Instant Pot Carrot Barley Porridge
Introduction
This carrot barley porridge recipe is my attempt at creating a healthier version of one of my all time favorite desserts – carrot cake.
Typical carrot cake, while delicious, is highly caloric due to the sweet cream cheese frosting as well as generous quantities of oil in the cake layer.
With this carrot barley porridge, I wanted to include all my favorite flavors from carrot cake: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, raisins and walnuts but in a healthier, whole food, plant based format.
Recipe Notes
Reasons for Presoaking
This recipe calls for presoaking several ingredients.
Presoaking the barley overnight reduces the phytic acid content (an anti nutrient) thus increasing digestibility as well as decreasing cooking time.
Presoaking the nuts, seeds and dates overnight also increases their digestibility and makes blending easier.
When to Refrigerate Presoaked Ingredients
If you can’t make the porridge within 8 to 12 hours of presoaking, ingredients can be refrigerated for up to two days.
Pressure Cooking Benefits
The pressure cooker steam cooks at 250° F and is able to break down fibers more quickly and efficiently than stovetop water boiling which cooks at 212° F.
This is particularly helpful with hulled (and hull-less) barley which is a very chewy, high fiber grain.
Using a pressure cooker such as the Instant Pot to prepare the porridge, results in the most tender porridge.
Pressure cooking is also said to increase digestibility.
Stovetop Tips
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, this recipe can also be done over a stovetop, it simply will take longer to cook (35 minutes or more) and you will want to stir every so often to prevent the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Spices
The spice blend I use are according to my own preferences.
In particular, I love adding some fennel and coriander to the mix as I find they add an extra sense of sweetness.
If you don’t have all the spices listed, you can easily substitute with more cinnamon or else use a pumpkin spice blend.
No Added Fats or Sugars
This recipe has no added fats or sweeteners aside from the natural fats and sugars found in the nuts, carrots and raisins.
It may be less sweet than you are used to but once you have a few bites you may find it sweeter tasting than expected thanks to the spices.
If extra sweetness is desired, you can a ripe banana to the porridge prior to cooking.
High in Omega 3
The walnut cream sauce is made with raw walnuts and flaxseeds which are high in omega 3 fatty acids.
Meal Prepping Benefits
This porridge can be made ahead as part of your weekend meal prep and enjoyed as a breakfast or snack for at least three days.
Serving tips
This recipe makes 3 generous portions.
Serve the warm porridge immediately and top with the cool walnut cream sauce.
Reheating and Nutrition
If you are reheating the porridge, it is best to add the walnut cream sauce after reheating so as to maximize the nutritional value.
Retrieving from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to eating will allow you to skip reheating.
Alternatively portion out into individual serving containers, top with walnut cream and refrigerate for later use.
Freezing
You can also freeze the porridge if you like in individually sized portions.
Cooked Barley Shortcut
If you are meal prepping and want to be able to prepare barley multiple ways, then you can simply batch cook a larger serving of hulled barley (according to boiled barley recipe provided here) and start with cooked barley for the carrot porridge recipe.
In that case, you can mix all the other porridge ingredients and cook an additional 5 minutes at high pressure in the Instant Pot, with natural release.
Instant Pot Carrot Barley Porridge Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot pressure cooker (4 quarts or above)
- 1 blender (preferably high speed)
Ingredients
Porridge Ingredients
- ½ cup hulled or hull-less barley
- ¼ cup raw almonds (can substitute with 1¼ cups almond milk)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 medium carrots
- ¼ cup raisins
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground fennel
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- 1 orange (should be organic to zest peel)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Walnut Sauce
- ¼ cup raw walnuts
- 1 tsp flaxseed
- 2 dates
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Presoaking & Marinating Stage ( 8 hours prior to cooking )
- Soak barley in water in one cup of water and leave at room temperature.
- Soak almonds in one cup of water and leave at room temperature.
- Soak walnuts in one cup of water and leave at room temperature.
- Soak dates, flaxseeds and vanilla in ¾ cup of water and place in refrigerator.
- Finely grate carrots and place in a medium bowl.
- Add raisins to bowl and mix in with carrots.
- Pour spices over carrots and mix in.
- Zest whole orange peel and mix in with carrots.
- Juice orange, mix in vanilla and add enough water to equal one cup.
- Mix orange juice thoroughly with carrots and then pat down the mixture so that it marinates well.
- Cover bowl and place carrot mixture in refrigerator.
Porridge Assembly
- Drain presoaked barley and add to cooking pot.
- Add 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt to pot.
- Drain almonds and place in blender.
- Add 1 cup of water to blender and blend almonds until smooth.
- Add blended almonds to cooking pot.
- Add orange juice marinated spiced carrots to cooking pot.
- Set to 15 minutes high pressure, natural release.
- Porridge will continue to absorb water as it cools down.
Creamy Walnut Sauce
- Drain walnuts and place in blender.
- Add soaked dates, flaxseeds with vanilla and soaking water to the blender
- Blend until smooth.
To Serve Immediately
- Separate into 3 portions and top with walnut cream sauce.
- See notes in main post if saving for later use.
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