What can be a more comforting food than a warm bowl of soup during chilly winter nights?
I guess the soup will get the most votes for winter foods. Don’t you think so? When this soup is healthy what else does our body need to fight the chilly temperatures outside.
Since I started writing this blog, I have become even pickier about what we eat. I started incorporating more whole grains instead of refined flour into our diet than before. That’s what the healthy food pyramid suggests to have for a balanced diet.
This barley soup is filling, contains very simple ingredients that are common and readily available. Initially, I made it spontaneously with ingredients that I had in my pantry at that time. We liked it so much that we decided to share this simple version of soup with you all. One bowl of barley soup and dinner is done.
How is this barley soup healthy?
This barley soup is healthy because
- it contains whole grains and is high in fiber contents
- it contains fresh vegetables like carrots, celery, tomatoes
- it is very low in saturated fat
MORE SOUP RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE TO TRY
- Healthy Chicken Barley soup
- Healthy Broccoli Soup
- Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup
- Easy Vegetable Pasta Soup Recipe
Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup pearl barley
- 1 celery stalk finely diced
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1/2 cup finely diced carrots
- 1 tomato finely diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if vegan)
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 1/4 cup chopped spring onions
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic and saute until fragrant for about 30-40 sec
- Add onions and saute until lightly golden brown for about a min. or two
- Then add all the remaining ingredients except spring onions and let it boil.
- Simmer on low heat for about 30 min. or until the barley is tender
- Garnish with spring onions and serve warm to enjoy a bowl of barley soup
Notes
- If necessary add more chicken or vegetable broth.
- You can also make barley soup in Instant Pot. Follow this recipe to make Vegetable Barley Soup in Instant Pot
Nutrition
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Yummy!!! It’s very healthy & tasty recipe. I like it. Thanks for sharing with us.
Perfect lunch! I added some small spicy red peppers for heat. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
The flavor of this soup is SO GOOD! I am also happy because it’s not an enormous amount of servings. It was perfect for a few meals for just myself, because my husband is not a huge soup fan. I was too lazy to chop an onion (plus the only onions I have have sprouted *eyeroll*) so I ended up using about 1/8-1/4 cup of dehydrated onion. Also used cherry tomatoes because that’s what I had. I will DEFINITELY be using this recipe again! Thanks! 😀
Easy, healthy, delicious!
Thanks for this great recipe and your wonderful website.
Naan-garlic bread is next!!
yessssss!! this is great, I love the ginger twist. This is excellent and healthy. I didn’t have tomatoes so I added some canned ones. I tripled the recipe for 5 people and that gave me enough for 2 meals, adding one to the freezer.
Can you really notice the ginger? 2/4 of us like a little ginger, and the other 2 don’t like it at all. Should be okay to just omit it yes?
Hi Melissa, you can skip the ginger. Many readers made this soup without the ginger and they loved it.
I am a huge fan of ginger but not in this case. Great recipe. I add a dash of hot sauce once it’s served up. THANKS for this.
Hi so while I thought this soup was delicious, my husband said it had a slimy like texture as if okra was added to it. Is that from the barley?
Hi Carolyn. Yes, cooking barley for longer time gives a slightly slimy texture.
LOVE THIS BARLEY SOUP!
Do I cook covered or uncovered
Hi Vicki, cook the soup covered. It will help to cook it a little faster and water will not dry up while cooking. Thank you.
Always amazing!!!
Soup tastes great. 30 minutes is not long enough to cook barley – most instructions I see ask for 55-60 minutes and I ended up leaving the soup on for about that long.
Trying it again tonight with mushrooms and peas.
This morning i made this soup, added peas, red chilli flakes for some heat. Simmered it a little longer 45 minutes, not slimy. Thicker more like stew but I quite enjoyed it, reheating perhaps I’ll add more vegetable broth. Absolutely love the portion size for a single person I wish more recipes were like that…will make this again.
Tasty. The ginger brings it up a level. I add soy curls, so it is more like barley and chicken soup, without the chicken.
It was excellent. However, I did add Kielbasa to the soup which was delicious. I am not a vegetarian. The soup is amazing though.
Can this be made in crockpot for how many hours
Thanks
Hi Holly, I never tried it in the Crockpot. However, you can make it in the crockpot and I guess 4 hr cook will suffice. Let me know if you try it this way.
This has been one of our favorite soup recipes since I first came across it a couple of years ago now. My eternally picky child loves the barley (as do I), and I appreciate how quickly this healthy & satisfying soup comes together – with or without the crusty bread (with, definitely with).