Can’t stop, won’t stop with the yummy soups over here! Soup is easy, soup is filling, soup is an easy way to pack some more vegetables into your day, and soup (usually) freezes well. This week I’m bringing you this awesome Vegetable Barley Soup that is packed with tons of color, texture, and flavor. And thanks to a healthy dose of barley, it’s also super filling. I’m so glad this recipe makes a huge batch because I’m going to be living off the frozen leftovers of this soup for the rest of winter!!
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What is Barley?
Barley is a short, chewy grain that is great in soups, stews, salads, pilafs, and more. You can usually find it in the grain section of your grocery store, near rice and dry beans. It’s usually labeled “pearled barley” which simply means the outer husk and some of the bran has been removed. Barley does contain a small amount of gluten, so it is not considered a gluten-free food.
Can I Substitute the Barley?
Yep! If you’re not into barley or can’t find it, you can use another grain, like farro or wheat berries, or even pasta. A small shape, like ditalini would be awesome.
Can I Use Other Vegetables?
The beauty of this Vegetable Barley Soup is that it is extremely versatile. You can add just about any vegetable to this soup, which makes it great for using up odds and ends of vegetables in your refrigerator and freezer. I used onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, carrots, potato, frozen green beans, frozen corn, and frozen peas, but you could also substitute or add in any of these vegetables:
- Celery (add in the beginning with onion)
- Zucchini (add at the end with green beans and peas)
- Spinach (add at the very end, stir in until wilted)
- Mushrooms (add in the beginning with onion)
- Cabbage (add in the beginning with carrots)
- Kale (add mid-way, with potatoes)
- Beans (kidney, chickpeas, cannellini, add mid-way with potatoes)
Broth Matters
Vegetable broth carries a lot of the flavor in this soup, so make sure you use a quality vegetable broth, or one that you know you like. As always, I use Better Than Bouillon soup base to make my broth. It is full-flavored and I can mix up any amount I need when I’m cooking, without having leftovers go to waste.
How Much Vegetable Barley Soup Does This Make?
This recipe makes a whopping 12 cups, which I would consider to be about 6 large 2-cup servings. Since the soup is mostly vegetables, I usually go with a slightly larger serving size. This is also a very thick soup once finished, so if you prefer it to be a little more brothy, you can add more vegetable broth and the yield will be even higher.
Can You Freeze Vegetable Soup?
Yes! This soup freezes great. Some people find that potatoes change in texture slightly when frozen and thawed, but it’s not something that I’ve ever noticed or that has bothered me, especially when in a soup.
What Do You Serve with Vegetable Barley Soup?
This soup is just asking for a nice piece of buttered crusty bread for dipping! I would go with something with a lot of texture, like a homemade no knead bread, cornbread, or sour dough. I wouldn’t even be against dropping a few cubes of Swiss cheese into this soup, for a little melty goodness in each bite!
P.S. If you have leftover barley, you should totally make my Baked Barley with Mushrooms!
Vegetable Barley Soup
Servings 6 2 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1/2 lb. carrots (about 4) ($0.45)
- 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes ($1.59)
- 1 cup pearled barley ($0.89)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.78)
- 1 russet potato (about 3/4 lb.) ($1.22)
- 1 cup frozen green beans ($0.271)
- 1/2 cup frozen corn ($0.10)
- 1/2 cup frozen peas ($0.19)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.03)
- 1 handful fresh parsley (optional garnish) ($0.20)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a large soup pot and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Meanwhile, peel and dice the carrots. Once the onions are soft, add the carrots to the soup pot, along with the canned diced tomatoes (with juices), barley, basil, oregano, some freshly cracked pepper, and vegetable broth.
- Stir the contents of the pot to combine, place a lid on top, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the soup simmer, with the lid in place, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
- While the soup simmers, peel and dice the potato into 1/2-inch cubes. After the soup has simmered and the barley is mostly tender, add the diced potatoes and continue to simmer for 10 minutes more, or just until the potatoes are tender.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add the frozen green beans, corn, and peas. Stir to combine, and heat through (about 5 minutes in the simmering soup).
- Finally, add the lemon juice to the soup and stir to combine. Taste the soup and adjust the salt or pepper to your liking. Serve hot, with fresh chopped parsley on top as a garnish, if desired.
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Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Chef’s Knife
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Vegetable Barley Soup – Step by Step Photos
Dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to a large soup pot (mine is 6 qt.) along with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent.
While the onion and garlic are cooking, peel and slice 1/2 lb. of carrots (about 4 medium carrots). Add the carrots to the soup pot along with one 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (with juices), 1 cup pearled barley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, some freshly cracked pepper, and 6 cups of vegetable broth. Stir to combine.
Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the soup up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer, lid in place, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. While the soup simmers, peel and dice a russet potato into 1/2-inch cubes. After simmering 30 minutes, add the diced potato and simmer 10 minutes more.
After simmering 10 minutes, the potatoes should be tender. Add 1 cup frozen green beans, 1/2 cup frozen peas, and 1/2 cup frozen corn to the soup. Stir to combine, and heat through (about 5 minutes).
Finally, stir 1 Tbsp lemon juice into the soup. Give it a taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking (I added a touch more pepper, but no salt). Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.
YUMMMM. Vegetable-y goodness got me all warm and cozy!
Was yummy but had to cook way longer than is stated in recipe. Adding the potatoes so late in the cooking time made them not be done when rest of soup was good. I’m going to add potatoes with the carrots next time.
Thank you for such a great adaptable recipe, especially the advice about what time to add substitute vegetable options.
The addition of the lemon juice at the end takes this soup to 5 stars.
I love this soup! I usually omit the potato and substitute a can of black beans for more protein, and though it gets thicker, it’s still delicious.
I substituted ditalini pasta for the barley and added some extra veggies. Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly and it was absolutely the BEST VEGETABLE SOUP I HAVE EVER EATEN! Loved it. And so simple to make!
I made this, but omitted the potato. Both hubby and I LOVED it!
This is my favorite soup. I cook the barley in my instant pot while I ‘m cooking the other ingredients and then add the cooked barley after the potatoes are done. I also add an extra cup of water to the soup pot since the barley tends to absorb liquid after sitting.
This soup was wonderful. So easy and my husband wants it every week.
Nice healthy comforting meal. Another winner from Budget Bytes! Thanks!
So good and easy! Most time-consuming part for me was peeling and cubing the potatoes. My 1 year old who hates vegetables DEVOURED it, and my meatless-meal hating husband loved it too! I used ditalini pasta instead of barley because I prefer it in my vegetable soup. I cooked the pasta separate and added it to individual servings. This probably made my soup more brothy since none of the broth was absorbed by barley, but I like a brothy-er soup. I used vegetable stock, but next time I’m going to try chicken stock.
I love this recipe. I’ve made it a few different times. The barley does grow a lot and absorb liquid, so you may have to add some extra broth to the leftovers if you want it very soupy. Make sure to cut your potatoes very small, or add sooner. 10 minutes plus 5 with the frozen veggie left mine a bit too hard.
As for sodium, pay attention to your canned tomatoes & broth. It really varies a lot by brand. I used Kroger Petit Diced 28 oz can and Simple Truth veggie broth. When I added into My Fitness Pal, I got around 750 mg of sodium. You could get that even lower by thinning with water or getting a no-sodium broth.
Love love this recipe. So easy to customize for whatever veggies you have on hand!
So I made the (slightly modified) recipe and it turned out really, really tasty, so I’m not trying to bash it at all, but it’s just a bit of a stretch to call it truly “healthy” when it’s got half a day’s sodium in one serving. Obviously it’s easy to modify, but like, that’s just a heck of a lot of salt haha. Definitely 5 stars for ease of preparation and overall cost though!
Check the sodium content on the broth and tomatoes you are using. Once, I could not make it to Trader Joe’s and had to use another canned tomato brand from a local store in a recipe I had made several times. The recipe was extremely salty and when I reviewed the ingredients, I realized it came from the canned tomatoes. (We hardly salt our food.) The salt can vary from brand to brand. Same with broth.
Sodium isn’t unhealthy at all when paired with enough potassium in one’s diet.
Anyone try this in an instant pot?
This is good. Have eaten, but not cooked barley before. Wow, it does grow! This was a bit too much barley for me, so next time will decrease by at least 25%. thank you for an adaptable recipe!
Yum! I can’t recall if I’d ever had barley soup before but glad I took a chance on this recipe. I only added 14 oz of diced tomatoes but otherwise followed the recipe. This is an amazingly comforting soup! Fresh raised dinner rolls rounded this entree out. Looking forward to leftovers. Thank you!