Easy Instant Pot vegetable soup with barley! This vegan vegetable barley soup recipe is rich with flavor and quick enough for a weeknight meal.
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Hiya, Rhubarbarians! Another weeknight dinner recipe for you today. Instant Pot vegetable soup! Loaded with mushrooms and barley and soooo much good stuff.
I'm getting quite a bit more out of my Instant Pot these days. I think I'm FINALLY comfortable enough to make most things without having to google it first. It took a while though. I remember when Instant Pot baked potatoes were amazing to me, LOL! I'm now learning how to build flavor (ahem.. amazingly flavorful Instant Pot cacciatore) and cook some pretty impressive dishes. BOOYAH!
Now that it's spring, I want to try some lighter recipes. I'm going to be testing out some artichokes AND some strawberry cheesecake in it very soon. CHEESECAKE! How cool is that?
How to make a rich and flavorful vegetable barley soup
It's not difficult to make a rich and flavorful plant based vegetable soup. The key: build flavor by sauteeing the veggies. This isn't a dump and start IP recipe. You want to bring all that great flavor out of the veggies and then let everything simmer with the barley. First, brown the onions, then saute the rest of the veggies with the browned onions. Mmmm....
Using a mire poix (onion, carrot, and celery) will build the base of the flavor that you're looking for. Adding earthy mushrooms will give you that umami flavor while the bay leaves will brighten up the soup just enough to keep it from being too heavy and flat.
I definitely suggest finding a vegetable broth that you love. My favorite is the Better Than Bouillon organic seasoned vegetable base. It's a concentrated base that you add hot water to. Perfect for soups because you can add as much or as little of the concentrate as you want, so it doesn't just taste like veggie stock.
Flavorful vegan soups you will love:
Vegan split pea soup with dill and crispy onions
Easy vegan posole with black beans and poblanos
Vegan winter lentil stew from Budget Bytes
Is vegetable barley soup healthy?
Yes! Vegetable barley soup is healthy! Obviously the veggies are very healthy. I don't think there's any question there. What you REALLY want to know is: is barley healthy?
This recipe (and most vegetable barley soup recipes) use pearl barley. Pearl barley is a processed grain, where the hull has been removed and the grain has been "polished" or "pearled." Although pearl barley is not a whole grain, it does have quite a few nutritional benefits.
Pearl barley is low in calories and is also low on the glycemic index. It contains beta-glucan, which can normalize your body's insulin response. It's also loaded with dietary fiber, which means it takes longer to digest and will keep you full for a very long time.
As long you keep the sodium levels low, this soup is a very healthy meal!
Can I freeze it?
Yes, you can freeze vegetable soup with barley! The barley may not be *as* al-dente as it will be when it's freshly made, but it will still be delicious.
Freeze for up to three months in a well sealed container. Thaw in the refrigerator and heat in a sauce pan. SO EASY!
How to make Instant Pot vegetable barley soup
First, get all of your vegetables chopped. Things can move pretty quickly once you add the veggies, so make sure those are prepped!
Brown those onions in the Instant Pot using the saute function. Add the rest of the veggies and saute those as well. Then add the liquid, the bay leaves, and the barley. Stir together and turn off the saute function.
Pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. It takes about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to fully come to pressure and about 3 minutes to manually release the pressure, so 28 minutes of closed lid time.
Serve with a bit of fresh parsley and enjoy!
Can I make this on the stove top?
You definitely can make this on the stove top! I suggest a dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat to saute all the veggies as stated in the instructions.
Once you add all the liquid and the barley, bring just to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the barley is cooked to your liking.
I've made this both on the stove top and in the Instant Pot, and I prefer the Instant Pot version. I feel like the flavors marry together more quickly when pressure cooked and it saves you about 10 minutes when all is said and done.
Instant Pot soups you will love:
Instant Pot golden lentil and spinach soup from Kitchen Treaty
Instant Pot wild mushroom soup from Cooking Carnival
Instant Pot minestrone soup from Yummy Mummy Kitchen
Instant Pot vegetable soup with barley recipe
Easy Instant Pot vegetable soup with barley! This vegan vegetable barley soup recipe is rich with flavor and quick enough for a weeknight meal.
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or mild flavored cooking oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 5 cups diced cremini or baby bella mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 cups diced carrot
- 2 cups diced celery
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 medium dried bay leaves
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 3/4 cup pearl barley
- salt and pepper
- fresh parsley for serving (optional)
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Turn on the saute function on your Instant Pot to normal. Heat the oil and saute the onions until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroms, garlic, carrot, and celery. Saute, stirring often, 10 minutes.
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Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, vegetable stock, and barley. Give a good stir and hit cancel to stop the saute function.
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Put the lid on your Instant Pot and make sure the sealing valve is set to sealing. Turn on the pressure cooker function on your Instant Pot to high pressure for 10 minutes.
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When the timer goes off, manually release the pressure and open the lid. Remove the bay leaves from the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Closed lid time: 28 minutes, which is included in the cook time
If you make this recipe, please let me know on social media or in the comments below! Leave a star rating in your comment or tag me on Instagram with #Rhubarbarians.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting Rhubarbarians and the brands that I recommend. If you’re looking for a group of people cooking vegetarian recipes through the seasons, join us on Facebook in our vegetarian and vegan recipes group!
Hope you enjoy this Instant Pot recipe!
Trish
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Renee
I made this delicious soup today and my husband and I both loved it! I used hulled barley, so I needed to increase the pressure cooking time to 30 minutes. I also added a teaspoon of dried thyme and a teaspoon of dried oregano. We like a thicker broth, so when the soup was finished cooking I removed the bay leaves and used a handheld immersion blender to blend some of the veggies into the broth. Based on some of the other comments, after blending the original soup a bit, I added 1 cup each of lightly steamed frozen corn and green beans and a couple handfuls of lightly steamed chopped kale. It turned out to be a very colorful and hearty soup. We will definitely be making this soup many times to warm up cold, snowy winter days in Maine! Thanks so much, Trish!
Renee
Whoops! I did not mean to give a two star rating. I have not made the soup yet and just had the question about using hulled barley. Sorry about that!
Trish Bozeman
No worries! I edited out the star rating for you.
Renee
How much longer do you need to cook this in the instant pot if you are using hulled barley?
Trish Bozeman
I would add 5 minutes for hulled barley. However, I haven't tested this recipe with hulled barley so I can't speak to the water ratio and mushiness of the veggies after it's cooked. Hope it works out for you and I'd love to hear the results!
Vickie Lopez
Love this recipe! I sauteed my veggies in vegetable broth (trying to avoid oils) and followed the recipe. (I also added a few more spices here and there :-).) Allowed for a natural release and added almost a whole bag of Trader Joe's roasted frozen corn at the end. Delish! I will definitely be using this recipe again and experimenting with different veggies. Thanks!
Trish Bozeman
Corn would be so good! Glad you liked it, Vickie! 🙂
Lacey
Delicious! I had a heaping bowl the first night, for lunch the next day, and finished it off on day three. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing!
Leslie
This is one of the best soups I ever made. Everyone who tried it raved!! Thank you!!
Trish Bozeman
I'm so glad, Leslie! 🙂
Pamela
Wow! Wow, wow....soooo yummy! And I didn't have carrots (added chic peas) and it was still delicious! I used chicken stock instead because that's all I had (COVID has made it hard to find veggie stock), and it was still delicious. I made some homemade herb bread with Parmesan cheese and it was a great pairing. Thank you! Can't believe how easy it was. Do you know how canning this would turn out with the barley? Thanks again.
Trish Bozeman
I'm so glad you liked it! I haven't tried canning the soup, but I imagine it would be fine. You could try undercooking the barley a bit so it doesn't turn to mush. I'd love to hear how it goes!
Michelle
How do I adjust the time for quick cooking barley?
Trish Bozeman
I wouldn't pressure cook the barley. If I were you, I would actually just make the soup on the stove top or just use the saute function on your Instant Pot to cook the soup like you would on the stove top. The vegetables and the quick cook barley should cook in simmering liquid in about 20 minutes!
Robert
Great recipe. I substituted the traditional American spices for one tablespoon of curry powder. I added some seitan. The result: Curry Vegetable Barley “Beef” soup.
Trish Bozeman
YUM!
Jake
Great recipe! I made a couple of substitutions, used fire roasted diced tomatoes and used 4 cups vegetable stock and 2 cups no salt chicken broth to reduce the sodium and it was still amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
Liz Jackson
So delicious! I used a splash of red wine after sauteing the veggies, but everything else as written. Perfect timing and flavors are balanced.
Heidi
I never think to rate or comment on recipes, but this is one of the tastiest soups I've had. I could not believe how full of flavor and satisfying it was! I made it for dinner at the beginning of this week and am making it again for lunch tomorrow because I'm still craving it so much!
Trish Bozeman
Heidi, I am so happy to hear this! Comments like this make my day. Thank you. 🙂
Marijo Fazio
*****
We're making this for the first time this weekend. Quick question: can I use PAM Olive Oil spray instead of cooking oil?
Patricia Bozeman
Sure! But you might need a pretty hefty spray. As long as you brown the onions and the veggies, it should be great. Hope you enjoy it!
Debra
So glad I stumbled upon this recipe. Always looking for more recipes for the insta pot. Those mushrooms are a perfect way to bring in the umami flavor and texture while still keeping this vegan. It's still chilly here and this soup is filling and warming too.
Sean@Diversivore
As much as I like a GOOD dump-and-start IP or slow cooker recipe, I'm glad to see you taking the realistic (and delicious) route here and building up your flavours first. With veggies and neutral grains like barley, it's so much more delicious to really build a good flavour foundation. I think that there's a lot of temptation to take the one-and-done approach to recipes, but the results are so often middling at best that I think it turns a lot of people off of using their Instant Pots. And hey, I'm all in favour of using more barley - it's an underappreciated grain!
Dana
This comes at SUCH a great time! This week marks the week where I start to make my freezer meals to stash away for when baby comes. SO GLAD you can freeze this! This will offer up the cozy nourishment I know I'm going to need during that time. And it's an excuse to lug out my Instant Pot. I love the thing, but I still feel like I just don't use it as much as I should!
Jenni LeBaron
Pearl barley is such a great way to make this soup super hearty and filling. I love a classic veggie soup and this one really does a nice job of encouraging the weather to stay a little drizzly right now so I can enjoy it a bit longer! Bonus that I can make it in the Instant Pot!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
I don't have an Instant Pot, but I do have a pressure cooker. Hubby LOVES barley soup. I will adapt this to make it work...and I know it will be a hit. He will be thrilled.
Julie Menghini
That is one beautiful bowl of soup that I could eat every day! I'm getting my instant pot out a lot more these days. Making soup in it is the best since you can cook it without boiling the heck out of it and losing all that texture and flavor in longer cooking methods. I'm a barley lover too and I can't wait to make this recipe!