Sweet Potato Barley Stew

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★★★

3 from 2 reviews

A hearty winter barley stew that features slow-cooked sweet potatoes and chewy barley.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 240 minutes
Total Time: 250 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Soup

Ingredients

Scale

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion ((6 oz) diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 medium sweet potatoes ((1 ½ pounds))
½ cup pearled barley
2 cups water
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoons coriander
½ teaspoon salt
Sour cream (for serving)
Cilantro (for serving)

Instructions

Heat a Crock-pot® slow cooker over high. Add the olive oil, red onions, and garlic. Stir to coat the onions and let warm.
Peel the sweet potato and dice into ½” sized pieces. Add to the slow cooker along with the barley, water, vegetable broth, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, and salt. Set the slow cooker to high (for 4 hours) or low (for 8 hours).
While the stew is cooking, stir occasionally. Add more vegetable broth, ½ cup at a time, if the liquid has absorbed too quickly.

Notes

Tips & Tricks: I took the short prep-time approach and didn’t cook the onions beforehand. If you have the time, I recommend cooking the onions and garlic in the olive oil on the stovetop before adding to the crockpot.

Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: sweet potatoes, barley, cumin, smoked paprika

Nutrition: see the information.

Nutrition

Calories: 438
Sugar: 16.4
Sodium: 507.5
Fat: 4.4
Carbohydrates: 93.8
Fiber: 15.6
Protein: 8.8
Cholesterol: 0

Step by Step

Barley Stew

variations

I love a good barley stew. While you could use whole grain barley, the pearled barley helps create a semi-creamy base to the stew. The warmth from the barley is also a wonderful compliment to the sweet potatoes and smokey paprika. A few ways to mix up this stew:

Add Greens: Collards, Kale, or Chard would be wonderful stirred in at the end. Shred the greens and stir into the soup about 30 minutes before serving.

Spice: Add a pinch or two of cayenne to spice up the overall dish or you can serve the soup with a sprinkle of hot sauce.

Gluten-free: I love that even after a few hours in the slow cooker, the barley still has a slightly chewy texture. Gluten-free alternatives that will old up: sorghum or oat groats!

Vegan: Leave out the sour cream and add a dollop of cashew cream before serving!

Sweet Potato Barley Stew