This Instant Pot Vegetable Barley Soup is a quick and easy recipe to enjoy a wholesome and nutritious soup. Full of flavors and takes about 30-40 min to prepare. And a perfect vegetable soup for weeknight dinners.
Do you have an Instant Pot? Have you tried making all-in-one pot soups in it? I guess it's safe to assume you own one that's why you are visiting this page!
I feel Instant Pots are perfect for making all-in-one pot dishes. You can saute, steam, boil, and pressure cook a variety of foods in it. And you can also cook whole cauliflower head and whole chicken in Instant Pot. The other thing I love about it is that you don't have to soak the grains or beans before cooking them (e.g this Instant Pot black bean soup).
Now enough of praise, let's get back to our Instant Pot vegetable barley soup. This recipe is inspired by our most popular Healthy Barley Soup on the blog. With some slight variations, I have configured this soup for Instant Pot. It really takes far less amount of time to cook barley in the Instant Pot compared to on the stove top.
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How long Barley Soup takes to cook in Instant Pot?
According to Instant Pot manual whole grain barley takes around 20-25 min on high pressure. Overcooking the barley in the soup results in a starchy and thick consistency. Therefore I cook the barley on high pressure for 20 min and release the pressure manually as soon as pressure cooking is over. If you let the pressure release naturally, the barley gets overcooked which you may not like.
How to make Instant Pot Vegetable Barley Soup?
On sautee mode of the Instant Pot cook some onions and chopped garlic in little oil. Then add fresh vegetables like diced carrot, red pepper, celery, and edamame beans. Generously season with dried thyme, salt, and pepper. Finally, add water and veggie or chicken stock or broth. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for about 20 min.
Helpful tips!
- I use pearl barley grains for making this soup.
- Use chicken stock or vegetable stock to make the soup more delicious and to increase its nutrient value.
- Do not forget to release the pressure manually and open the lid after pressure cooking timer turns off. Leaving the steam to release naturally will overcook the barley.
More wholesome soups to try
You will also love these Instant Pot recipes
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Vegetable Barley Soup
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup pearl barley
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and diced
- ½ red pepper diced (or more)
- 2 small celery stalks diced
- 1 ½ cup edamame beans.
- 1 tsp thyme
- salt and pepper
- 4 cup vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lime juice optional
- fresh cilantro for garnishing
Instructions
- Heat oil in Instant Pot on saute mode. Cook garlic and onion until translucent.
- Add carrot, pepper, celery, edamame beans, and barley. Give it a quick mix.
- Season with thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Finally, add water, vegetable stock or chicken stock and mix well.
- Put the lid and cook the soup on manual high pressure for 20 min. Quick release the pressure manually once cooking is over.
- Add more seasonings and lime juice if needed.
- Lastly, add chopped cilantro to garnish. Serve warm.
Notes
- I usually rinse and drain barley grains before adding them to the soup to clean any dirt or dust from it.
- Try to use clear chicken stock or vegetable stock in the soup. If the stock is dark in color your soup will turn out with the same color.
- I like to cook garlic and onion in little oil to bring more flavors. However, you can add everything in the pot without sauteeing and pressure cook everything directly. It will save you some time.
- This recipe is inspired by Healthy Barley Soup Recipe.
Laura says
If I use hulled barley, how should I adjust the cook time?
Hi Laura, you can try cooking it for 30 mins on manual high pressure. I hope this helps.
Pernille Tjelum says
Nothing left in the pot!!
I used Pot Barley and added 2 minutes to the pressure cook time. Used Savory as I had run out of Thyme. Used frozen peas as we do not like edamame, will try with a white-ish bean next time, just for more protein. I added spinach, it gave it a nice look, kale or chard would be good too. I did use chicken broth and added a tsp of veggie Better Than Broth. I may try it with chicken breast, although we did not miss it. My teenage boy approved it and came for seconds. 2 thumbs up!
Ali says
Can I sub canned red kidney beans or chickpeas for frozen edamame?
Yes, you can also use canned beans or chickpeas instead.
Lili Byrer says
When do you add the barley? It's not in the directions.
Hi Lili,
It's there in step 2.
Michelle Gordon says
Did you use ground thyme
Margaret says
The recipe and Instant Pot directions were easy to follow and the soup turned out very good. This was the first time I used my new Instant Pot and I’m very pleased with the result. My husband doesn’t like complex flavours in soup, so this got 5 stars from him.
Scarlett says
Subbed some veggies as I didn't have some things, but it was delicious!!!
Vijay Kumar says
Really yummy and easy to make.
Ali says
This may be a silly question, but did you use frozen edamame beans?
Yes, I used frozen edamame beans.
Linda says
I had this on our last trip and am in love! Glad you shared the recipe because I now can make it at home. So comforting and nutritious at the same time.