Quick & Easy Mushroom Barley Soup

Simple to make, filling, and loaded with veggies, this Quick & Easy Mushroom Barley Soup is a go-to weeknight meal that is warm and satisfying.

This Quick & Easy Mushroom Barley Soup is fitting to share today because we made a pot of this soup last night completely by accident. We make this recipe intentionally and purposefully too – that’s why it’s making an appearance here on the blog – but last night’s pot was totally by accident.

Yesterday’s was a little bit different than this recipe because we used beef and beef broth instead of chicken, but the concept was similar. I dug this recipe out in late October when the cool finally set in here in Florida, and it’s one we turn to often.

We set out to make chicken noodle soup last night, something we throw together on a regular basis (see Lemon Dill Chicken Noodle Soup), but realized that the only ingredient we had for chicken noodle soup was chicken. No chicken broth, no noodles or rice, limited veggies. We quickly scratched the chicken noodle soup idea!

But we did have half a box of quick barley, a jar of beef broth base, and mushrooms. We also had some leftover steak from Valentine’s Day, so we just cut that up for the soup too.

Since a cold snap came through earlier this week, and our plans were to hunker down and binge-watch Homeland, it was a pretty perfect meal for the night. Warm and filling, and not a lot of fuss.

I love soup for a litany of reasons, but one of the best reasons is that it’s so versatile. We started with this Quick & Easy Mushroom Barley Soup, and adapted it to what we had on hand. Soup is easy to make, and always filling and satisfying.

Serve it with these Toasted Pecan Goat Cheese Biscuits that are even quicker and easier than the soup, and so good for dunking!

And for the second weekend in a row, we stayed up past 1 in the morning watching Homeland because we couldn’t pull ourselves away. We’re not caught up to the current season though, so don’t tell me anything!

Print

Quick & Easy Mushroom Barley Soup

Simple to make, filling, and loaded with veggies, this Quick & Easy Mushroom Barley Soup is a go-to weeknight meal that is warm and satisfying.

Course Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sarah @ The Gold Lining Girl

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 c. chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 c. sliced frozen carrots
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 3/4 c. quick-cooking barley
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 4 c. milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add mushrooms and onion, cooking until they are soft and golden.
3. Add carrots, chicken broth, and barley.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until barley is tender.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
6. Whisk into the saucepan.
7. Return to a simmer, and cook for about 1 minute, or until thick. Watch closely, it will thicken fast!
8. Serve hot.

You may also like:

Lemon Dill Chicken Noodle Soup

Sweet Potato White Bean Soup with Bacon and Crispy Sage

Chicken Mushroom Alfredo Soup with Gnocchi & Pesto

Toasted Pecan Goat Cheese Biscuits