This barley soup is chock-full of vegetables. Wholesome, hearty, and nutritious, pearl barley soup is as simple as tossing in white beans and mustard greens in a pot and letting it all simmer away. The recipe for vegetable barley soup is surely a keeper!
I'm yet to do the "sneak the vegetables in" kind of parenting. I think it's important that children know what they are eating, learn to distinguish one vegetable from another, and understand why they are part of a healthy diet.
They, of course, have their preferences, but so do we adults. Now that said, I find homemade soups and stews are a wonderful way to incorporate a ton of vegetables in one dish, especially the ones they are fussy about. They eat it all without any hoo-ha and happily tuck in seconds too, as was the case with this old-fashioned vegetable barley soup.
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WHAT TO DO WITH MUSTARD GREENS?
Last winter, both my kids announced they would never touch sarson ka saag, a mustard greens dish extremely popular in India. It was heartbreaking!
So, I had to come up with another way of cooking the extremely nutritious, crunchy greens. I did a quick stir-fry with garlic, and they lapped it up.
This time I also had a pack of beautiful white beans and some pearl barley from a local organic farmer's market, so I decided on a mustard greens soup recipe. Why? Because vegetable soups are one of my favorite meals to cook.
WHY TRY VEGETABLE BARLEY SOUP?
Can be easily prepped ahead.
It’s gloriously hearty and so healthy too, packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Very versatile - use any kind of beans you like, dried or canned. Any kind of greens you have handy can be used as well.
A hot bowl of it is comforting and soothing in cold weather.
Leftover barley soup tastes even better the next day as the flavors get concentrated.
HOW TO MAKE BARLEY SOUP?
Step 1: Soak your white beans overnight. The next day, rinse and pressure-cook them in salted water. Drain and keep aside.
Step 2: Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add finely minced garlic and a bay leaf, and sauté for a couple of minutes.
Step 3: Add the diced onions and cook for another 3–4 minutes until translucent.
Step 4: Tip in barley, carrots, and beans and sauté them for 5–7 minutes.
Step 5: Season the mixture with duqqa (or dukkah), salt, and pepper.
Step 6: Add tomato purée and 2 cups of water. Let it come to a gentle boil, then cover and simmer for 20–25 minutes until the barley is cooked.
Step 7: Stir in the white beans, mustard greens, and the rest of the water. Cook for another 10–15 minutes, till the greens are done to your liking.
Step 8: Adjust seasoning. Garnish the barley soup.
Final step: Serve hot and savor!
BARLEY SOUP RECIPE NOTES
- White beans cook very fast. I didn't let even one whistle go through completely.
- You can use any kind of beans in this soup - kidney beans, black-eyed peas, garbanzo beans.
- To avoid overcooking greens in soups, I add them right at the end. Mustard greens do take longer to cook than, say, spinach. About 10–15 minutes of cooking time was good enough.
- After step 7, add more water to reach the consistency you want in the bean and barley soup.
WHAT IS DUQQA OR DUKKAH?
Dukkah is a warm, aromatic spice mix from the Middle East. It really steps up the game for this recipe for bean and barley soup. You can buy it online or make it at home.
- Dry roast almonds. Set aside.
- Roast white sesame and coriander seeds. Set aside
- Roast cumin and black peppercorns. Keep aside.
- Finally, roast red chilies.
- Let everything cool completely and grind to a coarse powder.
Use dukkah in the barley soup with vegetables. Store the rest. It’s delicious on eggs, cheese toast, sandwiches, pasta, grilled or roasted veggies, fish, and chicken.
HOW TO SERVE VEGETABLE BARLEY SOUP RECIPE
I like the play of textures in my food. I love how the intense garlic flavor and the sharp peppery bite from mustard greens are perfectly complemented by the rich buttery white beans, chewy nutty barley, and sweet carrots.
So, I didn’t want the seasoning to overwhelm the barley soup. I added some lemon juice. It is a mandatory addition to most of my soups. I stir some in just before serving with some crusty bread or simple everyday bread.
I also added a drizzle of good-quality olive oil and some shavings of Parmesan cheese. They do wonders in this recipe for vegetable barley soup. I used some sharp cheddar cheese for La Familia, as that's what I had in hand. But both are optional.
LOVED VEGETARIAN BARLEY SOUP? MAKE
Roasted Sweet Potato And Pumpkin Soup
Half the joy of cooking is sharing it with others. That’s why I’m always eager to hear from you. So go right ahead and drop a comment or reach out on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or Facebook. I hope you love this barley soup as much as we do!
📖 Recipe
Wholesome Barley Soup With Beans & Greens
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup White beans Soaked overnight
- 1/2 cup Pearl Barley
- 3 Carrots Diced
- 1 Onion, large Diced
- 8-10 cloves Garlic Finely minced
- 5 Tomatoes Pureed
- 1/2 cup Green beans Diced
- 2 cups Mustard Greens Chopped finely
- 2-3 cups Water
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Tbsp Dukkah
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Olive oil, Cheese for serving Optional
Dukkah
- 1/4 cup Almonds
- 2 Tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp Cumin
- 2 Tbsp White sesame
- 3-4 Dried red chillis
- 1 tsp Black peppercorns
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Rinse the soaked white beans and pressure cook them in salted water. I didn't let even one whistle go through completely. They cook very fast. Drain and keep aside.
- Heat the olive oil, in a large pot. Add garlic and a bay leaf saute for a couple of minutes, add the onions and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Tip in the barley, carrots and beans and saute them for 5-7 minutes. Season the mixture with dukkah, salt & pepper. Add the tomato puree and 2 cups of water. Let it come to gentle boil, cover and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes until the barley is cooked.
- Now stir in the white beans, mustard greens and the remaining one cup of water. Let them cook for another 10-15 minutes, till the greens are cooked to your liking. Add more water according to the consistency you want.
- Once the soup is cooked through. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Add the lemon juice. Drizzle with some extra olive oil if you wish and serve hot. Enjoy!!
Dukkah
- Dry roast the nuts, seeds, spices and chillis separately.
- Let cool completely and grind to a coarse powder.
- This can used in a variety of ways- sprinkle on eggs, cheese toasts, sandwiches, pastas, grilled or roasted veggies, fish, chicken.
Parth Sanyal says
Excellent.....can you give out some salt less and non spicy and no oil recipes please.Will look forward to that.Thanks
natashaminocha says
So glad you stopped by Parth!:)
You could easily convert this into a low-salt, no-oil recipe. You can just skip the sauteing part and cook the vegetables in a simple veg or chicken broth to get more flavour.The spices here are also mild.
I will certainly try to post more of these recipes.
Cheers