Published: · Modified: by Vaishali · This post may contain affiliate links · 17 Comments
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Total time: 40 minutes minutes
This Mushroom Barley Risotto was one of myexperiments in cooking with the pressure cooker, and I mustsay I am in love.
Not just with the ease of making it, which goes without saying since a pressure cooker takes so much of the time and effort out of cooking, but with the fact that this risotto is creamy and delicious and quite perfect. Much, much better than stovetop versions I've made before.
The pressure cooking makes the barley perfectly tender without overcooking it, and thefluids added to the risotto-- a stockfrom the wild mushrooms anda plain old vegetable stock -- ensure that itis as flavorful as can be.
Because this risotto, like most risotto recipes, has wine added to it, I wanted to answer a question I often get from readers with kids: can we leave out the wine?
The answer is yes, but with a rider. The wine adds a distinct flavor that's important to the risotto, and while leaving it out would still yield a delicious recipe, it won't be as authentic. The alcohol is not going to get your child drunk-- if that's what you're worried about-- because itcooks out entirely during the process. You'd be more likely to get drunk on a handful of grapes.
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Make these recipes next:
- Creamy Vegan Risotto with Spinach
- Vegan Mushroom Bourguignon
- Black Rice Risotto with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions
- Spinach Cashew Ricotta Dumplings in Marinara
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Vegan Mushroom Barley Risotto in a Pressure Cooker
A creamy, delicious, quick vegan Mushroom Barley Risotto made with wild mushrooms and cremini mushrooms, and cooked in a pressure cooker
5 from 10 votes
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Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 25 minutes mins
Total Time: 40 minutes mins
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 376kcal
Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan
IngredientsUS Customary - Metric
US Customary - Metric
- 1 cup dried mushrooms (like shiitake or oyster. Soaked in 2 cups boiling water for 30 minutes, then sliced. Reserve the stock)
- 2 cups cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon thyme (1 teaspoon if using dry)
- ½ tablespoon rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dry)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup parsley (chopped)
- ½ cup raw cashews (blended into a smooth paste with ½ cup water or vegetable stock)
Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pressure cooker.
Add the onions and garlic, season with some salt and pepper, and cook 3-5 minutes over a medium flame until the onions start to sweat.
Add the thyme, rosemary, and the soaked dry mushrooms. Add the wine and saute until all of the liquid has evaporated.
Add the barley, stir it in, and then add the vegetable stock and the reserved mushroom stock (be sure not to add any grit that may have settled at the bottom of the mushroom stock). Season with more salt and ground black pepper.
Click the pressure cooker lid in place, bring the cooker to pressure over high heat, then turn the heat down to a point where it will maintain the pressure at high, and let it go for 18 more minutes.
While the risotto is cooking, heat the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil and add the sliced cremini mushrooms to it. Season with salt and pepper. Saute, stirring, until all of the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms have caramelized. Turn off heat.
When the pressure has released (you can do this by releasing the pressure manually per your cooker directions. I usually just prefer to wait until the pressure has released on its own), open the lid and stir in the cremini mushrooms, cashew paste and parsley. Season with more salt at this point if needed.
Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Mushroom Barley Risotto in a Pressure Cooker
Amount per Serving
Calories
376
% Daily Value*
Fat
13
g
Saturated Fat
6
g
30
%
Potassium
597
mg
17
%
Carbohydrates
57
g
19
%
Fiber
10
g
40
%
Sugar
5
g
6
%
Protein
10
g
20
%
Vitamin A
774
IU
Vitamin C
11
mg
13
%
Calcium
51
mg
5
%
Iron
3
mg
17
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment and recipe rating below!
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About Vaishali
Hi! I'm Vaishali, a journalist turned food blogger. At Holy Cow Vegan I share easy, tasty recipes made with clean, wholesome ingredients that the entire family can enjoy.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Janis
This is my second time making this dish. It's become my go-to for company whether my guests are vegan or not. I don't have a pressure cooker, so I just used a pot on the stove. Also, I have friends in sobriety, so I left out the wine and added 2T of apple cider vinegar, based suggestions from a recipe on another site. The texture is so satisfying and the flavor is mild but intriguing. Everyone loved it.Reply
Catherine S.
So delicious! I am WFPBNO so I didn't use the oil for sautéing, but it did not affect the outcome of the recipe. I also am nut free and used raw sunflower seeds in place of the cashews. Thanks for this recipe!Reply
Ge
Hi, do you know if this would work with hulled barley? I don’t know how to adjust the cooking time
Reply
Vaishali
Increase pressure cooking time to 20 minutes.
Reply
Suee33
Wow, I made this recipe and it is DELICIOUS!!! I made it with sh*taki, 2 big gills and stem removed Portabellas, two 8oz.packages of sliced Cremini and Babybell mushrooms plus two small zucchinis. I cooked it in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes, as someone else recommended, thank you.
I put some mushrooms into the pot and sauteed with the onion/garlic and then cooked with the barley and the rest were sauteed with the Zucchini and used to top the Servings on the plates. It was amazing and I thank you for this delicious recipe, I will be making it when I do not need a GF dinner!!!Reply
Vaishali
So happy to hear! ❤️
Reply
Suzanne Bjornson
I made this last night and it was awesome! Thanks again for another great recipe. I regularly make three of your recipes and am very thankful for your website.Notes: I used wild morrel mushrooms and dried shiitakes in with the barley. I used an insta-pot type pressure cooker set for 15 minutes, but next time I'll cut that to 10 minutes. I used 1.5 cups barley, 25 crimini mushrooms and 4 big Portobello mushrooms (we really love mushrooms and I wanted 6 servings). I used red wine and also 1 tablespoon tamari, both in the pot and when I sauteed the mushrooms. In place of the cashew cream, I made a paste of 1/2 cup nutritional yeast and some almond milk.
My husband and I loved it! When I told my husband the recipe came from your site, he said, I could make any recipe on your site for him!
Thanks again,
SuzanneReply
Vaishali
Suzanne, that’s so great to hear ?
Reply
Maggiest
Outstanding! This is the best barley risotto recipe I've ever found -- I agree with others that the genius is the cashew cream. It's a great recipe for serving omni guests, as they will swear there's cream in this!A few notes in case they help others:
-I used an Instantpot and increased time to 20 min. due to altitude and electric cooker conversion (+10%)
-I didn't have dried mushrooms, so I used mixed fresh mushrooms in place of the dried -- and there were wonderful shiitakis on sale at my market, so I used those for step 6 instead of cremini
-I happened to have vegan beef-style broth from making Seitan left over in a jar, and I used that for the broth (along with some leftover seitain added to the mushrooms at the end) -- use what you've got!
-I had a bottle of red wine open, and I used it in place of white (with the beef-style broth and earthy mushrooms, the flavor works)--for those who aren't sure about cooking with wine, my philosophy is to just cook with whatever wine actually would like to drink...it really does add a lot of dimension to the flavor!Reply
Vaishali
So lovely to hear ! ❤️
Reply
in2insight
The flavours were outstanding, and the cashew cream is a brilliant addition.
We found that there was a lot more liquid left when done cooking. It did seem like a lot (almost 5 cups for 1 cup of barley).
Next time will cut the broth to 1.5 cups.Reply
mariajette
This looks wonderful! I'm so glad to have come upon your delicious blog (looking for some info on parotta -- which I had for the first time recently at a new restaurant here in Minneapolis). I make a similar dish with farro, which you could just substitute for the barley. They use it in Italy for "farrotto"!
Reply
Rach's Recipes
This was one of the best risottos I've ever made. I used some porcini too and the cashew paste is a great touch. Thanks for this recipe.
Reply
Vaishali
That's wonderful! Thanks fir letting me know. 🙂
Reply
geetha
Thank you,Vaishali!! 🙂
Reply
geetha
Hi,the recipe looks lovely.Can you suggest some other vegetable that I can use instead of mushroom?Some people are allergic to mushrooms:).Also,can you tell me which pressure cooker you use?Mine is on its last legs.Thank you for all the wonderful recipes.:)
Reply
Vaishali
Hi Geetha, I think eggplant would be great here, or add zucchini, but saute it separately and stir it in at the end. You can also try adapting this butternut squash risotto recipe for the pressure cooker-- saute the butternut instead of the mushrooms, use sage instead of the other herbs and barley instead of rice, and pressure cook. I use a fa*gor four-quart pressure cooker.
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