Barley & Oat Gruel with Brown Butter Leeks

Barley Grain Grains Naked Barley oats Pearl Barley Porridge Oats Rolled Oats soup Soups

by Josiah Meldrum & Nick Saltmarsh October 16, 2026

Try gruel! Enjoy this recipe from our new book Whole Food - we're not sure when a cookbook last included a recipe for gruel.

Unjustly maligned as miserable sustenance, gruel is just the simplest and earliest of soups. At heart, gruel is a warming and nourishing meal, but it is so easy and economical to make that it became associated with poverty and institutional food. Our recipe shows just how comforting and flavoursome gruel can be. Forget thin and watery, this gruel of barley and oats is velvety, silky, and elevated by nutty browned butter and caramelised leeks.

Serves 2–3

Ingredients

75g Pearl Naked Barley
800ml vegetable or mushroom stock
75g Jumbo or Rolled Oats
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Leeks

80g unsalted butter
2 leeks, trimmed and thickly sliced
Pinch of sea salt
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked (plus extra to serve)
2 tsp cider vinegar

Method

Put the pearl barley and vegetable stock into a saucepan, bring to a simmer, and cook for 25–30 minutes until starting to soften.
Add the oats and continue cooking for 10–12 minutes, stirring often, until creamy and thick. Season with the nutmeg, salt, and black pepper.
In a separate pan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then continue cooking, swirling the pan, until it turns nut-brown and aromatic.
Immediately add the sliced leeks, salt, and thyme, and cook slowly for 15 minutes until soft and caramelised.
Stir in the cider vinegar to deglaze the pan, then remove from the heat.
Spoon the hot gruel into warm bowls, top with the brown butter leeks, more picked thyme leaves, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, then serve.

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