Slow Cooker Mushroom Barley Soup is perfect for chilly fall days!
There’s nothing like a good slow cooker soup on a chilly fall day and this Slow Cooker Mushroom Barley Soup is satisfying, tasty, and healthy. Healthy and good, that’s a win-win for me! This recipe makes a flavorful soup and the mushrooms add a “meatiness” to it while keeping it a healthy vegetarian meal. To make it even healthier, this slow cooker soup can be made with low sodium broth, and the salt can be eliminated from the recipe. An increase in the required herbs added during the cooking process and a salt substitute added when serving, could enhance any flavor that is lost by eliminating salt. Why do things that make food taste so good – fat, sugar, and salt – have to be so bad for us? I love all three but I have to be careful and limit them to reasonable levels because of health issues I have.
So which mushrooms should we use for this Mushroom Barley Soup?
The Thompson family loves mushrooms – button, portabella, baby bella, cremini, oyster, shitake, morels – are fine with us. Usually at the market, the white button mushrooms are the most available but I like the baby bellas, also known as cremini mushrooms, for this soup. Full size portabella mushroom are much to big and don’t look as nice as the baby bella mushrooms do when sliced for the soup. For this slow cooker soup recipe I have only used white button and baby bellas, so I do not know how any others would hold up under the long cooking times of a slow cooker.
Can I use wild mushrooms for this soup?
We have lots of wild mushrooms that grow on our lawn and in the woods. Friends are always telling me that this one or that one is edible but I am very reluctant to try wild ones. Picking wild mushrooms requires knowledge that I don’t have and the results have the potential to be horrendous if you make a mistake. In a number of mushroom varieties, the differences between poisonous and edible are subtle. I’m sticking with the ones from the store – better safe than sorry! But if you have a dependable source of wild mushrooms by all means try them. Come back and let us know what you used n the comments section!
Do you have to cook barley before putting it in the soup?
Use pearl barley, which is processed to remove the hulls .No, you don’t need to cook it first, but it is advisable to thoroughly rinse the barley before adding it to the soup. If you cook it before adding it to the soup, it will overcook and disintegrate in the soup. The barley is a neutral taste grain and will absorb the flavors of the soup. Barley contains a lot of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Barley is an excellent source of beta-glucan, a fiber known for lowering cholesterol and blood sugar.
Which type of broth should I use for this Mushroom Barley Soup?
The choice is yours! If you are looking for a vegan soup then use vegetable broth. In the recipe below I use beef broth but you could just as easily add chicken broth and the rest of the ingredients will work nicely with the chicken broth.
PrintSlow Cooker Mushroom Barley Soup
Hearty and delicious, this a filling vegetable soup that is healthy and easy to make.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 6–8 1x
- Category: Slow Cooker Soup
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 9 c. beef broth
- 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick, preferably button or baby bellas
- 1 med onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme or 1 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. dried sage, or 3/4 tsp.fresh sage
- 1/2 c. barley
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to slow cooker and stir gently to combine.
- Cover, and cook n Low setting for 6-7 hours.
More Great Recipes from The Wilderness Wife –
Slow Cooker Ham Recipe
Slow Cooker Coq Au Vin
Slow Cooker Zucchini Italiano Casserole Recipe – A great Vegetable Side Dish
Hi,
Do you know if this is freezer friendly? I love mushrooms but my partner hates them, this would be ideal for solo meals!
TIA 🙂
I have never frozen it but I don’t see anything in the ingredients that wouldn’t freeze well. All I can tell you is to experiment and maybe make a half recipe.
Can I cook it on high for less time? If so. How long would you suggest?
It may not come out quite the same but I would go with 3-4 hours on high. Let me know how it comes out.
Are you able to cook this on high for andhorter amount of time?
On high, I would do it for 3-4 hours.
I added a dollop of plain yogurt as a garnish and it kicked it up a notch!
Great idea!!!!! That sounds yummy! I am going try that the next time I make it!
Put it in the slow cooker last night, and I’m enjoying this delicious soup for lunch. I followed the recipe exactly besides adding a quarter cup more barley and going a little heavy on the pepper both of which, in my opinion, only made it better. Thanks for sharing this recipe- I’ll be making it again soon!
★★★★
do you know how many calories are in this soup.
I’m really not sure. I wish I had the time to figure it out but right now my schedule is quite busy. And I never make claims that my recipes are the ideal for losing weight. My theory on eating is “all things in moderation”!
This looks like a tummy warmer soup, Thanks for linking on Friday Feature, I have pinned your post to our Friday Feature Board!!! Have a great weekend, Karren
I love barley!
Thanks for linking up to Oh My Heartsie Girl WW!
~jenny
This is the perfect recipe for the cold winter weather we are having here in the Northeast. Thanks for linking it up at the This Is How We Roll Thursday party.
This looks great! I can’t wait to make it! Thank you for sharing and for linking up with the OMHGWW! xx Ashleigh
Slow cooker soups are the best! I would love if you would share this at The Soup-er Recipe Link Up! http://themadmommy.com/soup-recipe-linkup
i don’t see where in the recipe the measurement for the barley is and when to add it. Am I missing something?
The last item in the ingredient list is 1/2 cup of barley. And the instructions say to add “all ingredients” to the slow cooker which means the barley as part of all the ingredients. Hope this helps and hope ypu enjoy this delicious and warming soup.
You can also use Mushroom Broth. I use Pacific Natural Foods.
Sounds like a great idea. I don’t have that available in our remote area but would love to try it if I could find it.
Hi, I just want to know what size crock pot did you use?
I usually use a 5 qt. slow cooker although I have a variety of sizes.
The recipe sounds delicious! One question – can vegetable broth be used in place of beef broth to make it vegetarian friendly? Thanks ~
Although I never made it with vegetable broth, I would think it would be the perfect solution to making it a true vegetarian meal!