recipes

Mushroom Barley Soup Recipe

Name: Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 11
Ingredients: 16oz mushrooms, sliced (we prefer cremini and baby bella varieties); ½ cup dried mushrooms (we prefer porcini); 1 yellow onion, diced; 3-4 medium carrots, peeled and diced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 8 cups broth (veggie, bone broth, or chicken); 2 cups water; 1 cup barley; 2 bay leaves; 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; Salt and pepper to taste; Souper Cubes 1-Cup Freezing Tray; Souper Cubes 2-Cup Freezing Tray

by Michelle Sendowski | November 6, 2020

image of 3 1-cup souper cubes trays on a wooden table filled with mushroom barley soup. there are mushrooms along the left side of the picture.

Table of Contents

image of 3 1-cup souper cubes trays filled with mushroom barley soup. there is a souper cubes lid on the top of one of the trays with a piece of masking tape that says "mushroom barley soup"

Jump to the recipe

I'll be the first to admit I never loved mushroom barley soup. When Jake told me he was going to make it for dinner, I was less than enthused. However, I had class until 6 pm and a 30+ minute drive home and wasn't going to complain about a home-cooked dinner waiting for me when I got back from school. Holy moly.

The barley soup was absolutely delicious. So much so that I asked him to recreate it once I finished through our freezer stash. Whether you enjoy this wonderful recipe on a cold day when you’re craving comfort food, or whenever you just need a fast pre-made meal from your freezer, this will be your new go-to!

What I love about this delicious soup is that it uses both dried and fresh mushrooms. We make sure to add the liquid that was used to hydrate the dried mushrooms (our favorite is porcini) as it adds so much delicious mushroom flavor to the barley soup.

Best Types of Mushroom to Use for Mushroom Barley Soup

You can use many varieties of mushrooms for Mushroom Barley Soup. We prefer to use brown mushrooms as we find they have more flavor than white mushrooms. Our favorites include:

Cremini mushrooms
Baby Bella mushrooms

Vegetarian or Vegan Adaptations for Mushroom Barley Soup

The only animal-based part of this excellent recipe comes from the type of stock you use. Historically, we made this with our homemade chicken stock or homemade bone broth. However, since we try to limit the amount of meat we eat per week, we often make this recipe with homemade vegetable broth. Choose whichever stock you like best: beef stock, chicken stock, vegetable broth, mushroom broth, etc.

Freezing Mushroom Barley Soup

You can freeze mushroom barley soup. Our favorite method is to pour the soup into our 1-cup Souper Cubes® trays and let the soup cool. Then we place the snug-fitting lid on top and label it with masking tape. From there, we place the filled tray in our freezer. You can either leave the mushroom and barley soup in the freezer until you're ready to heat some up or pop out the frozen cubes and place them in a freezer-safe bag. The benefit of placing the frozen cubes in a freeze-safe bag is that it's often more space-efficient and frees up your Souper Cubes® tray to freeze something else.

8 frozen 1-cup cubes of mushroom barley soup neatly stored in a gallon-size ziploc bag.

While we prefer to use our 1-cup trays, you can definitely use our 2-cup trays too. I often end up heating up a 1-cup portion for myself and Jake will heat up 2 1-cup cubes for himself.

Reheating Mushroom Barley Soup from Frozen

There are a lot of ways to reheat soup from frozen. If you can, we always recommend letting the soup thaw in the fridge for several hours, as this will ultimately reduce the amount of time it takes to reheat. If you skip that step, as we often do, that's totally okay.

Here Are Our preferred Ways to Reheat Frozen Soup:

If reheating 1-cup: place in a mug and microwave for 3+ minutes until hot. Stir before eating in case any parts of the soup haven't fully defrosted.
If reheating 2+ cups:

Place frozen cubes of soup in a microwave-safe and microwave until hot, or
Place frozen cubes in a pot and place over low-medium heat until soup begins to melt and a liquid covers the entire bottom of the pot. Then raise heat to medium heat and cover with a lid until simmering.

How To Make Mushroom Barley Soup

Gather and Prep Your Ingredients

ingredients for mushroom barley soup in various bowls on a dark wooden table

I love that this dish has relatively few ingredients (8 total) but is packed with flavor.

Hydrate Dried Mushrooms

4 images in a 2 by 2 grid showing how to hydrate dried mushrooms in hot water, straining them, and chopping them on a cutting board

We love the umami flavor that dried mushrooms bring. You can use any dried mushrooms, but we prefer to use dried porcini.

To hydrate dried mushrooms, you can either:

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot, add dried mushrooms, turn off heat, cover with lid, and wait 10-15 minutes.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, place in a bowl, add dried mushrooms, and wait 10-15 minutes.

Once you’ve let the dried mushrooms soak for 10-15 minutes, take the mushrooms from the soaking liquid and drain them over another bowl. You’ll want to use 1-cup of the mushroom stock for the Mushroom Barley soup and roughly chop the hydrated mushrooms.

Sauté Onions and Carrots

diced carrots and onions in a large all-clad pot ready to be sauteed for mushroom barley soup

Sauté Mushrooms

sliced brown mushrooms in an all-clad pot browning in olive oil

Jake loves to remind me that it's important to cook the mushrooms in small batches so that it doesn't overcrowd the pot. I agree. It cooks faster and develops a better flavor since it can start to brown.

Sauté Garlic

sauteed brown mushrooms with 4 cloves of minced garlic in a large all-clad pot for mushroom barley soup

You only need to sauté the garlic for about 30 seconds or so, make sure it doesn’t burn.

Add Remaining Ingredients to the Pot

4 images in a 2 by 2 matrix of sauteed veggies, then a pot with 8 cups of broth (previously frozen in 1-cup souper cubes trays), barley in the thawing broth, and a finished mushroom barley soup in the all-clad pot

Serve and Enjoy!

mushroom barley soup in a gray bowl with a golden spoon, on top of a blue placemat and white cloth napkin

Freeze Leftovers to Enjoy Later

Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup

Rated 4 stars by 17 users

Servings

11 cups

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

90 minutes

Author:

Michelle from Souper Cubes

Try this new easy mushroom barley soup recipe. Perfect for making ahead and freezing for a quick but hearty soup for your weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

16oz mushrooms, sliced (we prefer cremini and baby bella varieties)
½ cup dried mushrooms (we prefer porcini)
1 yellow onion, diced
3-4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups broth (veggie, bone broth, or chicken)
2 cups water
1 cup barley
2 bay leaves
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For Freezer Meal Prep:

Souper Cubes 1-Cup Freezing Tray
Souper Cubes 2-Cup Freezing Tray

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Directions

Hydrate Dried Mushrooms. In a small saucepan, place ½ cup dried mushrooms with 2 cups of water. Bring to a low boil, then turn heat off and cover with a lid for 10 minutes.
Sauté Onions and Carrots. Place a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Then add 1 diced onion and 3-4 diced carrots. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, until soft. Set aside in a bowl.
Brown Mushrooms. In the same stock pot, add another 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add sliced mushrooms. Sauté until moisture from the sliced mushrooms is gone and they've started to brown. Then add crushed garlic and stir until fragrant (roughly 30 seconds).
Add Fresh Veggies and Stock. Add the sautéed vegetables–onions and carrots–back into the pot with the mushrooms and garlic. Then add 8 cups of broth of choice (chicken broth, vegetable broth, beef broth, etc.) and add your two bay leaves to the pot.
Drain/Chop Hydrated Mushrooms. As the soup is heating up, strain the hydrated mushrooms over a bowl. Roughly chop the hydrated mushrooms. Then add hydrated mushrooms and 1 full cup of strained mushroom broth in the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
Add Barley. Add 1cup barley to stock pot and stir. Bring pot to a boil, then reduce heat to let simmer. Cover with lid and cook for 60-90 minutes. Stir every thirty minutes or so. This cooked barley will taste great in your soup!
Serve Hot or Freeze for Later. Remove bay leaves and serve your mushroom barley soup in a bowl. Freeze leftovers in your favorite Souper Cubes® tray.

Recipe Note

We hope you enjoy this easy mushroom barley soup as much as we do! Are you looking for more great recipes to freeze? Check out our variety of delicious freezer-friendly meals.

Note: You can use a variety pack of dried mushrooms, but our favorite dried mushroom to add to the recipe is porcini.