Lunch
Pearl Barley with Chicken, Leek and Mushrooms
A warm bowl of pearl barley with chicken, leeks and mushrooms cooked down in stock and finished with parmesan and thyme. 46 g of protein for 491 kcal.
- Calories
- 491kcal
- Protein
- 46g
- Fat
- 15g
- Carbs
- 42g
Per serving, makes 1. 25 minutes of work. Published 8 September 2026.
Allergens
- Gluten
- Milk
- Celery
- Nearly every stock cube and pot lists celery. Home-made stock without it carries no flag.
Flags follow UK labelling rules and come from the ingredients as listed, not from any particular brand. Check the packet before cooking for somebody with an allergy.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast150 g
Weighed raw. The same piece weighed after cooking has lost water, so the protein per gram is higher and the total would come out about a quarter over.
- Cooked pearl barley130 g
Cooked weight.
- Leek80 g
- Mushrooms100 g
- Chicken stock150 g
Made up from a cube or a pot.
- Parmesan15 g
- Olive oil5 g
- Fresh thymeA few sprigs, leaves picked
- Black pepperA lot
Method
Cut the chicken into 2 cm pieces and brown it in the oil over a high heat for four minutes. Take it out.
Turn the heat down, add the sliced leek and mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook for eight minutes until the leek is soft and the mushrooms have given up their water.
Add the barley, stock, thyme and chicken and simmer for five minutes until the stock has mostly gone into the grain.
Off the heat, stir in the parmesan and a great deal of black pepper.
Worth knowing
- Eats like a risotto and takes a fraction of the stirring, because the barley is already cooked and is only absorbing the last of the stock.
- Cook a batch of pearl barley on Sunday, about 30 minutes simmering, and this is a 15-minute lunch for the rest of the week. It reheats better than rice.
More like this
Other lunch recipes that share ingredients with this one, or every lunch between 450 and 600 calories a serving.
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Macros are calculated from the weights listed above using standard food composition values, and will shift with your own brands and measuring. Weigh what you can. This is a recipe, not dietary advice. The full health disclaimer is below.