Mushroom Barley Soup Recipe
Updated January 14, 2021
Quick Summary
This mushroom barley soup is great for colder days. It warms the heart, soul, and stomach. Barley makes this soup very hearty and will fill you up for hours. The simple broth and vegetables give the nutty barley the perfect amount of flavor.
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Pin ItSoup is a very comforting and satisfying meal. Soup can also be one of the healthiest and most enjoyable meals you eat if, you do it at home. Most canned soups are high in sodium and fat, but when you make it yourself, you are “in charge” and can create a very healthy soup.
We eat a lot of soup during the winter months. A few of our favorites are:
- Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
- Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
- Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup
I love making big batches of soup so we can enjoy leftovers during the week. I also like to freeze smaller portions for quick lunch or dinners when our schedules are busy.
I made this mushroom barley soup on a snowy day and it really warmed my heart, soul, and stomach. Barley is a good source of fiber, selenium, phosphorus, copper and manganese. Barley makes this soup very hearty and will fill you up for hours. The simple broth and vegetables give the nutty barley the perfect amount of flavor.
This soup will warm you up in an instant. Give it a try this winter.
Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup barley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 1 16 oz package of white button mushrooms, sliced
- 3 15 ounce cans low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium pan, bring 4 cups of water and the 1 cup of barley to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the barley is soft. You can make this the night before.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add the carrots and celery and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are soft. Add the vegetable broth, water, bay leaves, and fresh thyme. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked barley and cook for 15 minutes or so.
- Remove the bay leaves. before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Have you tried this recipe?
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Perfect timing. I have everything in and I’m making this today. Now I’m super excited for lunch time. 🙂
This looks delish, Maria! We have like 6 feet of snow so now is the perfect time for this. 🙂
Agree! Soup is such a great meal. I actually made a Cream of Chickpea (Vegan) yesterday that I will be posting at some point this week. I love love barley in soups. Such a fun and tasty grain. Hope you’re feeling better! Sorry I haven’t emailed you back yet…this week has been super busy so far! 😉
This is one of my favorite kinds of soup and yours looks SO good! Now I’m very tempted to make some for lunch today. Sometimes I drizzle a little olive oil on my mushrooms and roast them before adding them to the soup. Adds a great flavor!
I always forget about barley, and I have some, I just never think to use it. This looks great!
I love soup this time of year.
I love barley! My parents are obsessed with it too! I’ll send them this recipe!
This would be welcome in my house today – heavy snow and freezing temps. Would be sure to warm us all up!!
My mom used to make a mushroom barley soup when I was a kid and I had to force it down. Now it’s one of my favorites. Thanks for reminding me and for such a great recipe!
I just happen to have some barley in the cupboard – this soup looks hearty, healthy and delicious!
A healthy soup! Great when it’s freezing cold outside!
Cheers,
Rosa
Great minds think alike 🙂
I just sat down last night and made a list of all the soups I want to make. I haven’t done it much in the past but it’s my new thing!!!!!! Yours look wonderful!!!!
Soup make my tummy happy when it’s cold!
This soup looks like the perfect meal!
Thanks for the recipe. It looks very healthy. I may try it this afternoon. I have all the ingredients 🙂
Sounds and looks yummy, Maria! I love making soups in the winter months!
I’m adding this to our list of winter soups especially since the hubs decided he now likes mushrooms
i have a feeling me and this soup could get along just great!
That looks so rich and comforting!
Ooh – this looks great! Perfect for the cold weather we’ve been having in New England. I need to try to make a barley soup soon. I think next up for me is lentil though. I’ve been craving lentil soup – so odd. 🙂
I love a nice big bowl of homemade soup… and if there is a loaf of freshly baked bread to go with it… even better!
this sounds delicious! i’ve been trying to finish the cans of soup in my pantry, and i’m so glad i’m done! reminds me not to do that again, and to make more of my own soup 🙂
oh love this and so healthy thanks so much for visiting my blog
Rebecca
This is my kind of soup!! I can’t wait to give it a try!
Looks great. I made a ridiculous amount of stock last week and it’s taking up space in my freezer. I need soup recipe inspiration wherever I can get it!
I agree! Soup is so comforting! This looks so delicious!
Yum! All of a sudden, I’m seeing barley and mushrooms all over the blogosphere. I love your recipe – nothing too fancy, and yet it sounds so comforting, warming, and hearty. So perfect for this frigid weather we’re having!
I love mushrooms, and I’m always looking for new ways to use barley. Yummy! Thanks! 🙂
This sounds like a great soup for this time of year! YUM
So very true about the nourishing nature of soup. I also think that making soup at home is so very therapeutic!
Haven’t done a mushroom barley soup in a long time. Thanks for the inspiration!
barley is most definitely a magical soup ingredient. i just love how it plumps up and automatically makes the dish more hearty. lovely soup, maria!
tis the season for lots of soup making isn’t it? I’m tired of winter already. I have a couple quarts of chicken soup in freezer, and seeing this made me defrost them.
Could you please tell me if you could leave out the mushrooms?? My husband is NOT crazy about them.
Shelia-if your husband hates mushrooms you can leave them out. I personally think they “make the soup” but I am a mushroom lover:) You can add other veggies if you wish or chicken or beans to make it more hearty without the mushrooms.
how perfect for winter! love the new site design 🙂
I have been craving something simple and warming and I do think this would fit the bill. It looks heavenly!
Yum! That soup looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
I love barley and I love mushrooms so I’m positive I would love this soup! 🙂
This mushroom barley soup looks so very good. Warming and satisfying! We are heading out to the mountains at the end of the month for a ski trip, I will make this while we are away (perhaps before then.) This would be the perfect soup for lunch or dinner, anytime!! Lovely photo!
That really does look warm and delicious! Perfect for our weather!
I luv soup to make, but my favorite is not so healthy made from lots of cream and milk!
I’m definitely making this over the weekend. I have some barley and mushrooms I need to use up! Anything warm sounds good with this cold weather we are all having.
Mushroom barley is one of our faves, delicious!
Just wanted to let you know that I made it today and it’s great. I didn’t have bay leaf so I added a little poultry seasoning just to give it some more flavor. I’ll be hanging on to this one for sure.
I make a beeg barley and veg soup but this is another great soup for barley…under-rated, healthy, filling and delish.
I absolutely adore mushrooms. Will buy barely and whip this one up soon!
Delicious, and so satisfying!!
Looks fabulous, I love barley!
A delicious soup, pure comfort!
Your soup looks fabulous Maria! I’ll have to give it a try this winter.
What a comforting soup – wish I had a bowl right now!
This is perfect! I’ve been looking for a soup recipe with barley that looks appealing. Definitely want to try this.
Your soup looks really rich and nutritious.
this looks REALLY REALLY good. i know barley is so healthy but i’m never quite sure what to do with it…i can tell your recipes are going to become faves of mine!
I made your mushroom barley soup today (2-26-10) and it was absolutely out of this world delicious, it has now become my favorite soup. I can’t stay out of it so heaven help me. I have been looking for a barley mushroom soup ever since I tried one at a bowling alley restaurant during league bowling and that was several years ago and have never been able to find one that even measured up to the one i had at bowling alley (of all places huh?) until I made your recipe today. It is even better!!! Thank you so much for your fabulous recipe!!
Chris-We are glad you enjoyed the soup. It is a good one, huh? Thanks for letting us know!
Added 1-pound of chicken breast and it was AWESOME! Thanks for such a great reciope 😉
I made some of this over the weekend for my freezer. Of course I had to sample it before freezing, and it is yummy. Thanks again for another fabulous recipe.
I’m not a huge mushroom fan but I might just be trying this:-)
how many people does this recipe serve?
the recipe looks great, but dont you think a recipe calling for a can of something is kind of dumb? what size can? how much liquid? why not just say X cup of liquid you can replace with stock if you wish? i never got that, and i see it on these sites all the time. c’mon people get a little professionalism going so the rest of us can actually USE these recipes!
I updated the recipe. I used 15 ounce cans.
I’m just greatful you shared the recipe.
Thank you!
Tried and true. 🙂 made it. loved it. posted it on my blog and gave your recipe credit as it was by far the once i preferred with fresh veggies and ingredients. 🙂 thank you!
I made this last week and it was wonderful! I had half a package of baby bellas to use up and found this recipe. I had some leftover rotisserie chicken so used 1-2 cups of that too. My husband and brother-in-law (who lives with us) fought over the leftovers! 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for letting us know! Glad you liked the soup!
Just made this and it turned out great. I had everything but the mushrooms so I added ground beef. Delish!
Thanks
I’ve made this twice now and it’s just so good. I keep coming back to your recipe. You’re really a favorite here. Thank you!
Can I let it simmer for a few hours or it get mushy? Thanks
It should be fine on a very low simmer. You might need to add a little more liquid.
What size (weight) pkg of mushrooms?
16 ounces. I updated the recipe. Thanks for catching that!
Loved it/added dash of curry .
Freezes well
This soup was just what I was looking for. Absolutely delicious!!!
Yummy!
I had some barley to use up and this sounded great. It was. Just for fun I added one tablespoon of heavy cream.
I love this recipe! The flavours are great together and you can add in other vegetables that you might have on hand. I added green beans and they added great colour and taste to this already wonderful soup! I have made it several times now.
Found this recipe on Pinterest and have been itching to make it. Well, tonight was the night and WOW! It is SUPER delish. Even my husband raved about it, and he is a regular carnivore! He never missed the meat though, as this is so savory. It made a big pot so we will be eating on it for several days to come. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
I have made this recipe several times and it’s one of my favorites! Delish! The only thing I do different is do are least 3 packages of baby Bella mushrooms, I do about 5 carrots and a little extra thyme and I double the barley. I love mushrooms and carrots . Thanks for the recipe very hearty soup.
Has anyone tried cooking the barley right in the broth to save a step and a pot and infuse the barley with even more flavour? I’m hoping to make this today. Thanks for any help.
I am making this soup now and I am not sure how many cups of liquid are correct. The recipe states one cup of water and 3 -15 oz cans of broth. The directions state to put 4 cups of water and 1 cup of barley in the pan and simmer.
The discrepancy is 3 cups of water. I am trying to decide how to proceed.
Thank you.
Marilyn
The water at the beginning is to cook the barley.
I came across this recipe looking for something healthy to make. Was so happy I had all the ingredients! It’s the 19th of January here in Pennsylvania and we’re preparing for a major snow storm, so this soup looked so comforting. I was right, the hearty flavor of all the veggies along with the barley was so delicious!! Thank you for this recipe! ❤️
For those gluten free, like my dad, I researched and found that coix seeds aka Job’s tears, is an excellent substitution for barley. I am not a fan of mushrooms, but I love barley soup. I tend to use more barley (Job’s tears) and add beef chuck roast chunks. I like the thicker stew like texture on a crisp winter day. Very nostalgic for me.
I don’t see anybody who actually made the soup! We’ve did and it is great, except we thought the cup of water was too much, making the soup too thin. Could you comment whether the water was a typo? Otherwise it is very tasty and obviously healthy.
I made it . It was a big hit.
It was great, but I substituted things. Used mock chicken powder, mock beef powder, tamari, lots of dried aromatics. I also noticed a lack of comments from people who actually made it. This is important, because how do we (those who are actually going to make it) know it is a good recipe & what needs tweaking?
Brings memories of my grandmother’s
kitchen. Lovely soup. I use mushroom broth for a deep, rich flavor.
I made mine with homemade chicken broth instead of veggie broth. I thought the finished soup was fairly tasteless. I added a lot of spices and finally some fish sauce to give it some flavor. Think i’ll have to put a lot of parmesan cheese on it to make it edible. Almost thinking of tossing the whole huge pot. If the parmesan doesn’t do the trick, i just may have to. Quite disappointed.
I find this review to be WAAAAAAAAY off.
A good and simple recipe I added 2 potetoes and portobello mushroms , thamks
Hey there add some tomato paste to the soup. It will brighten it up and add more flavour.
Delicious! I actually used chicken stock the first time…also threw in some sweet potato cubes, some arugula. The second time, I used beef stock…it’s a better match for me…and I used more celery. It is a really good basic recipe and you can add your own touches to it…thank you, I think you came up with a wonderful recipe!
Loved this with beef stock. Also added some V8 juice. The tomato juice added a bit of acid. So good
It was good but to make it tastier I added Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base, then 4 tablespoons of cooking Sherry, about 1/2 lemon and about 3 tablespoons of butter! Yummy!
It was a very happy with your recipe! Thank you
Delish…used portobello mushrooms. Used better than bullion veg base for broth. Simple fast and so satisfying. This is a keeper.
I loved it! Yummy
I did not have a bay leaf.
I browned the sliced mushrooms in butter before adding to the soup.
I used vegetarian soup base instead of broth.
The mushrooms were baby portobello.
I’ve made this soup twice. Both times, I didn’t have bay leaves, added a chopped parsnip, and some parsley. I also used a half cup of barley instead of a full cup, which I used the first time (the full cup made the soup a bit too thick and gummy.) It was a delicious soup which we gobbled up! I generally make mushroom and barley soup with a meat base, but this soup is lighter and I’m certain healthier.
This recipe is definitely a keeper.
I make mushroom barley soup every winter, but a much simpler version. I use 1 pot, butter to sauté onion and mushroom with a bit of salt to release the juices. When they are cooked I add water and marrow bones. I let that cook for about 45 min or an hour skimming off the foam. Then add barley.
Absolutely delicious! I think the fresh thyme was key. Added an additional package of mushrooms – baby bella – and the taste of this soup brought me back to my grandmother’s house! Just what I was looking for and my husband loved it, too.
Made this for the second time. I’m Italian and prefer more robust flavors. This was rather bland, but a great base to work from. I doubled the garlic, salt & pepper. I also used chicken broth. Substituted freshly harvested birch Bolete mushrooms. This is a winner!
Perfect!!!
I used chicken stock, cremini mushrooms, and added cream, coconut aminos and fresh lemon juice and it was lovely! Thanks for the base recipe!
I’ve made this recipe twice. Delicious! I used Better than Boullion (Veg). Yum!
I loved that this recipe mostly incorporated pantry staples, making it easy to cook right before a grocery run. I will probably make it again, but with some significant tweaks – likely adding more of a variety of vegetables and spices, as well as cutting down on the amount of broth or cooking the barley in the soup. It turned out a little brothy and pretty salty for my taste (without added salt or cheese), but definitely still tasty enough to finish the batch and plan to make it again!
Excellent basic mushroom barley soup recipe! I added finely chopped leek (with an inch of the green finely chopped also), a full 1 1/2 lbs of mushrooms, and extra broth because, as us barley lovers know the barley continues to expand. ( I do this at the end of the cooking time and then the next day also. Add broth to thin to your liking. )
Extra note: We are vegan so I use a rich veggie broth that I make but also I added some Braggs aminos. And yes certainly chicken broth would be delicious!
Love this recipe as a basic. Needs a little more flavoring. Will use beef broth next time.
My only question would be serving size. One cup never satisfies me but need some parameters for carb counting.
Any suggestions?
Check your barley source for carbs. The vegetables will add an insignificant amount of carbs. You could use a recipe analyzer to check for more precise numbers.
Easy and good. I used quick barley and just let it cook 15 minutes in the broth with the veggies
I followed the recipe to the letter. Delicious!
I made this soup and couldn’t wait to make it again. So I just made it again. It’s so savory and satisfying. I used quick cooking barley because that’s all I could find locally and just added it directly during the last 12 minutes. It works great.
Loved this recipe – added a bit of lemon juice at the end as someone suggested. Delightful.
Thank you for posting.
Good recipe. We’re soup lovers and this one is going into our rotation.
By the way, no food — not even soup — is “healthy.” Healthy means “not sick.” All (or most of) the food we put in our mouths is dead (because otherwise ick!j so it’s definitely NOT healthy. Although much of the world seems determined to misuse these words, the one you really want is “healthful.” That’s something — exercise, fresh air, soup — that makes you healthy, not something that inherently has good health. You can be healthy, but you want your food to be healthful.
Awesome soup. Added leftover potatoes to make it more hearty.
Great recipe I added a bunch more fresh thyme and Osem chicken stock powder for flavour. Will probably add some hot sauce to each bowl.