5.0 from 3 votes

This zesty and refreshing barley salad is loaded with cucumber and parsley and mixed together with a creamy lemon vinaigrette.

Large bowl and side dish of barley cucumber tomato and parsley

Barley. Sounds sort of… rustic? Old school? Blah? I don’t know. I do know I’ve never cooked with it before making this dish and it certainly wouldn’t have crossed my mind as the ingredient to pick for.. anything really. HOWEVER, now that I have … I am here for it!! The texture of barley is fun, reminds me of pearled couscous, but a bit chewier. In and of itself, it does not have a distinct flavor. It’s a great carrier of the ingredients you mix it with, making it a great choice for salads, bowls, soups, etc. This Barley & Cucumber Salad is a perfect cold side dish filled with crunchy cucumber, a refreshing punch of fresh parsley and all mixed together with a tangy and zesty lemon vinaigrette.

What You Probably Didn’t Know About Barley

Barley is a heart-healthy food, reducing blood pressure and lowering cholesterol. It also has the highest fiber content of all whole grains! Most of the barley you find in typical food stores is pearled – a process that does strip barley of some of its nutrients (therefore not a whole grain) – but it’s still a better choice of refined grain than others. FYI the more tan the pearled barley, the better. For the information geeks like me, you can read more about barley here.

Tips for Making Barley & Cucumber Salad

First things first, start cooking your barley before anything else. Get your water boiling and cook the barley according to the package directions. It takes some time but requires little attention so you can gather the rest of your ingredients, prep/chop the herbs and veggies, and make your vinaigrette while it’s cooking. Once the barley is cooked and has had time to cool, you can quickly toss everything together.

In this recipe, I include a tomato because tomatoes and cucumbers just go together in my book. However, tomatoes are not loved by all in my household so they are on my Picky Eater list. When chopped small enough and thoroughly incorporated into a dish, the hubby is sometimes willing to eat them (as is the case in this dish! Hallelujah!) But honestly, you won’t miss them flavor-wise, so if you have a picky-eater, you can easily skip the tomato and not worry.

Let the barley salad cool in the fridge for a couple hours so all the flavors come together. This is definitely one of those dishes you can make the day before to save you time! If you’re going to make this as a dinner side dish then just scale down the recipe to your needs OR go ahead and do the full version and use the leftovers to make some lunch bowls with chopped chicken or shrimp. Meal prep for the win!

Also.. you can easily freeze cooked barley for future meals. If you’d like, make the full bag/box of barley now and just scale down the rest of the ingredients for this particular dish. Use half or a quarter of the barley (depending on how much you want to eat) and portion the rest into storage bags, placing them into the freezer in flat layers for easier storage and quicker reheating.

The fresh citrusy flavors of this Barley & Cucumber Salad pair perfectly with grilled chicken, steak, or these yummy kafta kabobs.