Barley Salad with Lemon

This barley salad is irresistibly fresh and tasty! Pair the whole grain with crunchy veggies and cover in a lemon and olive oil dressing.

Here’s a unique grain salad that you won’t be able to resist: try Barley Salad! To be fair, barley isn’t often the star in a salad; typically trendier grains like quinoa and farro rein supreme. But this whole grain is absolutely ideal: its chewy texture and nutty flavor are the perfect contrast to crunchy veggies, garlic, herbs, and lemon olive oil dressing. On first bite, we were both smitten…and a bit surprised, honestly: it’s weirdly delicious! It’s our new favorite for cookouts, picnics, and make-ahead lunches.

Ingredients for barley salad

This barley salad is a Mediterranean-style salad featuring crunchy veggies, herbs, feta cheese, lemon and olive oil. It’s quick and simple to put together, with the formula: make the grain, chop the veggies, and add the dressing. You’ll need about 30 minutes and these ingredients to put it together:

Pearl barley: see below for more about types of barley
Garlic
Shallot
Cherry tomatoes
Bell pepper
Fresh herbs: we used parsley and basil
Feta cheese crumbles
Lemon juice and lemon zest
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Types of barley

There are two types of barley you can use for this barley salad: hulled and pearl. The difference is similar to white rice vs brown rice: like brown rice, hulled barley has less of the grain removed. We like using pearl here because it cooks faster, but some people prefer the nutritional profile of hulled. However, the nutritional differences between the two aren’t very significant! Pearl barley is still a great source of protein and fiber.

Hulled barley has just the outer husk of the grain removed, so it has more fiber than the pearl variety. It’s darker in color and takes about 1 hour to cook.
Pearled or pearl barley is the more common form that has the outer husk and bran layers removed. It takes less time to cook, about 30 minutes. It’s still very nutritious.

How to make barley salad: a few tips

This barley salad is quick and easy to mix up! There are just a few things to know:

Spread the cooked barley onto a baking sheet to cool. Spreading out the grains in a single layer makes them cool faster. To speed up the process, you can pop the sheet in the freezer for a few minutes to get the grains to come to room temperature.
You can also cook the barley in advance. Simply refrigerate 1 to 2 days until you’re ready to make the salad.
Use fresh herbs like parsley, basil or other. The easiest is to use all parsley: but you can also use a mix! We used parsley and basil. Other good options are dill or mint.

Storage info

This barley salad keeps well, so it’s perfect for make-ahead lunches or picnics! Store it refrigerated for up to 5 days. The flavor is best right away but tastes great after refrigeration; you may need to revive the flavors with a pinch or two of salt.

More grain salad recipes

Love a good grain salad? Here are a few more ways to make a tasty salad with whole grains:

Grab our Go-To Quinoa Salad
Try a Hearty Farro Salad
Go for a Black Bean & Rice Salad
Opt for Couscous Salad: technically pasta but it acts like a grain!

This barley salad recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.