Simple and delicious mushroom barley soup is low in fat, but rich in flavour. With only 6 ingredients required this earthy, umami, bowl of goodness is a must try. Plus, I’ve got directions for both stove top or your hands off Instant Pot.
This recipe was originally published in December 2019. It has been updated for content and photos.
Mushrooms are high up on the list of my favourite foods and if you love mushrooms like I do, you’re going to LOVE this soup.
Just like my mushroom veloute, risotto stuffed mushrooms and air fryer mushrooms, this mushroom barley soup is absolutely bursting with umami flavour.
PS. If you’re a big soup fan, check out this collection of the BEST vegan soup recipes.
Why you’ll love it
- Filling, flavourful and easy to make! Plus a hands off Instant Pot option.
- Just 6 ingredients needed, with simple prep.
- Surprisingly healthy! Barley is an excellent source of fiber and B group vitamins. As an added bonus, barley is filling, yet low in calories to keep you feeling full longer.
How to make it
(This is a summary with step by step photos, full recipe measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Gather your ingredients: butter (optional), mushrooms, pot barley, garlic, shallots, and vegetable broth.
Melt the butter (if using) and add the sliced mushrooms, shallots and garlic to your pot and sauté until reduced. (photos 1-2)
Then add the broth and barley and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook until the barley is tender, approx. 40-45 minutes. (photos 3-4)
NOTE: Keep the lid on your pot, but slightly askew. Don’t cook without the lid, or too much of the broth will evaporate.
Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Then serve your mushroom barley soup sprinkled with fresh parsley, chives, red pepper flakes or vegan parmesan cheese.
FAQs
Pot barley has only the outermost, inedible husk removed. Pearl barley is more refined with the husk removed and then polished, which strips some of its nutrition.
You may, but it cooks faster, so reduce cook time to approx. 25-30 minutes for stove top and 20 minutes for Instant Pot.
Barley is not gluten free, so if you need a gluten free option, you may sub for quinoa, reducing the cook time to about 12-15 minutes. Or you may replace the barley with brown rice keeping cook time the same.
Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days. Since the barley will continue to absorb some broth as it sits, you may need to add a splash more when reheating.
Yes, this soup freezes very well. Use a freezer safe, air tight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and reheat on stove top, adding more broth, if needed.
Expert Tips
- Cook your soup with the lid on but slightly askew. Cooking without the lid will cause too much of the broth to evaporate. Barley has a long cook time, so it will appear like a lot of liquid at first, but the barley will absorb more and more as it cooks.
- For no oil, use water or broth to sauté the veggies.
- If time permits, you may add more veggies to the sauté step. Chopped carrots and celery would make great additions. Or add some baby spinach to the very end of cooking, if desired.
If you tried this recipe, please let me know in the comments below. I always love hearing from you! Don't forget to Subscribe to This Healthy Kitchen to be among the first to get my new recipes! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube to see more delicious food.
Buon appetito
Rosa
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or margarine skip for oil free and saute in water or broth instead
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup pot barley or hulled barley
- 8 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
Stove Top Instructions
- Melt the butter, if using, in a medium pot. Then add the shallots, garlic, and sliced mushrooms. Sauté until reduced, approx. 5-6 minutes, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Add the broth and barley, and bring to a boil with the lid on your pot, but slightly askew. Cook over medium/high heat until the barley is tender, approx. 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once cooked, add a little more salt and pepper, if needed, and serve garnished with fresh parsley or red pepper flakes, if desired.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function and add the butter to melt, if using. Add the shallots, garlic and sliced mushrooms and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Sauté until reduced, approx. 5-6 minutes.
- Add the broth and the barley and close the lid. Make sure you set the valve to the sealing position and set to high pressure for 22 minutes. It will take about 10-15 minutes to build pressure and begin counting down.
- Once the timer is complete, quick release the steam valve and open the lid once safe to do so. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed and serve garnished with fresh parsley or red pepper flakes.
Deda says
Coming in once again to update my rave reviews. Currently my Mushroom Barley soup by This Healthy Kitchen contains zero added salt. I’m learning to tolerate this lack with the help of a couple tablespoons of Mrs. Dash in lieu of 2T salt in my THK recipe for veggie broth substitute, have added a litle thyme to the dry mix, and also about a tsp of dried roasted garlic chips, which deepen the garlic tones. For the soup, I wonder if I can ask you to add Vitamin D to the nutrients segment when you next update? Who woulda guessed? Turns out mushrooms are not only incredibly tasty and soft-chewy, they also contain Vitamin D, and, if exposed to direct sunlight (not through a glass pane, and preferably during peak sun hours) or a UVB lamp for as few as 15-60 minutes, increase their Vitamin D to astonishingly high levels of D2. I do not have the calculations for how much Vit D (without sun) or D2 (after exposure) is in a serving of your intoxicating and habit-forming Mushroom Barley Soup, but I hope you may add that nutritional info if you can! (Very bad at food math, very sorry). One more comment, I have started adding some additional vegetables, primarily diced carrots for color and diced celery for added nutrition, but instead of adding them at the beginning to the sauté/reduction, I add them after the soup starts to simmer, to retain the nutrients in those added veggies with the “long and slow” method achieved in simmering. Thank you for opening your kitchen and your healthy heart to those who seek better home cooking.
Rosa says
Thrilled you’ve been enjoying this soup, Deda. Thanks for the taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
The nutrition calculator doesn’t have a vitamin D option, unfortunately, but I’ll make a request to the developer for their consideration. 🙂
Deda says
I’ve made this soup numerous times, as a person trying to eat food that will help different things that need helping, mind and body. I’m using hulled barley, and as many organic ingredients as I can find. Different ways I’ve prepared it:Exactly per the recipe shown, minus the salt, and including using the marvelous vegetable soup base from the recipe here. Half-recipe. Double recipe (freezes very well). Different types of mushrooms in addition to or instead of the cremini, such as white button, shitake, brown beech, white beech. Others with odd names. All delish. With carrots. With leek. With numerous soup veggies. I’ve mini-processored everything down to diced, to save time. Water sauté, oil sauté.
You cannot make this soup taste bad. It is a wonderful thing to find when I’m fighting animal protein cravings, and in a funk because nothing tastes the way it used to. But this soup fixes that. Please try it, and start with the original.
Thank you for gifting us all.
Rosa says
Wow thanks so much for this lovely feedback, Deda. I’m absolutely thrilled you’ve been loving this dish so much and I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
Sue Stell says
LOVE this soup…Sooo good, & better the 2nd day. I did cut the broth to 5 cups & increased the Barley by 1/2 cup. I prefer a more stew like consistency.
This recipe will go to the top of my soup collection 💕
Rosa says
Thanks for sharing, Sue! Thrilled you’re loving this soup.
Shellie says
My neighbor just gave me 1.5 lbs. of pearled barley so this is just what I’m looking for. Do you have to let the pressure out of the IP or can I let it come down naturally?
Rosa says
I have only done a quick release for this soup. If you let the pressure come down naturally, the barley might be overcooked since that will add approx. 10-15 minutes of it sitting in the hot broth.
Deda says
Hi, Rosa and Shellie–
Don’t know if this answers the concern–I have overcooked this soup a couple of times using hulled barley, which really expands much more than pearled, with no harm to taste and little change to texture.
D and V says
Thank you, Rosa, for sharing this simple/simply delicious recipe. We have made it with and without the extra diced veggies, with shallot, with vidalia, with both. We’ve used button, cremini and shitake. We love your “cheater’s” veggie broth recipe, and have utilized it in many other preparations. We use hulled barley. Doesn’t matter, whichever and whatever way or time it’s served, this vegan, gluten-free, whole food, very tasty soup is glorious.
Rosa says
Yay, so happy you’ve been enjoying our mushroom barley soup, and thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
Catherine M says
Made this for my lunches this week; I’m sure if my soup mugs weren’t so massive I’d have got 6 Portia s but ended up with 5 belly busting portions of delicious vegan soup
Rosa says
Thanks for the review, Catherine. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Tammy says
Hi Rosa! Thank you for sharing this! Can this be made in a slow cooker as well?
Thank you!
Rosa says
Hi Tammy, while I haven’t tried that, I’m sure it could be done. I’d try for 4-6 hours on low setting and check on it. You might need extra liquid as the barley absorbs the broth. Please report back if you try it.
Sara Mayer says
Yummy! Made this today for meatless Monday. I didn’t have shallots so I used a regular white onion. Added the carrots and celery too- it was delicious!
Rosa says
Thrilled you enjoyed Sara! 🙂
Bev says
This is outstanding. I noticed the barley really soaks up the broth though so next time I’ll cook separate and add it to the bowls. I can eat this without barley as I’m avoiding carbs.
Rosa says
Thrilled you enjoyed it! 🙂