I was on a college road trip when I had my first taste of Mushroom Barley Soup. My friends and I stopped at a roadside deli—I wish I could remember the name of the place. What I do remember is that piping hot bowl of delicious soup. It was love at first bite.
You can find this soup on most Jewish deli menus. The dish has roots in the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. Mushrooms were popular in these cold-weather countries because they could be harvested, dried, and stored for later use.
In my friend Etti Hadar’s family memoir, her Polish uncle Dov Levin talks about how his mother used to string up rows of mushrooms with a thread and needle in the attic. They would hang the mushrooms near the chimney; the heat of the stove would dry them out faster that way.
Barley was also plentiful and easy to grow in the Eastern European climate, making it a common addition to hearty winter dishes like soup and cholent. Barley’s history goes back even further; in fact, it is arguably the world’s first and most ancient cultivated grain. It is also one of the Seven Species mentioned in the Bible.
Ever since that fateful college road trip, I’ve worked on creating my own soup recipe to achieve what I consider the perfect balance of mushroom barley flavor. I’ve stuck to simple, natural ingredients.
Inspired by Uncle Dov’s memoir, I added dried mushrooms with their soaking liquid to the broth, along with fresh mushrooms seared golden brown. The combination adds complex flavor to an otherwise simple soup. A long, slow simmer reduces the broth, making the soup thick and rich.
This robust, filling soup makes a hearty lunch or dinner on a chilly autumn day. Despite being “comfort food,” it is surprisingly healthy. Barley is rich in dietary fiber and selenium. The grain also contains beta glucan, a complex sugar that can help to lower cholesterol. Enjoy!
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Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 3 quarts chicken or mushroom stock (low sodium okay)
- 1 1/4 cups pearl barley
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 dried shitake mushrooms
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery, including leaves
- 1 cup peeled and chopped carrots
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 pound white mushrooms, scrubbed and sliced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pour chicken or mushroom stock into a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Stir in the barley, add the bay leaves, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered. Set your timer for 2:15 (2 hours 15 minutes) starting now.
- While the soup simmers, place dried mushrooms in a separate small saucepan. Add 3 cups of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water boils, remove saucepan from heat and let the mushrooms soak for 20 minutes.
- Drain the mushroom water by straining it through a coffee filter (use a mesh strainer or colander to hold the filter). Reserve the mushroom water.
- Chop the soaked, softened mushrooms into small pieces and reserve.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion to the skillet and sauté till softened.
- Add the celery and carrots and sauté for 5 more minutes till everything is browning and starting to caramelize.
- Add the soaked chopped dried mushroom pieces and crushed garlic, sauté for 2 more minutes. Your kitchen should smell really good right about now!
- Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Pour the strained mushroom broth into the skillet, bring to a boil, stir. Cook for 2 more minutes till mixture is hot and bubbly. Add the contents of the skillet to the simmering stockpot with the broth and barley.
- Without rinsing the skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat, tilting to coat the bottom of the pan. Spread half of the sliced white mushrooms in a single layer at the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and turn heat to high. Let the mushrooms sear without stirring.
- After 2 minutes, stir the mushrooms continuously for another 1-2 minutes until they are seared golden brown and shrink to about half their size.
- Pour the seared mushrooms into the soup pot. Heat the last 1 tbsp olive oil in the skillet and repeat the process for the remaining mushrooms. Add the rest of the seared mushrooms to the soup pot, stir to blend all ingredients.
- Reduce heat to a low simmer. Let the soup cook uncovered until your timer goes off (2 hours 15 minutes total cooking time), or until the barley is completely tender and the soup is nicely thickened. Add water during the simmer if the soup becomes overly thick. At the end of cooking, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Other Great Recipe Ideas
In Erika’s Kitchen: Winter Greens Soup with Mushrooms
The Pioneer Woman: French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms
Simply Recipes: Mushroom Risotto
Kalyn’s Kitchen: Chicken Barley Soup
Weelicious: Barley, Chicken and Broccoli Salad
I chose to make this recipe after looking through several others because it seemed simple and authentic. Well, I made it tonight, and it turned out wonderfully, exactly as I would have hoped, and exactly like your photos! I love how the brothy part thickened the perfect amount as it cooked (I left it on the stove a little bit longer than you suggested in order to get the carrot pieces just a tad softer). The only thing I had to alter was the mushrooms; I couldn’t make it to the store to get dried mushrooms, so I just used two packages of fresh white mushrooms. I will definitely try with dried mushrooms next time.
It’s FREEZING here in Chicago tonight, and this soup is indeed savory, comforting, and, for me, nostalgia-inducing. Also, my two year old son LOVED it. NOM NOM NOM. Thank you! Had to share on Facebook. Happy Holidays. 😀
So glad you liked it Lindsay, thanks for writing!
This is a perfect recipe, one of the few I don’t tweak at all. Sophisticated and homey at the same time. I serve this soup with a very good loaf of rye bread and a salad of mesclun greens, beets, purple onion, walnuts and goat cheese. Unbelievably good.
So happy you are enjoying this one Leah 🙂
Tori, know I am terribly late with a reply, but have to say this is a FABULOUS soup! I recenty took some food to a friend in need, all frozen in 1 qt bags out of my freezer and THIS is the recipe she wanted! What she loved about it was that it was so soul and body satisfying that it kept her going for a long time!
Blessings to you for sharing such a wonderful recipe-it’s a treasure, as are you!
DebD thank you so much for taking the time to write! I can’t tell you how it warms my heart knowing my recipe helped out your friend at a time when she needed some comfort. Comments like these make it all worthwhile!
Dreamt about mushroom barley soup I ordered at Katz’s Deli 10 + years ago in Austin before it (sadly) closed. Have been searching for a recipe and your photo looks magically as I remember it. Will hunt down the pearl barley this week and recreate it as faithfully as I can. Thanks so very much, and for your lovely website and posts!
You’re welcome Tina. Many delis add a marrow bone or a few short ribs to the broth for a meaty, savory depth, so if you’re not a vegetarian you may wish to add one or the other to the pot. Enjoy!
I made this last night. At the end of the cooking time, although delicious, the barley didn’t seem soft enough. It was late & I had to cool it off & refrigerate it. Will the barley soften when I reheat it? Any other suggestions?
Hi Teri, no problem. Just give yourself some extra time when you reheat the soup and simmer it a while longer, the barley should soften up with time. Sometimes older barley can take longer to soften. If the soup appears to be getting dry or overly thick, add some water or broth to revive it. Enjoy!
If I make it in a slow cooker how long should I set it for?
What is your Facebook site name? Love your recipes!
Hi Julie! Search Tori Avey on Facebook to find my cooking page. Here’s a link: http://facebook.com/toriavey 🙂
I made this today and just wanted you to know how yummy and warming it is on this winter’s day. I did most of the work cutting and sauteeing yesterday so all I had to do today was heat the broth with barley. After I let it cook for an hour, then put in the cooked mirepoix and sauteed mushrooms. SO easy!
Great ideas re: making ahead Deb, glad you enjoyed it!
SERIOUSLY this is ABSOLUTELY DELISH!!! I used Ghee instead of oil, and I used chanterelle, crimini and white button mushrooms from FM and homemade stock… AMAZING!!! I can not stop eating it! haa! Thank you! I write Gluten Free recipes for FoodFanatic.com … I’d love to hear your take on one of mine someday! Thanks for all the delicious things you’re doing… I’m totally hitting the coffee and rum roast recipe next week! xoxo Mama Love Grub
You’re welcome Joli, so happy you like it!
I have what may be a silly question, but perhaps others might have it too. Can dried shiitake mushrooms be TOO old? I have some that look perfectly fine and no different than ones I purchased about six months ago. Any advice/experience greatly appreciated!
I made this several days ago and it was a huge success. My 2013 New Year’s resolution was to follow new recipes closely on the first try, and this came out creamy and flavorful exactly as written. Leftovers a few days later were even better!
Great Thomas! I agree, the leftovers do taste better here after they’ve been given a chance to “marinate.”
i did this the weekend after thanksgiving so i made turkey stock – very rich and flavorful… this is a great recipe, easy to adapt to any pantry and i really like the way you show the steps. first time visiting your site. will definitely be back. thank you!
Welcome Davin!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s almost finished, and it tastes exactly like the deli soup I was craving. Perfect! Now I’m excited to check out your other recipes, too.
Great Chris! So happy you like it 🙂
Tori,
This is the most delicious soup! I’ll be making it again as a first course for our Hannukah dinner next week, to be followed by roast chicken, salad, latkes with applesauce, and “killer kugel”. My mate is “gifting” the guests with homemade potato knishes as well! Too much food, but since all the family will be together, why not? Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe; it’s now a family favorite.
Great to hear that Juli!
Thank you for this excellent recipe. Made it today, with a few modifications:
– used all veg stock, organic.
– used two packages of fresh mushrooms; excluded the dried mushrooms- did not feel like paying $4 for a small packet of them.
– used more carrot and celery and chopped them larger than your photo shows; I like to see my veggies in my soups!
Sauteed the chopped carrots/celery in my wok with the onion, then I sauteed the mushrooms in the (unwashed) wok, alone.
So fantastic…. this recipe produced one huge pot of deliciousness. Thank you!
Great to hear that Sabrina! 🙂
This soup is incredibly rich and delicious. I followed the directions exactly. Not sure what kind of dried mushrooms I had,but they are the essential ingredient. Would love to know why the stock and barley was cooked uncovered? It thickened considerably, so I added extra chick stock.
Hi Jean, the soup is cooked uncovered so it will thicken. If yours thickened too fast, it might have been cooking on a slightly higher flame/heat. You can certainly cover it next time to slow down the thickening, and remove the lid towards the end of cooking. Glad you enjoyed it!
looking for a jewish checkerboard cake, all the jewish bakeries have closed down in florida, never the same at the Italian bakery ….looked at alot of recipes online, can you help??? thank you
Hi this is my second season making this recipe. My daughter loves it and requests it often. I have a pot simmering now. At our local favorite restaurant, their mbs appears to have a lighter color they said they add a little cream…. What are your thoughts?
Hi Sari– I have never added cream to mushroom barley soup but I don’t think it would hurt. If you want to add some I would stir it in at the end of cooking. So happy you like the recipe!
I made the soup today for my family and it was a big hit. The flavor took me back to my mother’s kitchen who made this for us regularly. She cooked the old fashioned way and I never learned to make her soup which was never written down.
Previous attempts on my part with other recipes were not nearly as good this one.
I used dried porcini with fresh shiitakes and white mushrooms. Probably any combination works well.
Thank you very much!
That’s great to hear Lilly, thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Made this today, with a few modifications:
– used 2 parts beef stock, 1 part mushroom stock
– used hulled barley, rather than pearl
– toasted slices of a multigrain baguette and broiled with gruyere cheese (yes, I’m a gentile, so I know that’s probably off the table for some here 😉
– added some basil/oregano/pepper to the soup
The hulled barley was pleasantly toothy, especially when combined with the multigrain bread rafts. I think next time I’ll slow cook some chuck I have in the freezer and add that in as well. I’ll definitely be making it again over the winter, as it’s about as perfectly delicious of a “blizzard soup” as you can get.
Thanks for the recipe!
Great Carter! Glad you liked it. 🙂