Three Mushroom Barley Soup is “soup”er hearty and delicious! (Get it?) Don’t tell anyone it’s vegan too.
Okay raise your hand if you abandoned your resolutions already. (Sheepishly raises hand.) No shame in it. I normally don’t even make resolutions, but I was going for sober January which didn’t even last a week (and I started late) so now I’m going for balance. Yes, balance. Ommm. And last weekend was all about it. I spent Friday and Saturday at the R3 Summit put on by Prevention Magazine. (You may remember I attended last year with Bubbe!) And Sunday I headed out on a party bus to Deep Eddy Vodka Distillery on a tour lead by a drag queen. Yes, balance.
Anyhoo, Friday night was a dinner put on by Chef Monica Pope. And Saturday there were speakers and food demos and cool vendors to check out. Some highlights were meeting Joan Lunden, ogling over Travis Stork, noshing with local chefs, and getting sex tips from the hysterical Dr. Lauren Streicher.
Hey grrrl! 
So Monday was for detoxing. AKA soup and The Bachelor! Tell me you’re watching the madness.
Mushroom barley soup is an Ashkenazi classic, but I wanted to put my own twist on it of course.
I add tons of different mushrooms for a mix of textures and flavors: shiitake, porcini and baby portabellas.
Instead of cooking everything together into a mush, I cook the barley separately and add it at the end after I’ve thickened the soup thickened with roux.
The last touch is a parsley garnish, which adds freshness and color. The result is an updated classic with tons of flavor. Yay!
Three Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- ½ cup dried barley
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth separated
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine or olive oil
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 3 medium carrots diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cover dried porcini mushrooms with 2 cups boiling water and let soak for 30 minutes. Then strain through cheesecloth and reserve the mushroom water. Chop mushrooms into small pieces.
- Meanwhile, bring barley and 1 ½ cups stock to a boil, and then lower to a simmer and cover. Cook until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 30-40 minutes. If you love barley, you can double the amount and cook 1 cup in 3 cups of broth.
- Then, in a large stockpot, melt butter over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic and carrots and sauté until onions are translucent and carrots start to soften, about 5 minutes. Then add all the mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms start to soften and brown, about 5 more minutes. Then add flour and stir for 5 minutes, until fragrant and light brown.
- Add remaining stock and mushroom liquid and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until thick. Add in barley and season with salt (I used some truffle salt for extra umami!) and pepper to taste. Cook 5 more minutes to heat barley. Serve hot with fresh parsley!
The original recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup appeared on The Jewish Week!
This is the ultimate Jew food! My grandma would make this for me every week and still makes this delicious dish! I love your twist on it, can’t wait to try it.
Thanks! Aw love that story.
Unbelievable. The best soup I’ve made. Simple to make. Nice an earthy. The mushrooms with the barley are a perfect combination. This is a keeper.
Thank you so much!
I made this awesome soup again yet I did one change. I replaced the carrot with diced sweet potato. Fantastic. So tasty.