This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Greek Barley Salad is one of my favs recently for an easy recipe I can meal prep when I’m having a busy week. I’ll make it up, and store it in mason jars in my fridge to easily grab-and-go, or in one big bowl to eat from for the week. It’s healthy and so tasty so I can feel good about eating it.
Why You’ll Love Barley Salad
- Healthy: This salad is loaded with veggies and healthy grains, and you will feel good about nourishing your body with this salad
- Delicious: I love anything with a Greek spin to it, and the mix of flavors in this Barley Salad is so flavorful and good
Ingredients
Barley – Barley is high in fiber which can help with both your cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It is great for your digestion and can be substituted into any recipe that calls for grains
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Dressing – This dressing is a simple, Greek dressing that you can use on this salad, and just make it on its own to use on other salads. It is a tasty and easy recipe to have in your back pocket
How to Make Barley Salad
- Make the dressing: whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- To a large bowl add all of the salad ingredients, drizzle over the dressing, and then toss to combine.
Tips and Tricks
- Protein: For extra protein add 2 cups chopped cooked chicken or one 14-15 oz can of white beans (drained and rinsed)
- Dressing: You can use any dressing on this salad that you love. You can even use store-bought dressing if you prefer
Variations & Substitutions
- Healthy Chicken Salad: This is a similar version of this salad but with more beans. It’s so tasty!
- Grain: You can use couscous, barley, quinoa, or whatever you prefer for this recipe and it’ll change the consistency but still taste so good
Best served with
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container for 4-5 days. The dressing will marinade the salad over time and become more and more flavorful, but it may change the consistency of some of the veggies so you might want to keep them separate.
Common Questions
Barley is a whole grain. It contains more fiber, and health benefits than white rice. It also is higher in protein.
No, you don’t! You can just cook it as is by following the instructions on the package.
Barley is stretchy and should be rinsed after cooking before fluffing it with a fork to nail the perfect texture.
Save this recipe for later
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked pearl or regular barley, (about 3/4 cup dry barley)
- 200 g feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large cucumber, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 red pepper, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup regular or garlic-stuffed green olives, halved
- 1 cup diced red onions
For the Greek dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ tbsp dried oregano
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- juice of one lemon
- ½ tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
Instructions
Start Cooking- Make the dressing: whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- To a large bowl add all of the salad ingredients, drizzle over the dressing and then toss to combine.
Notes
- For extra protein add 2 cups chopped cooked chicken or one 14-15 oz can of white beans (drained and rinsed)
- If you like this salad, try our Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe
24 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
Excellent, whole family loved it, even 7-year old. Thank you for an amazing way to eat barley!
You’re so welcome my love!!!
Texturally and flavor profile were outstanding. Thank you for sharing your cultural heritage with us through this recipe Momma Maria!!
Thank you so much my love!!
Most excellent! Perfect the way it is. Will be a go-to side dish at all the future picnics and gatherings.
Thank you so much!!
super good, want to eat more of this kind of food
thank you so much!
I’m a barley lover from way back. It goes really well with roasted sausage and mushrooms. So I’m considering adding those ingredients when I’m able to shop for the ingredients. I also use celery salt and white pepper. I know it’ll change the taste, but I’m curious. And I like a lot more feta! But I love your recipe as is, too. I agree about maybe adding avocado, too.
Love to hear it, thanks for the love!
Love this recipe. I will say it calls for a lot more salt than we like. Definitely will reduce it next time to about 1 tsp. Great recipe otherwise. Thank you!
Always do what works best for you!! So glad you enjoyed it.
Easy to prepare and super yummy. I love it! Thanks for the recipe, it’s gorgeous!
Thank you so much for the love, sweetie!
Easy to prepare and delicious!
Thank you so much, Catherine!!
Delish! It was my first time using barley and I loved the texture in this salad. It’s so full of flavour! And the dressing is SO good, I’ll definitely be saving this recipe!
That makes me so happy, thank you Christine!
So delicious!! Even my picky 6 year old loved it. Made my week much more enjoyable. Thank you!
thank you so much hun!