Food Friday: Barley Soup

Dear One always loved barley soup for some unknown reason.  It used to be great when we used a little hamburger to season it.  Now, of course, we do not do that. 

Yesterday I was in the mood for soup as the snow was falling down, all around.  Lots of inches of the lovely stuff piled up.  Soup weather.

This is what I used:

Instant Pot

1/2 cup barley
1 1/2 Tablespoons Dried onions
4 small chopped potatoes--end of the bag, beginning to sprout
2 cups water
Small can mushrooms, finely chopped--mushrooms are not popular here so chopping critical
Bay leaf
Pinch rosemary
Pinch thyme
Can mixed vegetables
Can whole kernel corn
Can tomato soup
1/2 cup Textured Vegetable Protein
1 Tablespoon Ham broth seasoning, though chicken or beef or vegetable broth flavors would also work.




To begin making this, I put the water into the Instant Pot insert along with the barley and dried onions (a fresh chopped onion would work well, too) and started the Instant Pot on the Sauté function so it would start heating up and decrease the pressure cooking time.  Next on the list was chopping the mushrooms until they were unrecognizable as mushroom, then tossed them in.


Because I am trying to use up all the canned goods in our pantry I threw in cans of mixed vegetables, whole kernel corn, and condensed tomato soup. I included all the liquid in the cans...no waste there!  At the last moment I saw the TVP and put that in, too.

When everything was in the pot, I gave it a good stir, put on the cover set for pressure then put it on the Bean/Chili setting which pressurizes for 20 minutes.  The barley was cooked but not mushy, not that mushy would be a disaster in my book.  This made about 2 quarts of soup, maybe a little more.

No, I did not in any extra salt.  These was enough in the canned goods and the ham broth seasoning.  I might throw in garlic next time.  Well, I WILL throw in garlic next time.  Maybe even some chopped fresh ginger, too.


The soup was popular enough that Dear One ate a good slug of it last night. Son #4 came in and had a bowl, dropping in the last of the Christmas ham.  I thought it was okay.  Dear One asked for more today!!!  That was unexpected.