Cooked pearled barley is 123 calories per 100g with about 3g of fiber. It's chewier than rice and slower to cook (~30 min) but holds up well in soups and grain bowls. Hulled barley has even more fiber but takes considerably longer to cook.
Calories scale with portion. Here's how a typical barley serving translates in your tracker:
Balanced — barley sits in a moderate range and fits weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain when portioned to your daily target.
How barley stacks up on calories and protein against foods people commonly compare it to:
Point your iPhone camera at barley and Spotwell's on-device AI estimates the portion and macros in under a second — no manual entry, no barcode hunting.
Download on theApp StoreBarley has approximately 123 calories per 100g (cooked, pearled). A typical serving — 1 cup, cooked (157g) — comes in at 193 calories.
2.3g of protein per 100g (cooked, pearled). That puts barley at roughly 1.9g of protein per 100 calories — a useful lens when comparing to other grains sources.
The simplest method: weigh it on a kitchen scale, then enter grams in your tracker. With Spotwell, you can skip the scale — point the camera at the plate and the AI estimates the portion in under a second. Adjust the value if it looks off.
It depends on your overall calorie target. Barley sits in a moderate calorie range. It can fit any goal — weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain — when portioned to your daily target.