Cooking barley (pearl or hulled) in an instant pot or pressure cooker is the fastest, easiest way to cook this heart-healthy grain to fluffy perfection in only 20 minutes! Use cooked barley as you would rice or oatmeal- in salads, for breakfast, and all kinds of recipes.
Barley is a nutty, earthy grain with a wonderful flavor and chewy texture that’s really inexpensive. It’s packed full of soluble fiber and nutrients, making it a heart healthy grain. It’s kind of an in-between of oats and rice – more versatile and less slimy/mushy than oats, and more hearty and nutritious than rice.
I love using barley to make all kinds of things, but one drawback is that it takes a long time to cook. Enter: the Instant Pot!
Barley can take up to an hour to cook on the stovetop. But if you use a pressure cooker, it will only take 20-25 minutes of completely hands-off time (plus the time it takes to come to pressure). No stirring, just the instant pot working its magic while you live your life.
You can make a batch of barley and store it in your fridge for a few days, using it throughout the week in recipes that are very quick if you already have the barley cooked.
Here’s how to cook barley in an instant pot, including both pearled AND hulled barley, as well as the differences between the two and recipe ideas.
What is the difference between pearled and hulled barley?
Pearled, or pearl, barley is barley that has been processed more by removing the outer hull. In this way, it’s similar to white rice or white flour.
Hulled barley is barley that still has its outer layer, and is the “whole grain” version of barley, like brown rice or whole wheat flour.
Pearl barley takes less time to cook and has a more neutral flavor than hulled. Hulled barley takes longer and has a more firm, nutty flavor.
But here’s my favorite part- pearl barley, even though not considered a whole grain, is MUCH more nutritious than other processed grains. It still packs a lot of nutrients and fiber. Hulled barley is more nutritious and has more fiber, but both are beneficial.
I used pearl barley to make this recipe, and that is what’s pictured in the photographs. But it’s so easy to adapt this method to cook hulled barley as well.
How to cook barley in an Instant Pot
You only need barley (pearled or hulled) and water to cook barley in a pressure cooker. I also recommend adding a little salt and oil for the best flavor and fluffy texture. Here’s how to do it.
- First, add the barley to your Instant Pot. If you are using hulled barley, rinse it off first in a colander under running water- this will help get rid of some of the bitter flavor.
- Then, add water, a pinch of salt, and a little oil to the pressure cooker. I used extra-virgin olive oil, as I do in 99% of my recipes, but you can use another kind if you prefer.
- Close your pressure cooker lid and make sure it’s sealed properly.
- Set your Instant Pot to high, manual pressure for 20 minutes for pearled barley (25 minutes for hulled barley).
- Once it’s done, quick release the sealing vent (I like to use a wooden spoon or spatula to do this, as it can be quite alarming and loud!). Wait for the float valve to depress before you open it.
- Fluff with a fork or spoon and you’re done!
What kind of pressure cooker to use
I used a 6 qt. Instant Pot to make this, but you can use any other pressure cooker you want. This recipe only makes about 3 cups of cooked barley, so you can use a mini Instant pot if you want.
How to store cooked barley
Store cooked barley in your refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Store cooked barley in your freezer in an airtight bag with as much air squeezed out as possible for up to 3 months. Defrost before using, or add directly to soups and stews.
Recipes to use cooked barley
- Spinach and Barley Arancini
- Barley and Lentil Salad
- Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables and Barley (from The Mediterranean Dish)
- Herb Mushroom Barley (from Fifteen Spatulas)
- Breakfast Barley with Fruit and Nuts (from The Lemon Bowl)
- Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms
- Summer Barley Salad (from Kristine’s Kitchen)
- Egyptian Barley Salad with Pomegranate and Feta
Other Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
- Instant Pot Fish Stew
- Instant Pot Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa with Cheese
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
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Instant Pot Barley
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearl barley (see notes for hulled)
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
Instructions
- Add the barley (1 cup), water (2 cups), salt (1/4 teaspoon), and olive oil (1 tablespoon) to your pressure cooker. Stir together.
- Make sure the vent is set to "sealed." Cover the pressure cooker and set the pressure to manual, high, for 20 minutes.
- When the time is up, quick release the pressure by using a wooden spoon (or something similar) to change the vent from "sealed" to "venting."
- Once the float valve has depressed and it's safe to open, open the pressure cooker and fluff barley with a fork.
Notes
- To use hulled barley, follow the same instructions but rinse the barley under cool water in a colander before adding to the instant pot, use 2.5 cups of water, and set the time to 25 minutes instead of 20.
- The instructions used to say 2.5 cups water, but I changed it to 2 because of lots of reader feedback that there was liquid left. I think brand, size, and age of the barley has a lot to do with this – if you have any extra liquid left, you can just drain it out like you would pasta!
Robyn
Bummer – followed the recipe for hulled barley and ended up with tons of water still in the pot
Elizabeth Lindemann
So frustrating – sorry you had this experience! You’re not the first person to bring this up and I’ll say that I think brand of barley might have something to do with it. I used quaker. I’m going to add a recipe note about this right now, and I’m going to experiment with different brands to test the theory. Thanks for bringing this up. For you, or anyone else who runs into this issue, you can just drain the water out like you would with pasta and it should be good to go!
Esteban
Yooooooo this is WAY too much liquid by double. Unless you want bad soup!
Elizabeth Lindemann
I recently updated the recipe instructions to reflect using less liquid due to user feedback like this. For you, or anyone else who runs into this issue, you can salvage the barley by just draining it like you would pasta! Hope that helps.
Cori
Grain Place Foods Organic Hulled Barley. 6 qt Instant Pot. Way too much liquid and not cooked at 25 minutes.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Good to know for that brand! Thanks for sharing.
Cat
If it helps anyone else, I just cooked 1 cup of Bob’s Red Mill pearled barley in 1 1/4 cups liquid for 25 min + 5 min quick release, and it was just about perfect. I used a 3qt Instant Pot.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thank you for sharing these tips!
Christina
I used Bob’s Red Mill pearl barley. Unfortunately, there was about a cup too much water and it was extremely soupy. I’ll try again with a lesser amount of water next time.
Elizabeth Lindemann
This is great to know for the specific brand Bob’s Red Mill – thanks for sharing! Next time I make this I’ll try out that brand and see if I can troubleshoot this issue a bit more.
Lynn Evans
Very successful. Needed a bit more cook time (which I did using the Slow Cook button) to fully absorb the water. Made even better by adding some roasted lamb bones to cooking, and then bits of leftover lamb and roasted veggies (garlic, carrots, potatoes, and celery) at the end.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh wow love the idea of using roasted lamb bones to boost the flavor for this! Glad you liked it :-)
Your Favorite Vegan
My barley turned out great! I decided to pass on the oil and I used veggie broth instead of salt. The ratio between water and barley was perfect. Thanks so much! :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad this worked well for you!
Raymond
This recipe calls for way too much water. I ended up with barley soup, not barley!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Sorry you had a frustrating experience! I find barley can be a bit finicky but this ratio works well for the pearl barley that I used. Factors that might have caused this are 1) age of the barley (older grains and beans take longer to cook sometimes than fresh), 1) the kind and size of barley (I used Quaker medium pearl barley- using hulled or a larger size will definitely affect it), and 3) potentially the pressure cooker settings were off or could work a little differently depending on brand and make.
Hope that helps and if you try it again or anyone else reading this has this problem, taste the barley to see if it’s tender, and if it is just set the pressure cooker to “sauté” and let the water evaporate out for a little while, or just drain the barley in a mesh sieve. If it’s not cooked yet, just add a few more minutes to the time and cook for a little longer.
Debby
I followed the instructions exactly but ended up with lots of liquid left and I felt like the barley wasn’t quite done. I just cooked it a few minutes on saute and poured off the remaining liquid, but I’m wondering if 2 cups of water and 21-22 minutes would work better.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks for this feedback, and I’m glad you were able to make it work by using sauté and pouring off the remaining liquid! I do have a couple of thoughts about why this might have happened. First, for the instructions above, do make certain you’re using pearl barley, not hulled (as pearl takes a shorter time to cook). That said, there are a few things that might affect how long it would take to cook pearl barley. For one thing, the age of the grain may affect cooking time. Also, different brands may have variations in the size of the grain, which also may affect the time. And different brands of pressure cookers, or even different kinds of Instant Pots, may also affect the time slightly. I’d recommend if this happens to you again or anyone else, to just put the lid back on the IP and set it to 1-2 minutes longer at high pressure to see if that helps.
Eric
Same here. Way too much liquid
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks for this feedback! My instincts tell me that there is probably a lot of variation between different brands of barley (age, size, etc.) that would affect this, but I’ll make sure to double check next time I make this that the liquid is the right amount. For you, or anyone else reading this who has extra liquid- as long as the barley is cooked through, you can just drain it like you would pasta in a colander. Hope that helps!
Karrie Fox
I did 2 cups of liquid (one stock and one water) to one cup of pearl barley for 22 minutes and it was perfect.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad this worked well for you!
Joni Solis
I have presoaked hulled barley wouldn’t need less time than the unsoaked barley? How much less time? thank you
Elizabeth Lindemann
This is a great question, and it’s tough to answer, but I’ll try! I haven’t tried this myself, though soaking hulled barley is a great way to reduce cooking time in general. I would try following the same time and liquid amount as indicated for pearl barley (drain and rinse the soaked barley first). If there is any liquid leftover but the barley is fully cooked after the 20 minutes, just drain it. If you try it, I’d love to know how it comes out!
Joni Solis
Yes, I cooked it (2 cups of soaked and rinsed barley and water) for 20 minutes and then rinsed the barley in a strainer with cold water to cool it down some and then drained it and put in in containers to put most of it in the freezer and refrigerator. It came out good. I eat it like rice with different meals and for desert with some maple syrup and peanut butter power mixed in it. – delicious!