Mushroom Barley Soup (Printable)

Hearty deli-style soup with shiitake mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, and pearl barley in savory vegetable broth.

# Ingredient list:

→ Mushrooms

01 - 1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms
02 - 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced

→ Grains

03 - 3/4 cup pearl barley, rinsed

→ Aromatics & Vegetables

04 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
05 - 1 medium onion, diced
06 - 2 medium carrots, diced
07 - 2 celery stalks, diced
08 - 3 garlic cloves, minced

→ Broth & Seasonings

09 - 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
10 - 2 bay leaves
11 - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
12 - 1 teaspoon dried parsley
13 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

→ Garnish

14 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

# How-to:

01 - Place dried shiitake mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water. Let soak for 20 minutes, then drain while reserving the soaking liquid. Slice the rehydrated mushrooms and strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve to remove sediment.
02 - Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add diced onion, carrots, and celery, then sauté for 5 minutes until softened.
03 - Stir in minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
04 - Add fresh sliced mushrooms and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms to the pot. Cook for approximately 5 minutes until mushrooms release their juices.
05 - Stir in pearl barley, reserved mushroom soaking liquid, and vegetable broth. Add bay leaves, dried thyme, dried parsley, salt, and black pepper to taste.
06 - Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until barley reaches tender consistency.
07 - Remove bay leaves from the pot. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
08 - Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired. Serve while hot.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It's the kind of soup that tastes better on day two, so make it ahead and let the flavors deepen while you do something else.
  • Entirely vegetarian but so savory and substantial that no one will miss the meat, even the people who usually do.
  • The mushroom soaking liquid is liquid gold—save it because it's doing half the work of building flavor for you.
02 -
  • Don't throw away the mushroom soaking liquid—it's where the deepest flavor lives, and straining it through cheesecloth or a fine sieve removes the grit so you get pure umami in your soup.
  • If you skip the initial sautéing of your vegetables and try to dump everything in at once, the soup will taste flat and one-dimensional, like you took shortcuts; those first five minutes of cooking the onions, carrots, and celery matter more than you think.
  • The soup will thicken as it sits in the refrigerator because the barley continues to absorb liquid, so add extra broth or water when you reheat it to get back to that ideal consistency.
03 -
  • Make a double batch and freeze half in individual containers—it reheats beautifully and gives you a real meal on nights when you haven't planned anything.
  • Toast your barley in a dry pan for two minutes before adding it to the pot if you want to bring out its nuttiness and give the soup more depth.
  • Serve it with dark rye bread, crispy crackers, or a hunk of sourdough—something to soak up the broth and round out the meal into something complete.
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