Mushroom Barley Soup is an easy favorite, and a bowl full of goodness & flavor!
Perfect for meatless Monday or as a vegetarian entrée, but feel free to add beef, chicken, or turkey. If you can find wild mushrooms, use them, otherwise fresh from the market or canned mushrooms will work!
Quick and Yummy!
This is one of our all-time favorites because it’s easy to make. One pot and three easy steps are all it takes to create this wonderfully heartwarming soup that everyone will love!
Mushroom Barley Soup is easy on the wallet because it’s made without meat but is still hearty. It’s perfect for a crowd!
Ingredients & Variations
Just a few fresh veggies, some herbs, some broth and barley, and, of course, all the mushrooms!
MUSHROOMS Wild, from the supermarket, or even canned! They’ll all taste great in this soup.
BARLEY Pearl barley is used in this soup, but use any kind you have. No barley? Use rice instead!
VEGGIES Onion, celery & carrot are diced up and simmered with the mushrooms and broth. Feel free to add any extra veggies you have in your fridge or garden!
BROTH Beef broth is added to this soup, but for a vegetarian version, use mushroom broth instead (or vegetable broth)!
VARIATIONS Toss in any leftover beef or chicken you want to use up! Try adding a can of great northern beans or even corn to your soup for some extra protein and color!
How to Make Mushroom Barley Soup
Mushroom barley soup is hearty and healthy and comes together in no time flat!
- Saute the onions, carrots, and celery in butter until the onion is tender.
- Add remaining ingredients (per recipe below) and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer until the barley is tender.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, croutons, and a hot basket of steaming 30-minute dinner rolls.
Add some leftover roast beef for a flavorful version of beef barley soup.
Tips for the Perfect Soup
- Chop the onions, carrot, and celery in uniform sizes so they cook at the same rate.
- If using fresh mushrooms, brush any debris off of them with a paper towel. To make a fancier soup, try using different kinds of mushrooms instead of the regular button white variety. Why not try Criminis, porcini, shiitakes, or oyster mushrooms?
- To store mushroom barley soup leftovers, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- To freeze mushroom soup, ladle it into zippered bags, label with the date and they should keep about two months.
Other Delicious Soups
- Fresh Tomato Soup – creamy & savory
- White Bean Soup – hearty & filling
- Cream of Mushroom Soup – flavorful
- Crockpot Potato and Sausage Soup – set it & forget it
- Philly Cheesesteak Soup – a family favorite
- Chicken Tortellini Soup – comfort food
- Sausage & Kale Soup – budget-friendly
Did your family love this Mushroom Barley Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 rib celery chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced or 1 can mushrooms
- 6 cups beef broth or vegetable broth
- ⅔ cup pearl barley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Instructions
- Cook onion, carrot and celery in butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until onion is tender. Add mushrooms and cook 5 minutes more.
- Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 30-35 minutes or until barley is tender.
- Discard bay leaf and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I used beef stock in this recipe. The broth was very flavorful. Easy, quick soup recipe that tastes great! I halved the recipe but not the mushrooms! It was perfect.
I have this cooking on the stove this very minute. It’s an overcast and chilly day……perfect for soup. Wondering about the thyme. Is it dried thyme leaves, or is it dried ground thyme? Thanks.
I use dried thyme leaves in this recipe. Sorry for the confusion, I have updated the recipe.
I used beef broth this is delicious soup easy to make definitely a keeper
This is just like the soup my husband and I loved at a local deli that closed many years ago. It is so simple to put together and perfect for these colder fall/winter days. A great comfort food – thanks for the recipe!
Excellent recipe. I did saute a small amount of crushed garlic with the veggies. I did a Paul Dean trick and added a tbsp of butter to the simmering soup for added richness. This recipe doesn’t call for salt and pepper which you might need to add. I used low sodium beef broth and low sodium soy sauce so I needed to add a small amount of salt. I only had quick cooking barley, so I added that the last 10 minutes of cooking. The mushrooms I had on hand were Cremini and I think I liked it better that white button mushroom. I served this with some crusty bread and we were happy. This was such an easy recipe. I will be making this again.
So glad you loved it, thank you for sharing your tips!
I have been looking for a good mushroom barley soup recipe for a long time with no success, to try to replicate a soup I had in an Eastern European restaurant years ago. This recipe fits the bill nicely. Only changes I made were to use pot barley (containing the bran) and add paprika for that ethnic touch. Stirred in some sour cream in the bowl.
Great additions, Jocelyn! That sounds delicious. Glad we were able to help you recreate that yummy soup!
Just looking for good easy healthy recipes
Lacey, you may be interested in checking out the healthy recipes section on Spend With Pennies as well my Easy Low Carb website!
These are mouthwatering recipes,but very,very doable.
Made this tonight, so good and so easy. My wife gave it 5/5 in our scoring system! We will add it to the rotation.
This is so good! Making it for the second time today. It totally satisfies while being lower calorie and healthy. Win win!
I used rice and cremini mushrooms and added Parmesan cheese when I served it. My new favourite soup!
Delicious easy soup
I love soup glad to see some new recipes
Find ever more soup recipes here Pamela!
Do you use dry or fresh thyme. Can’t wait to make this!
You can use either, this recipe uses dry. If you use fresh you might like to add a little bit extra.
Made this today and it was delicious. I will add more mushrooms next time as I love mushrooms. It was easy to make and quick also.
Mushrooms are one of my favorites too Patti!
Mushrooms are my new meat.
I know there are 2 different types of barley. The “slow-cooking” & the newer “quick cooking” type. Are either variety OK to use in this recipe & does the cooking time vary with the type used? Which type is used in this soup recipe? I was looking for this exact recipe! Thanks.
I use pearl barley in this recipe. You can use either kind, you’ll want to check the package for cook time to use as a guideline.
I used quick cooking barley and added it in the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Mushroom’s are my favorite additive to my soups!!
This sounds delicious! But I don’t have any barley. What else could I use?
Hi Tracey, if you don’t have barley you could use rice, quinoa or lentils instead! Let us know how it turns out :)
On my to make and taste list and soon! This sounds excellent, and I will used a mix of Asian mushrooms as well. I will come back with a review after I make this.
Enjoy Lee!