This mushroom barley soup is hearty vegetable soup recipe with mushrooms, carrot and barley in a savoury broth. You won’t miss the beef in this vegetable version!

Mushroom barley soup in soup bowl.

This mushroom barley soup has all the same great flavours of beef and barley soup without the meat. A flavourful and hearty soup that’s best enjoyed with crusty bread and butter!

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Ingredients and substitutions

A few notes on the key ingredients …

Barley – For best results start with pearl (or pearled) barley. This type of barley will be clearly labelled with pearl or pearled on the package. Pot barley is another type of barley but often requires pre-soaking and additional cooking time.

Mushrooms – I love cremini mushrooms in this soup, but regular button mushrooms are fine as well. I also prefer to buy whole mushrooms and slice them myself. The variety of shapes when cutting your own mushrooms makes for a more interesting soup, in my opinion.

Beef Broth – You can use regular beef broth or opt for “beef flavoured” vegetarian beef broth for a vegetarian soup.

How to make mushroom barley soup

This is a visual summary of the steps to make this soup. Always refer to the complete ingredient list and instructions in the Recipe Card below to make this soup.

Adding the barley to boiling water.
1
Barley simmering in the saucepan.
2
Cooking the onion, carrots and celery in a soup pot.
3
  1. Boil the water in a saucepan and add the pearled barley.
  2. Allow the barley to cook while you start the soup in a soup pot.
  3. Add the onion, celery and carrot to the soup pot and cook until the onion in softened.
Mushrooms added to the soup pot.
4
Adding flour to the vegetables in the soup pot.
5
Broth and seasonings added to the soup pot.
6
  1. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden.
  2. Add the flour to the pot and cook briefly.
  3. Add the beef broth to the pot and then the tomato paste, Worcestershire and thyme. Allow the soup to simmer to soften the vegetables.
Cooked barley in the saucepan.
7
Adding the cooked barley to the mushroom barley soup.
8
Finishing the soup with chopped parsley.
9
  1. The barley will be perfectly cooked when it has absorbed virtually all the liquid.
  2. The soup should be ready by that time, so add the cooked barley straight to the soup pot if you will be enjoying it right away. If making ahead, it’s fine to keep them separate until reheating to serve.
  3. Taste and adjust the seasoning in the soup and finish with a handful of fresh, chopped parsley.

Recipe tips!

  • You might wonder if you could just cook the barley in the soup instead of cooking it separately. I have tested it both ways, and there are definite benefits to cooking the barley separately. It takes a long time for the barley to cook in the soup, in fact, it takes just as much time to cook it in the soup as it takes to cook it separately. Further, when cooking the barley in the soup, the barley will absorb a lot of the broth to cook the barley, and the soup will inevitably become too thick.
  • Carrots! If there is one thing that can ruin a lovely pot of soup, it’s hard carrots. Be sure to test the carrots to be sure they are tender before adding the cooked barley to the pot. I like to chop them fairly small myself.
Mushroom barley soup in soup bowl.

Making ahead, storing and freezing

If you are making the soup ahead to enjoy it all later, keep the soup and the barley separate until reheating to serve.

Store leftover soup in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The soup will thicken in the fridge, but can be thinned out with some more beef broth.

This soup will freeze well for up to 3 months.

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Mushroom barley soup in soup bowl.

Get the Recipe: Mushroom Barley Soup

A hearty vegetable soup recipe with mushrooms, carrot and barley in a savoury broth.
5 stars from 1 rating
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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For cooking the barley:

  • 3/4 cup pearl barley, *see Note 1 below
  • 4 cups water

Soup:

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil, or other cooking oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 ribs celery, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 lb mushrooms, sliced *see Note 2 below
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups beef broth, or "beef flavoured" vegetarian broth
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, or 2 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4-1/3 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
  • Salt and pepper, as needed

Instructions
 

  • Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the barley and return to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes.
  • While the barley is cooking, start the soup by heating the cooking oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook, stirring, about 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook with the vegetables until softened and golden, about 4-5 minutes more.
  • Add the flour to the pot and cook, stirring together with the vegetables, for about 1 minute.
  • Add the beef broth, tomato paste and thyme to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat under the pot and simmer on low heat for 20-25 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Be sure to taste-test the carrots to be sure.
  • When the barley is cooked, spoon it directly into the soup pot and stir in. Simmer the soup with the barley for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. If the soup becomes too thick, add a splash more beef broth or a bit of water to thin. Add the balsamic vinegar and chopped parsley and stir in.
  • Taste the soup and add additional salt and freshly ground pepper, as needed. Soup generally needs a lot of salt. If the flavours taste a little flat, it needs more salt!
  • Serve with additional chopped parsley, for garnish.

Notes

Note 1: You might wonder if you could just cook the barley in the soup instead of cooking it separately. I have tested it both ways, and there are definite benefits to cooking the barley separately. It takes a long time for the barley to cook in the soup, in fact, it takes just as much time to cook it in the soup as it takes to cook it separately. Further, when cooking the barley in the soup, the barley will absorb a lot of the broth to cook the barley, and the soup will inevitably become too thick.
Note 2: You can use cremini or button mushrooms. I prefer cremini. I like to start with whole mushrooms and slice them myself, as they make more varied textures in the soup. 1 lb. of mushrooms is two standard 8 oz trays of mushrooms.
Tip!
Carrots! If there is one thing that can ruin a lovely pot of soup, it’s hard carrots. Be sure to test the carrots to be sure they are tender before adding the cooked barley to the pot. I like to chop them fairly small myself.
Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card, where you will find substitution suggestions and step-by-step photos that you might find helpful.
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Course: Soup
Author: Jennifer Maloney
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 211kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 0.5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Sodium: 1047mg, Potassium: 932mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 7244IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 73mg, Iron: 3mg
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