Mushroom Barley Soup - robust and flavorful deli-style soup. Chicken or vegetarian broth. Kosher, Jewish, healthy, comfort food, deli.
Prep time: PT45M
Cook time: PT135M
Total time: PT150M
Rating
4.8 stars (163 reviews)
Keywords
soup recipe
Ingredients
3 quarts chicken or mushroom stock ((low sodium okay))
1 1/4 cups pearl barley
2 bay leaves
6 dried shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery, including leaves
1 cup peeled and chopped carrots
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 pound white mushrooms, scrubbed and sliced
Salt and pepper
Categories
Soup
Cuisine
American
Steps
Pour chicken or mushroom stock into a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Stir in the barley, add the bay leaves, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered. Set your timer for 2:15 (2 hours 15 minutes) starting now.
While the soup simmers, place dried mushrooms in a separate small saucepan. Add 3 cups of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water boils, remove saucepan from heat and let the mushrooms soak for 20 minutes.
Drain the mushroom water by straining it through a coffee filter (use a mesh strainer or colander to hold the filter). Reserve the mushroom water.
Chop the soaked, softened mushrooms into small pieces and reserve.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion to the skillet and sauté till softened.
Add the celery and carrots and sauté for 5 more minutes till everything is browning and starting to caramelize.
Add the soaked chopped dried mushroom pieces and crushed garlic, sauté for 2 more minutes. Your kitchen should smell really good right about now!
Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Pour the strained mushroom broth into the skillet, bring to a boil, stir. Cook for 2 more minutes till mixture is hot and bubbly. Add the contents of the skillet to the simmering stockpot with the broth and barley.
Without rinsing the skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat, tilting to coat the bottom of the pan. Spread half of the sliced white mushrooms in a single layer at the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and turn heat to high. Let the mushrooms sear without stirring.
After 2 minutes, stir the mushrooms continuously for another 1-2 minutes until they are seared golden brown and shrink to about half their size.
Pour the seared mushrooms into the soup pot. Heat the last 1 tbsp olive oil in the skillet and repeat the process for the remaining mushrooms. Add the rest of the seared mushrooms to the soup pot, stir to blend all ingredients.
Reduce heat to a low simmer. Let the soup cook uncovered until your timer goes off (2 hours 15 minutes total cooking time), or until the barley is completely tender and the soup is nicely thickened. Add water during the simmer if the soup becomes overly thick. At the end of cooking, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 327 kcal
Carbohydrates: 42 g
Protein: 14 g
Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 10 mg
Sodium: 535 mg
Sugar: 8 g
Reviews
tara zlotkin on 2026-02-12 (3 stars): It’s good but time consuming. Would prefer to find a recipe next time that is quicker.
Dan on 2025-12-31 (5 stars): Been using this recipe for years. As it's just the two of us, I cut everything in half and still worked well. Also, lately I've had difficulty finding dried mushrooms, until I stumbled across a variety pack at Costco (oyster, shitake, others), and used that. Still the best recipe. By far.
Maritsa Wagner on 2025-12-29 (5 stars): Have been following this recepie since 2019! Still a favorite every time I make it! Thank you!
idy stern on 2025-12-27 (4 stars): As this recipe is delicious, it is laborious and in now way shape or form is 15 minute prep time. It takes an hour plus to do all the steps. I find it absolutely ridiculous to say you can prepare this to cook in 15 minutes.
Cynthia Lang on 2025-03-03 (5 stars): Delicious soup and very filling! I used dried porcini mushrooms because that's what I could find. It's a very large pot of soup. Great recipe
Marcy on 2025-02-15 (5 stars): This is comfort in a big bowl! We love this mushroom barley soup. It’s on deck for tomorrow allowing the flavors to meld together so we can eat it on Monday when the high temperature is going to be about 5 degrees…brr. I use baby Bella mushrooms instead because I like them better than the white button mushrooms.