My favorite healthy stew recipe: this lentil barley stew with apples is the perfect hearty fall or winter stew recipe! It’s full of great flavours from the fall harvest and it’s very filling, but it’s also really healthy!
This lentil barley stew is probably my favourite new recipe. I shared a glimpse of it in my Wooden Spoon on the Pot Trick post recently and I mentioned the recipe that was in the pictures. I asked if anyone would be interested in this healthy stew recipe and I was so thrilled when so many readers sent me messages saying that they’d love to know the recipe. This is one that I thought up off the top of my head one day and it really did turn out well, so I’m glad to have the chance to share it! 🙂
I had some barley in my pantry that I really wanted to use in something, along with a huge pile of carrots from the garden, and apples from our apple picking trip this year. This recipe was one of those things that just kind of came to me by looking around at what I already had in my kitchen. It’s definitely one that I’ll be making again and again this fall and winter though because it was so easy to make and so filling.
Ingredients for Lentil Barley Stew With Apples
- Green lentils
- Barley
- Onions
- Carrots
- Apples
- Potatoes
- Mixed frozen veggies (optional)
- Vegetable Stock
- Rosemary
- Bay Leaves
- Thyme
These are all pretty basic things that I have in my kitchen at all times, so this is a great meal that I can pull together at the drop of a hat. If you don’t keep lentils in your pantry, I’d definitely recommend you start experimenting with them! They’re a great source of protein, they’re simple to cook, and they can fill in for so many other things in a lot of comfort food recipes. Plus they’re dried, so they keep in your pantry forever!
Making the Stew
This stew is just the tiniest bit sweet from the apples, but the flavours all balance really nicely. This makes a great dinner (or supper as the locals still say around here) with a bit of bread, or a great lunch the next day. The mixed veggies aren’t essential to the recipe, I just always feel like more veggies are always a good thing, so I like to toss them in. 🙂
Here’s the full printable version of the recipe!
Just hit the “print” button to the right of the recipe card if you’d like to print it out.
- 1 onion
- 2 apples (peeled and cut into small pieces)
- 3 potatoes (cut into small pieces)
- 2 large carrots (peeled and cut into small pieces)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup green lentils (rinsed)
- 1/2 cup pearl barley (rinsed)
- 1 quart vegetable broth
- 4 cups water
- pinch thyme
- bigger pinch rosemary
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt (to taste)
- 1/2 cup mixed frozen veggies (green beans, corn, peas, etc.) optional
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Add the oil and onions to a large soup pot and saute on medium high until onions start to become translucent.
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Add carrots and potatoes and continue to saute for another 3-5 minutes.
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Add vegetable stock and water. Bring to a boil.
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Add lentils, barley, apples, frozen vegetables (if using) and all the herbs and seasonings.
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Simmer the stew on medium and continue to cook until potatoes and carrots are cooked through and lentils are soft, about 30-40 minutes.
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Remove the bay leaves and enjoy!
I knew that I was going to love this recipe, but I was surprised by how much Chris enjoyed it too, especially because he isn’t typically very excited by soups or stews. I’ve been craving a bowl of this lentil barley stew with apples ever since I first made it, so thanks so much for asking for the recipe and giving me an excuse to make it again!
Don’t forget to pin this healthy stew recipe for later when your craving a flavorful, hearty meal.
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.