This stick to your ribs Barley Minestrone Soup is perfect for a chilly day! Carrots, tomatoes, greens, beans, and barley will fill you up and keep you cozy!
This post was originally published in December 2015. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Comfort Food Dinner
Soups are the perfect comfort food meal. They are warm, cozy, and feel like a great big hug. I love that that they contain all of the parts of the meal in one bowl—carbs, veggies, greens, and protein! Easier to make, easier to eat, and easier to clean up! And you can’t go wrong pairing a bowl of soup with some crusty homemade bread. I love to make a big pot of soup with enough for leftovers. I serve up leftovers for the boys in their school lunch thermoses (is that really the plural of thermos?), save some for my own lunch, and even freeze a jar when I can so that I have another yummy meal ready for a night when I. just. can’t. cook! We all have nights like those….right? Right?
Barley Minestrone Soup
My barley minestrone soup is filled with hearty Italian sausage, white beans, tomatoes, carrots, onions and kale! It’s healthy, filling, warm and comforting! And a complete meal. It’s just as delicious fresh off the stove as it is re-heated in the microwave so you really can’t go wrong.
Barley
I really love barley—its one of my go to grains. It’s quick to cook, and it gets so perfectly creamy and starchy as it simmers. It’s delicious on it’s own, but it’s also so yummy in a soup. It absorbs the broth, and thickens the soup a bit too. If you need to keep the soup gluten free you could substitute quinoa or rice.
More Cozy Vegan Soups You Will Love
- Restaurant Style Vegan Lentil Soup
- Pumpkin Curry Soup
- Vegan Black Bean Soup
- Vegan French Onion Soup
- Carrot Soup
Let’s Make Barley Minestrone Soup
I hope you love this Barley Minestrone Soup as much as we do! It’s the perfect cozy meal on a chilly day. Leave me a note in the comments below and let me know what you think!
Barley Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearled barley (with 3 cups water for cooking)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil divided
- vegan Italian sausages I like Field Roast and gardein brands
- 1 large onion diced
- 2-3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups water
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes or use diced, or a combination of diced and crushed
- 2 cups white beans (one can)
- 2 cups loosely packed greens chopped and stems removed (kale, chard, spinach, etc.)
Instructions
- Prepare barely according to package directions—essentially bring 3 cups water to a boil, add 1 cup barley, return to boil, reduce to simmer and add salt (1 teaspoon) and cover. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the soup.
- In a large pot (where you will later cook the soup), prepare the vegan sausage according to package instructions. When finished, remove from the pot and set aside until serving.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the pot with the sausage scrapings still on the bottom. Add the onion and sauté until softened (4-5 minutes). Add carrots and sauté a minute longer. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add nutritional yeast, salt, oregano and black pepper and stir well. Place bay leaves in pot and add crushed tomatoes and water, starting with just a little to deglaze the pot, and then adding the rest. Add in half of the beans and bring to a boil. This will help the beans to break down into a creamy broth, while the reserved beans will provide a nice texture.
- Once the carrots are tender, add the barley (and any remaining cooking water) and the remaining beans. Add the greens and allow them to wilt into the soup. Remove bay leaves.
- Serve in bowls with diced vegan sausage on top. Yum!
Notes
From the original post…..
Are you ready for the final home stretch—6 more days till Christmas. David and I spent the afternoon at a little mall—the one I thought wouldn’t have anyone there—so we could get some craft supplies. Big mistake—it’s a mad house out there! And the rest of my week will continue to be—rushing here and there (to too many fun things to count), with 2 sets of plans for every day until Christmas when I think I will finally stop to catch my breath.
Our busy plans always include the Christmas Eve service at our church. I love to go every year and sing songs, listen to the message, visit with friends, and sing Silent Night with candles lit as we close. It brings Christmas back into focus and afterwards I’m ready for a cozy night at home doing a hodge podge of Christmas Eve traditions—wrapping presents for the boys, watching Harold and Kumar’s Christmas with Irving, and leaving out cookies for Santa.
^^^ This picture is from 2013—I love David’s sweet little profile, intently watching the candle in front of him.
