Barley Water Recipe (Stovetop & Instant Pot)

Barley Water is a traditional health drink made by boiling barley grains in water. The liquid is then strained out and sometimes lightly sweetened with sugar or honey, or flavored with lemon. Barley water, with its mild, nutty flavor, is cherished for its cooling properties, hydrating effects, and support for digestion. Although known in India, the UK, and parts of Asia, it is often made occasionally – especially during summers or when needed for health reasons; rather than being a daily beverage in most households today.

About Barley Water

Barley water is a drink that has been consumed around the world for millennia. While it may sound strange, the fact that it has several thousand year staying power should indicate how delicious it truly is!

It is a healthy, cooling drink loaded with nutrients. Excellent for the body during summer, this beverage hydrates, nourishes, detoxes and cools. Here I show you how easy it is to make this ancient healing elixir at home in three ways.

To make Barley water, barley grains are simply simmered in water, then the cooking water is flavored with citrus (preferably lemon) and a touch of sugar or salt.

The nutrients from the whole grain are released into the water, providing vitamins and nutrients that are essential to the body’s functions.

You can think of lemon barley water as the original sport’s drink, intended to help the body naturally recover from activity, illness or exposure.

Once you taste how refreshing and yummy this drink is, I believe you’ll have a difficult time reaching for any of the dye and HFCS laden “functional beverages” that the large soda corporations push for profit.

Why Homemade

Barley water has been one of my favorite drinks since childhood. It is the perfect way to refresh and revive the body during Indian hot summers.

I used to buy bottles and bottles of this yummy beverage, but later in life I started to make my own lemon barley water.

While you can certainly buy pre-packaged barley water, it is so easy (and much cheaper & healthier!) to make your own. I have been wanting to share this healthy lemon flavored drink recipe for a long time.

The concept of this healing beverage is simple: just rinse, soak and then cook barley in water until the barley releases all of the nutrients and antioxidants into the water.

You can use a pot, Instant pot or stovetop pressure cooker. In this barley water recipe post, I share all three ways of making this easy tonic at home.

Types of Barley

When it comes to making barley water recipe, you will need to figure out which type of barley to purchase.

There are three primary types of this whole grain:

1. Unhulled Barley
2. Hulled Barley
3. Pearl Barley

For this barley water recipe, you’ll want to stick with hulled barley or pearl barley. Hulled barley has been lightly processed to remove the fibrous hulls of the grain, while pearl barley goes one step further and polishes the grain. The process of polishing the barley removes some or most of the bran.

If you are torn between these two types of barley, they each have pros and cons. Pearl barley is less nutrient dense because of the removal of the bran, but it cooks much faster. Hulled barley is the more healthful choice, but will take longer to cook.

Note: Barley is a known source of gluten, so any readers who suffer from gluten sensitivities or celiac disease should not imbibe this drink.

In the following recipe, I have used pearl barley because it seems to be the most widely available grain where I live. That said, you can certainly use hulled barley for my recipe.

Just note that you will need to increase the cooking times for all methods and should absolutely consider soaking the grains if you do.

How to Make Barley Water

Prep Barley

1. First take the barley grains in a plate and pick, discard if any stones in them. Rinse the grains in a strainer for a couple of times. Next, there is the option to soak the grains for 4 to 5 hours or overnight.

As you see in the below photo, from the color, the barley grains I used were pearled. They retained some of the bran, which you can tell from the light tan color. When the bran is entirely removed, the grains appear white.

Tip: If you are using hulled barley, soaking overnight will reduce the cook time needed. Soaking also reduces the phytic acid in the barley (pearl or hulled), which reduces the incidence of flatulence in many individuals. Let’s just say that I always prefer to soak my barley.

2. With a strainer drain the water from the soaked barley grains and rinse them with fresh clean water for a couple of times. Next, proceed based on your cooking method.

• Instant Pot: Add the prepared grains to the steel pot of the IP. Note that I have used 6 quart IP.
• Stovetop: Add grains to a large pot with a tight fitting lid.
• Pressure Cooker: Use at least a 3 to 4-litre pressure cooker as the water bubbles and froths while cooking.

3. Add water.

• Instant Pot: Pour in 5 cups of drinking water. Barley grains increase in volume a lot, so you may need to add more water while cooking. If you prefer a more concentrated barley water, only add 4 cups.
• Pan on stovetop: Add 4 cups water.
• Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Add 4 to 4.5 cups water.

Cook Barley

4. Cook the soaked pearl barley.

• Instant Pot: Seal the lid and position the pressure release valve to sealing position. Press the pressure cook/manual button and pressure cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. When you hear the beep sound after the cooking is complete, wait for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release by turning the valve to venting position. After all the pressure and steam is released then remove the lid.
• Pan on stovetop: Place the cover/lid on the pot and cook for 30 to 35 minutes on medium to medium-high heat. If the water froths and bubbles way too much, remove the lid or partly cover with a lid while simmering.
• Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Cook for 12 to 15 minutes (or for 8 to 9 whistles) on medium-heat. When the pressure falls naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid.

Note – For soaked hulled barley follow the below cooking timings:

• pressure cook on high pressure for 30 to 35 minutes in the Instant Pot.
• 40 to 45 minutes in a pot/pan on the stovetop.
• 25 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker on medium heat.

5. You will see a cloudy, opaque water and the barley grains all plumped and softened.

Strain Cooked Barley

6. Let the water cool enough to handle. Strain the grains from the water using a mesh strainer. Lightly press the grains with the back of a spoon to extract the most water.

Tip: Remove the steel pot from the IP if you want to cool the water faster.

Note: While some folks like to keep the cooked barley to eat as a porridge with water or milk, I personally don’t love the consistency. After the cooking and pressing, the grains become too mushy for my taste. Since I do not like to throw away food, I feed it to the birds. It is also entirely compostable.

Flavor Barley Water

7. Add lemon juice according to your taste preferences. This barley water recipe with the Instant Pot method makes about 3 servings (roughly 4.25 cups in the Imperial system) of water.

I recommend adding about 1 teaspoon lemon juice for 1 glass of barley water.

8. Finally, add your sweetener of choice or omit it completely. I like to add raw sugar, but you can add rock sugar, honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, palm sugar, date syrup or jaggery instead.

Tip 1: If you are in need of an electrolyte boost, you can also add a bit of black salt or edible and food grade rock salt. 

Mix well until the sweetener or salt is dissolved.

Tip 2: If you want to add more flavor, feel free to experiment here! You can add a bit of ground cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, or any of your favorite herbs or spice. You can also add some ginger juice, orange juice, or mint juice. Yum!

Serving Suggestions

9. Pour in glasses and serve. You can serve barley water warm or cool depending on your preference.

Feel free to garnish with some mint leaves to make it feel truly celebratory. Refrigerate any leftovers for a day only.

Health Benefits

Aside from being tasty and refreshing, this nutrient dense drink comes with some serious health benefits.

Barley is a whole grain that is packed with antioxidants and vitamins, and the tea-like tonic that results from cooking it has many uses.

In Ayurvedic practice, barley is considered a cooling element. Barley water can therefore be used to make your gut more alkaline and reduce acidity in the body.

It is my preferred method for treating acid reflux because it not only works, but is actually a joy to drink!

It is also often used as a homeopathic cure for various bacterial infections like UTIs or gastroenteritis. The high level of beta glucans in it boosts immunity and helps with weight loss.

Barley water is also relatively high in water soluble fiber. As such, it can be an effective treatment to reduce the absorption of LDL “bad” cholesterol as well as helping your insulin resistance.

Whether you choose to have this cooling drink to help with regulating blood sugar, decreasing your cholesterol or simply refreshing yourself after a long day in the sun, this delicious drink is sure to do your body good.

Expert Tips

1. Soaking barley: Soaking hulled barley overnight reduces the cooking time. It also helps to lessen the phytic acid in the barley. Thus, further reducing the chances of flatulence in some folks.
2. Cooking hulled barley: In case you have used hulled barley for this recipe that is soaked, you can cook it in a stovetop pressure cooker on medium heat for 25 minutes; 40 to 45 minutes in a pan; and 30 to 35 minutes in an Instant Pot.
3. Seasonings and flavorings: For a good electrolyte boost from this Barley Water, mix in some edible rock salt or black salt till it dissolves. Other flavorings that can be added in this water are ground cumin, cinnamon, cardamom or any other your choice of spices or herbs. The water also tastes fantastic with some mint juice, orange juice or ginger juice added to it.
4. Sweetener: The choice of sweeteners that can be used for this recipe are raw sugar, rock sugar, maple syrup, honey, palm sugar, coconut sugar, jaggery or date syrup.
5. Serving: The Instant Pot recipe yields for about 3 servings, that is, 4.25 cups roughly in the Imperial system. Add about 1 teaspoon lemon juice in 1 glass of Barley Water. You can keep it this way or even sweeten it with your choice of sweetener.
6. What to do with leftover cooked barley: You can consume the leftover cooked barley grains with some hot milk or water, just like porridge. Or even use it for composting or feed it to the birds.

FAQs

Reference Links:
https://www.healthline.com
https://www.thespruceeats.com
https://wholegrainscouncil.org

Barley Water recipe from the archives was first published on April 2021.