit, such as blueberries, peaches, mango, or plums.
Notes
Make Ahead
You can make this porridge ahead and reheat it with some additional milk.ÂStorage
The porridge will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days in a well-sealed container.Using Other Types of Barley
If you are not sure what type of barley you have, see the image in the main section which shows pot barley, pearl barley and hulled/hull-less barley. If you have either pearl barley or hulled barley, soak the barley overnight (soak 1/2 cup barley in 1 1/4 cup water), drain it, and then using fresh water, cook it for the 45-60 minutes before doing step 2 of the recipe above.ÂNutritional Information
Nutritional information is an estimate only and does not include optional toppings. ÂNutrition
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10 comments
Healthy, delicious and filling!
Awesome! So happy you liked it!
Magnificent
Thank you!
If you have pearl barley, is there a way to prepare this using a pressure cooker that would enable you to leave out the overnight disk
Hi Melanie – I don’t have a pressure cooker to test this, but I did find a recipe from another blogger that looks like you can: How to Cook Barley in an Instant Pot. Let me know how it goes if you try it. It really is a delicious way to eat barley!
I made the barley in my instant pot following the recipe you linked. The only change I made was to swap in 1.5 cups of unsweetened vanilla cashew milk for some of the water. It was delicious! I typed with roasted almonds, blueberries and Cinnamon
Happy to hear it was delicious! Would love it if you could leave a rating next time, as it helps other readers find the recipe.
Super delicious, and filling! This will be a staple in our house now.
Thank you Melanie! So glad you’re enjoying it!