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Pearl barley with stew in a slow cooker

Barley with Braised Meat in a Slow Cooker

A simple barley dinner made in the slow cooker. Cooking in a slow cooker is always easy and tasty, and letting it handle the barley saves you time. This porridge with braised meat comes out fragrant and filling.

Anna

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Pearl barley

Braised canned meat (1 can)

340

Onion

Carrots

Salt

Ground black pepper

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 20 % 10 g

Fats 30 % 15 g

Carbohydrates 50 % 25 g

275 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make barley with braised meat in a slow cooker? Prepare your ingredients. Any canned braised meat will work — go with homemade or a brand you trust. Before cooking, pick through the barley and rinse it in warm water. It helps to soak the grain in cold water first to cut down the cooking time — soak it for 2–3 hours (use 2 to 2.5 quarts of water per 2 pounds of grain). The weight given is for the barley before soaking.
Step 2:

Set the slow cooker to the "Sauté" setting. Carefully open the can of braised meat and mash the contents with a fork. Put the meat into the insert and sauté it with the lid open, stirring constantly, for about five minutes.
Step 3:

Wash and peel the carrot and onion. Grate the carrot on the coarse side of a grater and chop the onion however you like. Add the vegetables to the insert and sauté them with the lid open for about 10 minutes. Don't forget to stir.
Step 4:

Add the rinsed barley to the insert. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste and stir.
Step 5:

Pour in 2 cups (500 ml) of hot water, close the lid, and set the "Stew" or "Porridge" mode for 1 hour. When the time is up, turn off the cooker and let the barley sit in the insert for another 10–15 minutes. You can switch it to the "Keep Warm" setting.
Step 6:

Serve the barley and braised meat hot, garnished with fresh herbs if you like. This hearty porridge goes well with a fresh vegetable salad and some bread.

This recipe makes a simple but very filling dinner. Barley normally takes a long time to cook, but a slow cooker trims that down a bit. There's no reason to cut this wholesome grain out of your diet, and recipes that make it genuinely tasty are easy to find. This is one of those dishes where barley really shines as a main. Kids tend to enjoy this barley with braised meat too, especially if they already like it.
Tip: for barley dishes that always turn out well, read up on how to choose and cook barley the right way.
Keep in mind that the cooking time and setting given here are approximate. Every slow cooker works a little differently, and even identical models from the same brand can have their own quirks. Before you make a new dish in yours, read the manual, then start by cooking dishes you already know before moving on to new ones, dialing in the setting and time for your own machine.