A first Leicester goal for Miguel Vitor and Andy King's sixth of the season rounded off an impressive performance for the Foxes, who also kept their first away clean sheet of the season.
Sven Goran-Eriksson opted for a back four made up solely of loanees as Naughton, Davies, Vitor and Cunningham all featured while striker Darius Vassell made his debut for the Foxes, partnering Martyn Waghorn in attack.
The Foxes dominated early proceedings and thoroughly deserved to take the lead after 18 minutes through Portuguese defender Miguel Vitor – who scored his first goal for the club.
Martyn Waghorn’s free kick from the edge of the 18 yard box was headed home from close range from Vitor as City flooded the box.
And, the Foxes continued to heap pressure on the Tykes defence and would have felt aggrieved that their lead was not doubled midway through the first half.
Martyn Waghorn was again involved, this time his header from a Paul Gallagher free kick found the net after a finish from Andy King but the Foxes’ celebrations were cut short when the linesman raised his flag for offside.
The pressure was beginning to show on the Barsnley bench and boss Mark Robins opted for a remarkable double substitution after half an hour, replacing both his forwards as City’s dominance continued to show.
Barnsley did begin to show signs of improvement though and registered their first effort at goal on 38 minutes, but Bobby Hassell’s stinging shot from the edge of the 18 yard box flew wide of Chris Weale’s right hand post.
Andy King and Yuki Abe again combined to great effect just before half time, with the latter releasing Waghorn. However the striker could only direct his shot straight at Steele in the Barnsley goal and Waghorn came agonisingly close to connecting with the rebound.
The second half continued in much the same way as the first with Leicester dominating possession, however the Foxes attacking threat looked to be evading them and it was the home side that came closest to scoring the second goal of the match on the hour.
Substitute striker Nathan Doyle picked the ball up 25 yards from goal, he had time to look up and pick his spot. Unfortunately for the Tykes though his effort smashed against the crossbar and bounced the wrong side of Chris Weale’s goal line to end a rare Barnsley attack.
Barnsley began to stamp their influence on the match midway through the second half and again came close to grabbing an equaliser with 75 minutes on the clock.
Adam Hammill’s 20 yard free kick was deflected and fell kindly to Hugo Colace. However the midfielder lacked the composure needed to finish off the attack, smashing the ball horrendously over the bar from six yards when he’ll feel he should have scored.
With the intention of steadying the rattled Foxes, Eriksson sent on Steve Howard after 80 minutes and the target man nearly made an instant impact. But his close range shot was fired straight at the ‘keeper to set up a tense final 10 minutes as Leicester looked to close out the result.
Barnsley were punished for over committing as they flew forward desperately chasing an equaliser - the away side were able to find a much needed second goal to clinch all three points five minutes from time through talisman Andy King.
The midfielder scored his sixth goal of the campaign after some fine work from Howard set Gallagher on his way, the winger sent the ball whizzing across goal to leave King with the simplest of finishes at the back post to round off a fine performance for the Foxes.
Eriksson’s men climb the Championship table to 17th place and, while the position may seem unflattering, crucially they are just two wins behind Norwich City in sixth place.