Vegetable Barley Soup
on Jan 01, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This vegetable barley soup is an easy recipe that takes advantage of the convenience of frozen vegetables. You can cook it in less than 30 minutes. It has a tomato-flavored broth with green beans, corn, peas, carrots and lima beans. Barley makes it a very hearty and filling vegan soup. It freezes well and is perfect for meal prep for lunch or dinner.
For another grain and pulse-filled vegetable soup, try this wild rice lentil soup.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Frozen vegetables are reliable ingredient especially during the winter months when it feels like nothing good is in season. There is a time and place for fresh veggies and frozen ones too. Frozen are perfect for soup recipes where they simmer in broth.
- This soup recipe is made up of mostly pantry ingredients. Even though you keep frozen vegetables in the freezer, they are similar to canned staples like tomatoes and beans that have a longer shelf-life than fresh ingredients.
- The prep work is limited. You only have to dice the onion and celery and mince the garlic. This is another bonus of working with frozen veggies.
- Adding barley to the soup makes it a very satisfying meal. I have heard from people that they have a hard time thinking of soup as a main dish. When you stir in rice, grains or quinoa, it automatically makes this wonderful soup meal-worthy.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Frozen vegetables: I use a 1-pound bag vegetable medley that includes green beans, corn, peas, carrots and lima beans. You can pour the frozen vegetables right in. It’s not necessary to thaw them.
- Barley: Make sure to use pearled barley. It has been processed to remove its outer hull, so it cooks in less time.
- Tomatoes: The recipe calls for a can of diced tomatoes. The juices make the flavorful broth light and tomato-y, and you get bites of tomatoes with the other vegetables. Because they aren’t crushed, the broth isn’t thick like a pureed tomato soup.
- Onions: The soup starts with sautéing onions. You can use any color onion that you want—white, red or yellow.
- Celery: I dice a celery stalk and also sauté that with the onions.
- Garlic: Three minced garlic cloves may sound like a lot, but it balances out with the rest of the ingredients in the soup.
- Tomato paste: Just a tablespoon makes the overall tomato flavor more deep and intense.
- Dried spices: They are basically an Italian seasoning mix that includes thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Lemon: Once the soup finishes simmering, I squeeze in the juice of a lemon. This adds something bright and fresh. I also do the same thing when I make my wild rice vegetable soup.
- Vegetable broth & water: I simmer the soup with both low-sodium vegetable broth and water. This soup requires more liquid than other vegetable soup recipes because of the barley. It makes it easier to use a 1 quart container of broth plus 2 cups of water. If you don’t need the soup to be vegetarian, you can use chicken broth.
- Olive oil: I prefer extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Parsley: After I ladle the soup into bowls, I garnish it with chopped parsley.
Optional Additions
The soup is great as the recipe is written, but you can add one or more of the following:
- Grated parmesan cheese: Please note that you will need to use a plant-based, dairy-free cheese to keep the recipe vegan. With the Italian flavors, parmesan or pecorino cheese both work.
- Leafy greens: Stir in torn kale or baby spinach leaves after the soup finishes cooking. The heat will wilt the greens.
How To Make Vegetable Barley Soup
1. Sauté the onions and celery. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Give them 4 minutes to start to soften.
2. Add the aromatics and the barley. Stir in the tomato paste, minced garlic, dried thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and barley. The grains will become fragrant in 1-2 minutes.
3. Pour in the canned diced tomatoes, vegetable broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 7 minutes. The liquid will reduce slightly.
4. Stir in the frozen veggies. Keep simmering for another 5-6 minutes. This is enough time for the cooked barley to get that good chewy texture and the frozen vegetables to be cooked and warmed through, but not mushy. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Divide the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley and black pepper.
What to Serve with Vegetable Soup
Because of the barley, this vegan soup is filling, but you can serve it with something else such as:
- A piece of bread with a good crust that you can dip into the soup or a slice of focaccia.
- A sandwich: Grilled cheese is the obvious choice. Try this beet grilled cheese or apple grilled cheese. You can use plant-based cheese, so it is vegan.
- A salad: Go for a lemon arugula salad, a classic house salad or an Italian chopped salad.
Leftovers, Storage & Freezing
Let the veggie barley soup cool to room temperature before storing it. Then you can put it in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. The barley and vegetables will soften the longer you keep leftovers. When freezing any soup or chili, I always portion it out into serving sizes, so it easier to thaw. You can reheat it on the stove or in the microwave.
Recipe Tips
- Check the seasonings. Taste the soup when it almost done simmering, so you can see if it needs more salt or pepper to boost its overall flavor.
- When you reheat leftovers, you may need to add more liquid. The barley has a tends to absorb the broth the longer the leftovers sit. I just add some water before I reheat a bowl of soup. Then I taste it and add more seasonings as needed.
More Vegetable Soup Recipes
Chickpea Soup with Carrots and Potatoes
Hearty Vegetable Soup with Broccoli and Cauliflower
Slow-Cooker Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Sweet Potato Quinoa Soup with White Beans
Butternut Squash Apple Soup
Quinoa Chili with Black Beans
Vegetable Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more for serving
- 3/4 cup pearled barley
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 16 ounces frozen vegetable medley, (green beans, corn, peas, carrots, lima beans)
- 1 lemon
- Chopped parsley for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté the onions and celery until they start to soften, about 4 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper and barley and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Pour in the diced tomatoes, vegetable broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 7 minutes.
- Stir in the frozen vegetable medley and continue cooking for 5-6 minutes until the barley is tender and the vegetables are cooked and warmed through, but not mushy. Squeeze in the lemon juice.
- Divide the soup into bowls and garnish with chopped parsley and black pepper, as desired.
Notes
- Grated parmesan cheese: Please note that you will need to use a plant-based, dairy-free cheese to keep the recipe vegan.
- Leafy greens: Stir in torn kale or baby spinach leaves after the soup finishes cooking. The heat will wilt the greens.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
