Mushroom Barley Soup
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Loaded with earthy mushrooms, tender vegetables, and chewy barley, this hearty mushroom barley soup has a rich, savory broth and just a touch of creaminess. It’s comfort food at its best!
This mushroom barley soup recipe is my take on the classic Jewish deli favorite. A combination of fresh and dried mushrooms gives the broth incredible depth, while pearl barley makes the soup satisfying enough for a meal. Carrots, celery, and herbs round out the flavors, and a little sour cream stirred in at the end adds just the right touch of richness. It’s perfect for chilly days, and the leftovers are even better the next day.
The inspiration for this recipe came from The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook, a wonderful collection of recipes and stories from the legendary New York deli. The book found its way to me last year when a thoughtful reader sent me a collection of his wife’s old cookbooks. I’ve treasured it ever since (thank you, Robert!).
What You’ll Need To Make Mushroom Barley Soup
- Dried and Fresh Mushrooms: Dried mushrooms add concentrated, savory flavor, while fresh mushrooms give the soup a hearty, almost meaty texture. The dried mushrooms are rehydrated before cooking, and their flavorful soaking liquid is added to the broth. Use dried porcini or shiitakes and fresh cremini, button mushrooms, or a blend.
- Broth: Chicken or vegetable broth provides the flavorful base for the soup.
- Tomato Paste and Soy Sauce: Together, they deepen the broth’s savory flavor, with tomato paste adding a touch of sweetness and acidity and soy sauce providing an extra boost of umami.
- Fresh Thyme and Bay Leaf: Add subtle, woodsy herbal notes that complement the mushrooms.
- Pearl Barley: Gives the soup its signature chewy, hearty texture. Look for it in the rice and grains aisle, near the dried beans and lentils, or in the soup aisle. Be sure to use pearl barley rather than quick-cooking barley, which cooks much faster.
- Carrots: Add sweetness and color. They’re added partway through simmering so they become tender without turning mushy.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Mushroom Barley Soup
Rehydrate the dried mushrooms: Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water until softened, then lift them out, roughly chop them, and strain the soaking liquid to use in the soup. Dried mushrooms can be surprisingly gritty.
Sauté the vegetables and mushrooms: Cook the onion in the butter, then add the fresh mushrooms and cook until nicely browned before adding the garlic and celery. Give the mushrooms enough time to actually brown rather than just soften; those browned bits on the bottom of the pot are all good flavor that you’ll pick up when you add the broth.
Simmer the soup: Add the broth, scraping up all those browned bits, then stir in the remaining soup ingredients except the carrots. Let the barley get a head start before adding the carrots so both finish cooking at about the same time. The soup is ready when the barley is tender but still has a pleasant chew and the carrots are soft.
Finish: Remove the bay leaf, then gradually whisk a ladleful of hot soup into the sour cream before stirring it back into the pot. This little tempering step brings the sour cream up to temperature gently so it’s much less likely to curdle when it hits the hot soup. Give the soup a final taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls and finish with a sprinkle of parsley, if you like. Like most barley soups, it will continue to thicken as it sits, so don’t be surprised if leftovers are considerably thicker the next day; a splash of broth or water will loosen them right back up.
What to Serve with Mushroom Barley Soup
This hearty soup is practically a meal on its own, but a little something on the side never hurts. Serve it with a slice of rye bread for a classic deli-style pairing. For a cozy lunch or dinner, you can’t go wrong with a grilled cheese sandwich.
For another old-fashioned Jewish soup, try my borscht, another comforting favorite with Eastern European roots. And if you’re a mushroom lover, be sure to try my cream of mushroom soup, too.
More cozy soup Recipes You’ll Love
Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 oz dried mushrooms (porcini, shiitake, or whatever your store carries)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced, such as cremini (baby bella), button mushrooms, or a blend
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, diced into ½-in (13-mm) chunks
- 6 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ cup pearl barley
- 2 medium carrots, diced into ½-in (13-mm) chunks
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, optional
Instructions
- Place the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and cover with 2 cups of very hot tap water. Let soak for 15 to 20 minutes, until softened. Using a slotted spoon or a fork, lift the mushrooms out, roughly chop, and set aside. Strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve or coffee filter to remove grit; reserve.
- Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring frequently, until they release their liquid, soften, and begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and celery and cook for 1 minute more; do not brown.
- Add the broth and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the tomato paste, soy sauce, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and barley, along with the strained mushroom soaking liquid and chopped dried mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Add the carrots and continue simmering, covered, for about 25 minutes more, or until the barley and carrots are tender.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf. Put the sour cream in a small bowl. Remove a ladleful of hot soup and add it to the bowl with the sour cream. Whisk to temper it, then add to the pot and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper, if needed (depending on the saltiness of your broth, you may need up to a ¼ teaspoon more salt).
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parsley, if using.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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