I grew up eating this Baked Barley with Mushrooms and I always looked forward to it on chilly winter nights. It’s a simple dish made with pearled barley cooked in a flavorful mix of vegetable broth, butter, and mushrooms for an extra umami kick. Plus, it cooks mostly in the oven, leaving your hands and attention available to tend to other things. It’s a nice alternative to plain rice for meals like pot roast, brisket, baked pork chops, or any roasted or braised meat. Those hearty little grains are perfect for soaking up every last drop of your pan drippings!
What Kind of Baking Dish to Use
You’ll need some sort of baking dish with a tight-fitting lid, like a Dutch oven, because if the steam from the broth is not held inside as it bakes, the barley will not cook through. I used an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven that was probably a little too big for the scale of this recipe, but it still turned out great. The recipe makes about four cups, so something in the 2-3 quart size range is probably ideal. Glass, ceramic, or cast iron will all work as long as it has a tight-fitting lid.
If your baking dish is not safe for use on the stovetop, simply use a skillet for the first couple of steps (sautéing the mushrooms), then transfer to the baking dish when adding the barley and broth.
What is Pearled Barley?
It’s very important that you use pearled barley for this recipe. Pearled barley is whole barley grains that have had the outer husk removed and are then are polished to remove some or all of the outer bran. The resulting grain is tender and chewy once cooked, and doesn’t take quite as long to cook as hulled barley. You can usually find pearled barley near the dry rice and beans in the grocery store, or near other specialty grains.
I used the Bob’s Redmill brand, which is slightly less polished than other brands that I’ve used and it resulted in a slightly more firm grain.
Add More Vegetables
This recipe is pretty flexible and you can experiment with adding more hearty vegetables, like carrot, celery, onion, turnip, or rutabega. I suggest dicing the vegetables and sautéing them briefly with the mushrooms before adding the remaining ingredients.
What to Serve with Baked Barley
This baked barley would go awesome with something like Creamy Mushroom Chicken with Crispy Onions, Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew, or pot roast.
Baked Barley with Mushrooms
Servings 4 1 cup eachIngredients
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.49)
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.40)
- 1 cup pearled barley ($0.57)
- 2 cups vegetable broth ($0.26)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional) ($0.10)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Mince the garlic and slice the mushrooms
- Add the garlic, mushrooms, and butter to a Dutch oven. Sauté over medium heat until the mushrooms have softened.
- Add the barley, vegetable broth, thyme and freshly cracked pepper to the dutch oven. Stir to combine, place the lid on top, and transfer to the oven. Bake the barley for one hour.
- After baking for one hour, stir the barley to fluff it up. Give the barley a taste and adjust the salt or pepper to your liking. Top with chopped fresh parsley just before serving.
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Equipment
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How to Make Baked Barley with Mushrooms – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Add 4 Tbsp butter, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 8oz. sliced mushrooms to a pot. Sauté over medium heat until the mushrooms have softened.
This is what the pearled barley looks like. As mentioned above, this is Bob’s Redmill brand, which appears to be less polished than other generic brands I’ve used in the past. Pearled barley often looks very white, so this barley still has a considerable amount of bran left intact. Because of that, the grains were a little more firm this time around. Either way, it still tasted great!
Add one cup pearled barley, ½ tsp dried thyme, a little freshly cracked black pepper (⅛ tsp), and 2 cups vegetable broth to the pot. Stir briefly to combine.
Place a lid on the pot and transfer it to the oven. Bake the barley in the 350ºF oven for one hour.
After baking it will look like this–the mushrooms will have risen to the top, fully covering the barley.
Give the barley a good stir. Taste the barley and add salt or pepper if desired.
Top with chopped parsley just before serving.
I could only find 10-minute barley (“pre-cooked”). Any ideas on how to adjust the recipe so that I can use this?
With quick cooking barley you probably won’t even need to bake it. You can do the whole thing on the stove top (quickly!). Sauté the garlic and mushrooms in butter just as I did here (but in a sauce pot), then cook the barley in that pot according to the package directions. Substitute broth for the water listed on the package instructions. I’ve never had quick cooking barley, so hopefully it’s good like the regular kind!
I didn’t see this comment until now, but I actually followed your recipe with the 10-minute barley and it turned out great! I did cook it for about half the time, though. So so yummy, and it makes tons so I munch on the leftovers throughout the week :)
Thanks for the recipe! I might even try the way you advised next time to see if I can make it a bit quicker.
Awesome! Good to know it works. :)
I really enjoyed this. I’ve only had barley in soups before. Only used 1T EVOO, as I am watching my cholesterol. Very nice, I would make again.
FYI Olive oil does not have cholesterol in it, cholesterol is only in animal products. EVOO actually reduces your bad cholesterol, and helps raise the good cholesterol. If you’re watching calories you should limit your EVOO, but it can’t affect your cholesterol.
This is really good, filling and so easy to make. I doubled the recipe a added onions, carrots and celery. I also used fresh thyme and it was pretty good! Will try to freeze leftovers see how it turns out. Thanks for this easy and simple but so satisfying recipe!
Can you freeze this in serving sizes? Sounds delicious!
Yes, definitely!
Just wanted to drop a line and say how great this dish is! I make a very similar barley risotto with mushrooms and white beans, and though this was a little bit less creamy, I didn’t have to stand at the stove for 45 minutes and got to snuggle with my toddler instead.
I didn’t really change much…probably added more garlic, 16oz of mushrooms and a can of drained, rinsed cannellini beans, and Herbs de Provence for the seasoning (because it’s what I had on hand tonight). Fantastic! My toddler (who has been so picky lately!) had seconds!
Do you think this would work with wheat berries or rye berries? I have a 5 gallon bucket of each from my parents farm!
You know, I’m not sure. I think wheat berries and rye berries still have the hull on them, which makes them take longer to cook (just like brown rice as opposed to white rice), but pearled barley has no hull. So, I’m sure at the very least the cooking time (and maybe liquid amount) would be different.
I am totally making this tonight in preparation of ICEMAGEDON 2014!! lol. None of my casseroles have a lid, so do you think foil would be okay?
Yep, just make sure it’s tight around the edges. If too much steam escapes the barley will not get soft enough.
I made this with a broiled flank steak and Parmesan baked asparagus for my dad and his girlfriend when they came to visit. They both loved it, even my dad’s girlfriend who doesn’t like mushrooms, so it’s my new “fancy, for guests” meal. My husband also absolutely loves this dish. It has a very hearty, “earthy” flavor that goes really well with red meats.
I think this is the first thing from your website I have made and haven’t liked :( it came out rather bland. Oh well!
This is very good. I made a double batch last night cooked in beef broth. I also added diced caramelized onions and carrots. I don’t have a dutch oven or covered casserole dish so I used a 9×13 baking dish covered with foil and it worked out very well. Thank you for the recipe.
I’ve made this twice now and it’s amazing both how delicious it is and how easy it is to prep and make. This will be a great vegetarian dish to make at Thanksgiving!
Just tried this- it’s really amazing! Thanks for giving me an alternative to always having pasta or rice. It was pretty easy to make, too.
With a few adjustments I give this recipe 5 stars – added caramelized onions and a couple thinly sliced carrots; Used mushroom base (Better then Bouillon) instead of veggie; would add a little salt and pepper next time. SO GOOD! My guests went for seconds.
I made this last night and it’s so good! I added some carmelized onions and accidentally forgot the thyme but the depth of flavor is surprising for something that was so simple to make. Thanks Beth!
So… I made this tonight, but made a few changes. I threw in the shredded carrots, and also added half a can of corn and some diced chicken, and subbed chicken broth for the vegetable broth. Oh my gosh… my whole house smells yummy and the food tastes even yummier!