Hearty Bean and Barley Soup

This soup gets huge points for being so tasty AND healthy. I leave out the celery and don't see the point of mashing the beans, but otherwise I make it exactly, and it's fantastic. I'll probably leave the solids next time, though.

Hearty and satisfying! Not too hard either. I threw my pearled barley in at the beginning and fished the garlic out with a spoon later. That gave the barley enough time to cook. I had an extra poblano pepper so I cut that up and threw it in with the onions, carrots, and celery. I might add more rosemary and salt, but other than that, delicious!

I didn't find that this had much flavor. But it was very hearty and filling.

This soup is SO good. I used pearl barley and cooked until the barley was tender. 15 minutes is not nearly enough cooking time. As noted the soup was more like stew with 7 cups of broth. I added more broth after it was finished cooking to bring it to a more soupy consistency. I ended up with 10 cups of soup, so I froze some for later. This is delicious and makes a great lunch.

Did not think it was a recipe deserving 5 stars. Barley gave it a starchy flavor. Not bad but ok

This was a hit with the whole family (including 6 and 8 year old). I added an extra cup of broth as others suggested. Great soup to warm us all up and the kids didn't complain at all about eating their veggies! :) I served with beer bread and orange wedges.

Delicious and hearty on a cold winter night. I let mine simmer a little too long & it turned into more of a stew. I ended up adding some extra broth to thin it out a bit. I was able to find quick-cook barley at our local Shop Rite.

This is the first time I've written a review, but just had to. This soup is delicious!! I used 8 cups of broth, an extra 1/2 cup of white kidney beans, and frozen chopped spinach. Will def make again, and again...

This soup is SO good. I used pearl barley and followed previous advice to cook for 45 mins instead of 15. I also used 8 cups of broth instead of 7 and added a little more when reheated the next day. I also love that this is so healthy. This is a go-to cold weather recipe.

This soup is hearty indeed. A five star restaurant could easily be serve this wonderful pot of deliciousness. It's flavorful, meaty from the beans and barley and of course healthy! I didn't even have to use salt and I love salt. The food processor saved me some time from chopping the onion, carrot and celery. I was also too lazy to strain the garlic, rosemary and red pepper. Still turned out fab! Being vegan I used vegetable stock instead of chicken and didn't top with Parmesan cheese.

This is delicious. Definitely will make again.

This was absolutely delicious! I forgot to get barley for this, so I just used about a cup of rice and quinoa that I had on hand. Turned out fabulous!

This soup is very good. Very filling. I like the texture of the barley. Have made twice and will make again.

Wow - this soup is delicious. Used a cuisinarte for the vegetables, powdered garlic, and omitted the tomatoes and spinach (we were out). Also used dried rosemary and fresh mixed beans from the farmers market. Excellent recipe and my 3-year old ate 2 bowls at one sitting.

As stated in the recipe and description, this is hearty and satisfying, perfect for lunch on a cold winter day. The only changes I made were to use dried rosemary (1tsp.) and frozen leaf spinach and it turned out great. I will definitely be making this again.

We've made this twice with excellent results. I used some leftover frozen chopped spinach instead of fresh and used pearl barley (not quick cooking) and just upped the time to 45 minutes instead of 15. I also use bouillon cubes with water instead of broth. Excellent for diabetics as well; my husband is type 1 and his morning sugars are lower after eating this for dinner.

Made this yesterday and am enjoying it today. Very filling. I also cooked the barley some on its own before adding the tomatoes and beans. Boiling the stock with seasonings added a nice flavor; more flavor than what you get out of flavored stocks. Lends itself to simple modifications like different beans or adding shredded chicken.

Easy, hearty, and tasty! I made small modifications: used 2 bay leaves instead of rosemary, omitted celery, and did not strain the solids from the broth (but I did remove the bay leaves!). Served with a side of broccoli and asiago toasts. We'll definitely make this again.

This recipe gets 5 starts for simplicity of cooking (skip the first step and just buy garlic flavored chicken broth), uses things you have in your pantry and tastes very good. Like other readers, I used pearl barley. I also used escarole since that was what I had on hand and leftover turkey which was good but that was not necessary. Great soup and am looking forward to having it for lunch today!

I make this exactly as written and it is one of our all-time faves. The next day we often add more broth as the barley continues to soak it up but is a great recipe!