This barley Greek salad is packed with fresh, bright Mediterranean flavors and vegetables, just like your favorite classic Greek salad. Fresh cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, balanced with the punch and zest of olives, onions and feta, make for a delicious salad! The Instant Pot speeds up the cooking time for the barley, making this an easy weekday lunch. This salad is so flavorful you will forget that it is healthy, too!
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👩🏽🍳Why This Recipe Works
A great way to use different grains: Barley is a highly underrated grain, let's be honest. This Greek salad gives barley the recognition it deserves, and is a great way to explore different, less trendy, grains in a salad.
Easy, pantry vinaigrette: The vinaigrette is nothing fancy, but packs a punch. With simple pantry staples, you can make a tangy, savory vinaigrette in a measuring cup, or even a mason jar. If you love simply dressed salads, you'll want to add this fresh lentil tabbouleh salad to your lunch rotation, too!
Completely customizable: While this recipe uses common Greek salad ingredients, you can add in whatever produce or ingredients you have on hand or need to use up! Barley is a blank canvas, and will go great with just about whatever you toss in.
🥘Ingredients
- Pearl barley: Pearl barley has the husk and outer bran removed. It is not necessarily considered a whole grain, but it is still extremely filling.
- Chicken broth: Cooking the barley in chicken broth adds another element of flavor to the salad.
- Greek feta: Greek feta is often made with a mix of sheeps and goats milk. It is the perfect balance between creamy and tangy.
- Vegetables: Grape tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, red onions, and kalamata olives. These are classic elements of a greek salad, which I also happen to love in this salad!
- Dressing: Olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, oregano and mustard powder. This dressing is heavy on the tang!
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖Substitutions
- Pearl barley: You can use farro, similar to my mediterranean farro salad, or quinoa in place of barley.
- Chicken broth: Keep the recipe vegetarian with vegetable stock, or just water.
- Red wine vinegar: Lemon juice will work well in place of red wine vinegar.
- Mustard powder: Regular dijon mustard is a good substitution for dried mustard.
🔪Variations
- Meat: You can add grilled shrimp, canned tuna or garlicky grilled chicken to this salad to add some extra protein.
- Legumes: Add in some chickpeas to add in some extra legumes and nutrition to the salad.
- Herby: Add in some fresh dill or mint, for a bright and herby twist!
⏲️Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all your ingredients - This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Chop your ingredients - Dice the cucumber and red onion, quarter the grape tomatoes, and pit and roughly chop the kalamata olives.
Cook the barley in the Instant Pot with chicken broth, and a little bit of salt, for 15 minutes on HI pressure. Quick release once the cooking time is up. [photo 1]
While the barley is cooking, mix together the dressing ingredients in a measuring cup or a mason jar. Because this dressing uses powdered mustard instead of liquid mustard, it may not emulsify completely - that is fine.
Once the pressure is released, transfer the barley to a large mixing bowl. While the barley is still hot, add the dressing to the barley and stir. Let the barley sit in the dressing for 5-10 minutes. [photo 2]
Add the vegetables and feta to the barley, and combine. Serve room temperature or chilled. [photos 3 & 4]
💭Expert Tip
If you do not have an Instant Pot, you can still make the barley on the stove. It will take approximately 30 minutes for the barley to cook, using a 1:3 ratio.
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
Make Ahead Instructions
You can make the barley 3-4 days in advance, and store in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
The dressing for this salad can also be mixed and stored in the fridge up to one week in advance. Store in a mason jar or a sealed container, to keep it fresh.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover salad in an airtight container for 2-3 days. It will get better as it sits! Be mindful that the vegetables may soften, especially the cucumbers.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
Both barley and farro are great grain choices, but the main difference is their size and color. The two are interchangeable, and farro is slightly quicker cooking than barley.
Yes - you can freeze barley just as you would freeze rice or any other grains. Reheat in the microwave, or on the stove.
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Barley Greek Salad {Instant Pot Barley}
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup Pearl barley
- 1 cup Chicken broth
- ½ English cucumber - deseeded and diced
- 1 cup grape tomatoes - quartered
- ¼ Red onion - finely diced
- ¼ cup Kalamata olives - pitted and chopped
- 1 cup Greek feta cheese - crumbled
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- ¼ cup Red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Mustard powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the barley: Cook the barley in the Instant Pot with chicken broth, and a little bit of salt, for 15 minutes on HI pressure. Quick release once the cooking time is up.½ cup Pearl barley, 1 cup Chicken broth
- Make the dressing: While the barley is cooking, mix together the dressing ingredients in a measuring cup or a mason jar. Because this dressing uses powdered mustard instead of liquid mustard, it may not emulsify completely - that is fine.¼ cup Olive oil, ¼ cup Red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Mustard powder, Salt and pepper to taste
- Dress the barley: Once the pressure is released, transfer the barley to a large mixing bowl. While the barley is still hot, add the dressing to the barley and stir. Let the barley sit in the dressing for 5-10 minutes.
- Finish the salad: Add the vegetables and feta to the barley, and combine. Serve room temperature or chilled.½ English cucumber, 1 cup grape tomatoes, ¼ Red onion, ¼ cup Kalamata olives, 1 cup Greek feta cheese
✱Recipe Notes
- If you do not have an Instant Pot, you can still make the barley on the stove. It will take approximately 30 minutes for the barley to cook, using a 1:3 ratio.
This recipe was originally published in November, 2020. It was updated in March, 2022 to include process shots, detailed instructions and tips for making the best barley Greek salad every single time!
Rachael says
So tasty! Made exactly as instructed. The dressing seemed like a lot at first but the barley and vegetables soaked it up and balanced everything. Will definitely make again.
Sunena Anand says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Rachael! It is one my favorites, especially when the weather starts to get warmer 🙂
Kathy says
I made this recipe minus the olives and mustard powder(didn’t have them). Was so good. I love this! I will make this again
Sunena Anand says
I am so happy to hear that, Kathy! It is one of my favorites 🙂
Jess says
Yum! I have just started getting into barley and I love it! I was so glad to stumble across this recipe! I added a can of chick peas to mine to allow it to go for the entire week as I made it for meal prep plan. The only other changes I made were to omit the olives (I am just not a fan no matter how hard I try!) and I did add a dollop of honey to the dressing. It’s delicious!
Sunena Anand says
I am so happy to hear that, Jess! Barley is so underrated 🙂
Mary says
Delicious salad! We served it over chopped romaine lettuce and ate it on the deck on the first warm spring day. We will make it again.