Mushroom barley soup is a hearty comforting soup filled with flavors and textures. It's made with pearl barley, lots of mushrooms, and vegetables. Barley makes this soup very filling so it can also be enjoyed as a meal too. It's also a vegan-friendly dish.
Sometimes I feel that my blog is becoming a soup recipe blog because that's my most frequently shared recipe category. The reason is that I share what I eat and soups are cooked quite often in my kitchen.
Today, I am sharing the recipe for a very tasty barley soup that's so filling that we enjoy it as a meal. The recipe is mushroom barley soup with cherry tomatoes.
The different textures of ingredients used in this soup make it even more interesting.
If you are looking for a hearty, one-pot meal recipe then this barley soup recipe is a must-try.
It can be enjoyed by vegans and vegetarians too.
What's needed to make mushroom barley soup?
To make this easy barley soup with mushrooms, you will need the ingredients shown below:
Ingredient notes
- Mushrooms: I have used both brown and white mushrooms because I had both in my fridge when I made this soup. You can use either of them.
- Pearl barley: It's the barley whose outer hull is removed and then it's polished. Pearl barley is used in soups because it gets cooked faster in comparison to hulled barley.
- Cherry tomatoes: You can also use roughly chopped regular tomatoes but cherry tomatoes give this soup a better texture and taste. It also makes this soup look more appealing.
- Cilantro: If you don't like cilantro, use parsley.
- Seasonings: I have used dried basil, oregano, cumin powder, chili flakes, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper to flavor this barley soup. You can use herbs and spices of your choice to flavor it.
- Vegetable stock: For a more mushroomy flavor, use mushroom stock.
Other ingredient details and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.
How to make (step by step process)?
Step 1: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a cooking pot.
Step 2: Add chopped mushrooms and saute for 7-8 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked.
Step 3: Transfer the cooked mushrooms to a bowl.
Step 4: In the same cooking pot, heat the remaining ½ a tablespoon of olive oil and add chopped onion. Cook until it becomes translucent.
Step 5: Add chopped celery, carrot, and minced garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Step 6: Add chili flakes, dried oregano, basil, cumin powder, black pepper, and bay leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
Step 7: Add pearl barley and saute it for a minute.
Step 8: Add vegetable stock and salt. Mix everything.
Step 9: Cover the pot and cook on a medium flame for 35-40 minutes.
Step 10: Add sauteed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Cook for another 6-7 minutes.
Step 11: Add chopped cilantro/ parsley and lemon juice.
Step 12: Remove the bay leaves before serving.
Your hearty barley mushroom soup is ready to be enjoyed.
Serving mushroom barley soup
Serve this soup hot or warm with some toasted bread, garlic bread, dinner roll, or any bread of your choice.
A fresh salad like tabbouleh, or fattoush also goes well with it.
You can also serve roasted vegetables or a side dish like these oven-baked potato wedges with barley soup.
Storing, freezing, and re-heating tips
To store, transfer this soup to an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
It freezes well too. Freeze in batch-size freezer-safe containers for 3-4 months.
To reheat, thaw and transfer to a cooking pot. Add some hot broth or water to adjust the consistency and cook until nicely heated.
You can also reheat it in the microwave. For that, transfer the thawed soup to a microwave-safe container. Add some hot liquid and microwave for a few minutes, stirring after every 1-2 minutes until the soup gets evenly heated.
Recipe tips and tricks
- Don't make very small pieces of mushrooms, they will shrink in size after getting sauteed.
- You can also mix different varieties of mushrooms to use in this soup.
- To give an interesting texture to this soup, finely chop half of the mushrooms, saute them separately, and then add to the soup with the remaining bite-size sauteed mushrooms.
- Don't overcook cherry tomatoes otherwise their outer skin will come out and they will turn very mushy.
- For extra, mushroom flavor, use mushroom stock. You can also add mushroom powder to it.
Frequently asked questions
No, barley is not gluten-free.
Though you can it will take a very long time to get cooked and it will be very chewy too. So, I won't recommend using hulled barley in this recipe.
Yes, you can use dried mushrooms too.
Hulled barley is the form of barley in which only the indigestible outer husk of barley gets removed.
In pearl barley both the husk and bran layer gets removed and it's polished too.
Other mushroom recipes
Looking for more delicious ideas to cook mushrooms? Try the following easy mushroom recipes from around the world:
- Mushroom rice
- Kerala style pepper mushrooms
- Mushroom noodles
- Mushroom tom yum soup
- Enoki mushroom salad
- Thai stir-fried mushrooms
- Mushroom masala
- Thai vermicelli salad with mushrooms
- Vegan cream of mushroom soup
- Mushroom curry with coconut milk
More vegan soup recipes
Looking for more comforting and filling vegan soup recipes? Don't miss checking the following links:
- Greek chickpea soup
- Vegetable orzo soup
- Tofu noodle soup
- Cannellini bean soup
- Greek white bean soup
- Purple cabbage soup
- Mushroom potato soup
- Moroccan sweet potato chickpea soup
- Black bean soup
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Recipe
Mushroom barley soup
Equipment
- 1 Large cooking pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 7-8 white button mushrooms around 150 grams, cut into bite-size pieces
- 7-8 brown mushrooms around 150 grams, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks of celery finely chopped
- 1 medium-sized carrot finely chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves minced, adjust to taste
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley or cilantro
- 1-2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- crushed black pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- 7 cups vegetable stock or as required to get the desired consistency
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a cooking pot. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for 7-8 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and keep them aside.
- In the same pot, heat around ½ a tablespoon of olive oil and add chopped onion. Cook until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add chopped celery, carrot, and minced garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chili flakes, dried oregano, basil, cumin powder, black pepper, and bay leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
- Next, add barley and saute for a minute.
- Add vegetable stock and salt. Cover the pot and cook on a medium flame for 35-40 minutes.
- Once the barley is cooked, add sauteed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Cook uncovered for 6-7 minutes.
- Finally, add lemon juice and chopped cilantro or parsley.
- Remove the bay leaves before serving.
Video
Notes
- Instead of vegetable stock, mushroom stock can also be used for extra mushroom flavor.
- I have used both white and brown mushrooms, you can use a single variety too.
- Feel free to add seasonings of your choice to flavor the soup.
- Don't overcook the cherry tomatoes. They should retain their shape in the soup.
- More recipe tips and tricks are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.
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