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!!
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
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!
This is my all time favorite soup recipe. I usually add either leftover roast beef or a can of cannellini beans for protein. This soup freezes beautifully!
Made this last night for my meat eating family and it was a big hit! The grandkids loved it. I added spinach at the end for the adults
My oldest grandson doesn’t like the sight of tomatoes so maybe next time I’ll blend them before adding. But we picked through them and he finished his bowl
This was delicious. I added some diced parsnip in with the carrots in place of green beans (not much of a fan), and added the last of a batch of mashed potatoes at the end which made the soup a bit creamy. I was particularly pleased that though this has a tin of tomatoes in it, it is by no means a tomatoey soup – it was just enough to provide a tiny bite of acidity and a bit of colour.
Perfect for a cold, rainy day – I will definitely make this again.
Fantastic!!
There really isn’t a Better Than Bouillon soup base on their site. Since this is a vegetable soup, do you mean the “Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base”?
Hi Brian! Bouillon is a soup base. And yes, the seasoned vegetable works great, but feel free to use chicken or beef as well. XOXO -Monti
Hey Beth, I’m trying to re-create y favourite canned soup (Amy’s brand vegetable barley) and came across your recipe. I am wanting to sub out a few things for other vegetables. In terms of broth/vegetable ratio, is there a general rule of thumb I should be following? Also, I am hoping to add some white navy beans in to mine, any advise on when/how to add and how much broth to add? Thanks for any help you can offer! P.S. I’ve seen you on the social a few times and you’re just the cutest most energetic person!
Hi Ashley, unfortunately, we haven’t tested it with white navy beans and can’t comment. xoxo Monti
This soup is so think and hearty and good! Used small purple potatoes and had to cook about 10 mins longer. Put 1/2 cup all frozen veggies + a little extra corn and peas due to personal taste. Made enough to freeze some.
I made a big batch of this last night and…yum! I doctored it up to my own preferences (as I’m sure we all do) but the base recipe was simple and delicious and easily made with ingredients I already had!
This soup is so good! I had some spinach that needed to be used so I added that but otherwise I followed the recipe as written. I’ll be making this one again.
This wasn’t my favorite, but I think at least part of the problem is that the broth I used was way too sweet. (I had no idea adding sugar to vegetable broth was so common!) I may try this again sometime with a better broth.
Thank you. Just provided neighbours and friends with a delicious hot dinner, Great recipe!
hmmm why so much sodium?
Most likely the broth and canned tomatoes, but keep in mind that nutritional data calculated using ingredient databases like this is just a broad estimate. It can vary greatly depending on the actual ingredients you use.
This is the best tomato based vegetable soup I’ve tried, and I’ve tried quite a few. I like that I could adapt it a bit while still maintaining the basic recipe. I substituted farro for barley, since that’s what I had in. I added some celery and a half cup of beans I needed to use up.
Served it with garlic bread – delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
Too thick for my taste
If too thick just add more liquid or reduce amount of grain. Easy fix.
Love this soup! I can’t seem to find it in the app though! We like to add mushrooms as well :)
Hi Robin! The app comes pre-loaded with 500 recipes and those are the recipes that you can search for from the home screen. Everything new I’ve created since the app launched in 2017 is available to download to the app through the app’s marketplace (you can still get them for free). Just tap the little shopping bag icon on the home screen, then once in the marketplace make sure to tap over to “recipes” at the top instead of “bundles”. From there you can search and download all the latest recipes. If you type “barley” into that search bar this recipe will pop up. :)