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Instant Pot vegetable barley soup in a white bowl
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Vegetable barley soup with mushrooms

Hearty and flavorful vegetable barley soup recipe with mushrooms! Instant Pot and stove top instructions for the perfect vegetarian barley soup.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword instant pot, pressure cooker, vegan, vegetarian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 6 bowls
Calories 189kcal
Author Trish Bozeman

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil or mild flavored cooking oil
  • 1 cup yellow onion diced
  • 5 cups cremini or baby bella mushrooms diced
  • 1 Tablespoon garlic minced
  • 2 cups carrot diced
  • 2 cups celery diced
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 2 medium dried bay leaves
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • ¾ cup pearl barley
  • salt and pepper
  • fresh parsley for serving (optional)

Instructions

Instant Pot

  • 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 mushrooms, garlic, carrot, and celery. Saute, stirring often, 10 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, vegetable stock, and barley. Give a good stir and hit cancel to stop the saute function.
  • 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.
  • 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 on top. Enjoy!

Stove top

  • Turn on the saute function on your Instant Pot to normal. Heat the oil over medium high heat in a soup pot or large dutch oven. Saute the onions until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic, carrot, and celery. Saute, stirring often, 10 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, vegetable stock, and barley. Give a good stir and reduce the heat so that your soup is simmering but not boiling. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the barley is cooked to your liking.
  • Remove the bay leaves from the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh parsley on top. Enjoy!

Notes

Closed lid time for the Instant Pot: 28 minutes, which is included in the cook time.
  • If you can't find pearl barley, try farro, quinoa, or brown rice.
  • Feel free to add your favorite vegetables like green beans, corn, or peas.
  • Although the recipe calls for vegetable broth, you can swap for beef broth or chicken broth if you're not vegetarian.
  • Add some protein by adding beans or lentils.
  • If you'd like the soup thicker, try pureeing a bit of it and stirring that it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 1004mg | Potassium: 608mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 7788IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg