Mushroom Barley Soup Recipe. Vegan or Meat
Mushroom Barley Soup
Here comes the hearty and wonderful classic!
I love barley so much. Take a look at my Jazzed Up Cholent Soup, with Black Barley, or my couscous recipe, using barley couscous
Attention Gluten-Free Friends
Mushroom Barley Soup is for you too! Brown or wild rice or steel-cut oats will be a great substitute for the barley.
Big Batch. Freezes Great
This recipe makes a great big batch. Please don’t divide it; Good and hearty in all seasons and super nutritious. You got that big pot going, and you did all that dicing, right? So you deserve the reward of finding a container or two in your freezer on one of these chilly nights when you were too harried to cook! It will be ready when you are. It freezes perfectly, by the way! Just sayin’!
Don’t attempt a Grain-Less Soup!
Carb Counters, I can relate, I am one of you. You know, one big Carb Counter Club. Its just a matter of using your carbs judiciously. Just do the simple smart math. You have 1 1/4 cups total of barley or other grain: less than 2 tablespoons grain per pint serving, and lots of deliciousness and creaminess and nutritiousness: very reasonable!
Mushroom Barley Soup with Meat
Making this soup a complete meat main course is super delicious and super easy. Cook some stew meat and bones (about 3-4 pounds flanken or other stew meat and 3-4 meaty bones) for about two hours in liquid, then use the meat, bones and cooking cooking liquid as starting point for the recipe as given.
A couple turkey thighs instead of the meat will work great as well. Follow exact same instructions as for the meat.
Make it the Lazy Way!
Pressed for time and don”t want to dice the veggies? That’s OK too. Grind them coarsely in the food processor, using the pulse button. Not as pristine looking, but who cares, if it saves some time and is just as delicious?
Ingredients
- 1∕3 cup olive oil
- 6 large cloves garlic
- 1 large onion, cut in large chunks
- 5 ribs celery, peeled
- 1 large bunch dill, fronds and stems
- 11⁄2 pounds domestic, portobello, or cremini mushrooms, diced
- 3 quarts (12 cups) water
- 11⁄4 cups pearl barley (gluten-free: short grain brown rice or wild rice, or steel-cut oats)
- 2 large carrots, diced 1⁄2 inch
- 1 large parsnip, diced 1⁄2 inch
- 1 large turnip, diced 1⁄2 inch
(short on time? Coarsely grind the last three above vegetables in a food processor, using the pulse button) - 6 bay leaves, or 1 teaspoon ground
- Salt to taste
- 2 teaspoons dry thyme, or 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme (you’ll fish them out of the finished soup)
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a wide heavy pot.
In a food processor, finely grind the garlic. Add the onion, celery and dill, and grind coarse, using the pulse button.
Add the ground mixture to the pot and sauté until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until most liquids evaporate.
Add all but last ingredient and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame to medium low and cook covered for 11⁄2 hours. Stir in the ground pepper. Adjust the texture and seasonings.
Makes a dozen ample servings.
Variation: with meat or turkey
Follow instructions in the intro
Yummmmmmmm! I wanted to make this today but didn’t have *all* the ingredients. I used 1 Tbsp dry dill and 5 carrots and no turnip or parsnip. I also only used 10 cups of water, as my pot was getting really full. The soup is so delicious and thick and hearty! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Sara yes it’s a great soup. Even greater with parsnips and turnips, they had a very deep layer of flavor. Enjoy this batch, then get them on another batch