Hello, lentil and barley soup! This recipe is such a great start to soup season now that it’s September (already?!). It’s cozy, hearty, and filling, and adding fresh cilantro (or parsley) and lime juice maintains a fresh, bright, light flavor. This is a super healthy and well-rounded soup – packed with nutrients, fiber, plant-based protein, and tons of veggies (including baby spinach, stirred in to wilt at the end of cooking). Pearl barley and lentils take the same amount of time to cook, making them an easy pairing for this soup. Use rice or quinoa for a gluten-free version, and use your stovetop, pressure cooker, or slow cooker for this lentil barley soup recipe.
It’s soup season, y’all!! If you’ve been with Bowl of Delicious for a while you know I’m all about the soups (this is BOWL of Delicious, after all). If there is another category of food that is so easy to make incredibly tasty, healthy, hearty, in bulk to freeze, in one pot with very few dishes, and that feeds both your body and soul, I don’t know about it.
And this lentil and barley soup is no different. It’s a complete meal in a bowl, and it’s so easy to make. Let’s get to it!
Ingredients and substitutions for lentil barley soup
- Dry Lentils – I used a mix of green and brown; more on that below.
- Pearl barley – NOT hulled barley; more on that below.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Spices – smoked paprika, cumin, and bay leaves (these add great flavor but feel free to omit or substitute with what you have – chili powder, coriander, or other seasonings may be fun to play around with!)
- Tomato paste
- Vegetable broth – or chicken or beef broth/stock, if you prefer. I used Better than Bouillon vegetable broth base – more on that below!
- Carrots
- Baby spinach – I would stick with baby spinach here, since mature spinach can have a stronger taste that may affect the outcome of the soup.
- Cilantro and/or Parsley
- Lime juice – or lemon juice, or another acid like red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Oil, salt, and pepper
Types of lentils to use (and not use) for lentil barley soup
I like to use a mixture of green lentils and brown lentils for this lentil barley soup. You can use all of one kind if you want. They have different textures and flavors – the green being a bit peppery and the brown being more earthy and mild in flavor. Green lentils are often just labeled “lentils” at the store and are the most common. Brown lentils are sometimes labeled “Pardina” lentils.
Both of these types of lentils cook in about 40 minutes, as does pearl barley, which makes them a perfect pairing for this soup! Black and puy lentils tend to cook a little faster, in about 20-30 minutes (so you can use them if you want, but keep in mind the barley will need longer to cook).
Red and yellow lentils cook down and do not hold their shape, making them not ideal for this soup. However, if you want to use them for a portion of the lentil amount, they will help thicken the soup a bit.
Pearl vs. Hulled Barley
For this recipe, you want pearl barley, NOT hulled barley. Hulled barley still has an outer bran layer. This makes it take a very long time to cook, so it’s not ideal for this soup. Pearl barley has that layer removed, and is generally more readily available in stores. You should be able to find it with the dried beans and lentils (so convenient!) or with the rice and other grains.
If you want to use hulled barley, I recommend pre-cooking it and stirring it in at the end. And this recipe does not use quick-cooking barley; if you want to use that, you’ll need to add towards the end of cooking to account for the different cooking time.
Can I use a gluten-free grain instead of barley?
Yes! Barley is one of the three grains that contain gluten (wheat and rye being the other two). For a gluten-free version of this lentil barley soup, you can substitute rice or quinoa. Keep in mind quinoa and many rices take a shorter time to cook, so you’ll need to account for that when you add it to the soup after the lentils have already gotten started.
Should you soak and rinse the lentils and barley?
At a minimum, you should almost always rinse off lentils and barley (and other grains like rice). This helps remove any dirt and small particles that might be on them from harvesting and can sometimes help improve the flavor.
I always recommend soaking legumes (with the exception of red and yellow lentils, since they break down too easily). Soaking dry legumes helps speed up cooking time, as well as breaks down some of the indigestible fibers that notoriously can cause indigestion.
For this lentil barley soup, I did a quick-soaking method, in which the lentils and barley take a little bath whilst the rest of the ingredients are prepped and the base of the soup gets started. Overall, it’s a 15-30 minute soaking time that helps soften them a bit and break down those fibers. Then, everything is rinsed thoroughly and put into the soup!
How to thicken lentil soup
This soup tends to be pretty thick as it is. But you can, optionally, blend a little bit of the soup with either an immersion blender or by removing some and pureeing it in a standing blender and adding it back in. You’ll want to do this after the lentils and barley have cooked and before adding the spinach and herbs. As mentioned above, using red or yellow lentils for a portion of the total lentils will also help thicken the soup.
How to make lentil barley soup
Start by soaking the lentils and barley in a bowl or container. While they soak, sauté the onions on a medium or medium-low heat, so they cook gently and caramelize slightly (this will take about 10-15 minutes). Add the garlic and spices and cook for a few more minutes until they are fragrant. Then add the tomato paste and cook for another minute or so.
In goes the vegetable broth, carrots, and bay leaves – then bring it to a boil. Add the lentils and barley (drain and rinse them thoroughly first!), then cover and simmer on low until they are fully cooked. Finally, turn off the heat and stir in the spinach, cilantro and/or parsley, and lime juice until everything wilts down, and taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Ta-da! I like to drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil over each bowl and top each with extra herbs and an extra squeeze of lime.
Why are my lentils taking so long to cook?
Lentils and other dried legumes may take longer to cook if they are older. If they’ve sat on a grocery store shelf of your pantry shelf for a while, you may find they take a bit longer to soften fully.
How to freeze lentil barley soup
This soup freezes wonderfully! Just freeze it in an airtight container and use within about 6 months for best results. I like to run hot water over the outside of the container to get it to “pop” out. Then, I put the frozen block in a pot with a little extra water, cover, and heat up on medium-ish heat until it’s defrosted and hot.
My secret ingredient tip: vegetable broth bouillon base!
I almost always use Better than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base in my vegetable-broth based soups! Sure, you can make your own vegetable broth. But this has such great flavor, with no effort, and it lasts SO LONG in your fridge even after you open it. I always have some of this on hand.
I always prefer a homemade chicken stock / bone broth over bouillon, since it has collagen and other nutrients that bouillon doesn’t have. But I always have a roasted chicken and roasted beef Better than Bouillon base in my fridge, just in case I don’t have any homemade on hand! Why not, when it lasts for such a long time, right?
Don’t forget the crusty bread!
While this soup is absolutely a meal on its own, it’s also great paired with a crusty loaf of no knead Dutch oven bread.
Other lentil recipes
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Lentil and Barley Soup
Equipment
- Large Pot or Dutch Oven
- Immersion Blender optional
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown and/or green lentils see notes
- ½ cup pearl barley NOT hulled, see notes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or other cooking oil of preference
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or chicken broth, whatever you prefer!
- 2 large carrots peeled and diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 oz. baby spinach roughly chopped (about 4 cups loosely packed)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice from about 1 juicy lime, or lemon juice, see notes
- salt and pepper to taste, see notes
- extra-virgin olive oil, extra herbs, and/or lime wedges for serving, optional
Instructions
- Place the 1 cup brown and/or green lentils and the ½ cup pearl barley in a bowl or container and cover with water. Allow to soak for about 15-30 minutes while you do the next steps.
- Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot with a lid, such as a Dutch oven, over medium heat. Add the diced 1 large yellow onion and sauté until lightly caramelized, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes (this is a great time to prep your remaining ingredients). If the onions are cooking too fast, turn the heat down a bit.
- Turn heat to low and add the chopped 3 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, and 2 teaspoons smoked paprika. Sauté for another 3 minutes or so, ensuring it doesn't burn but the garlic and spices get toasty and fragrant, stirring occasionally.
- Add the 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Stir to coat and continue to cook for another minute or so, until it turns a brown color.
- Add the 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth diced 2 large carrots, and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
- Drain the lentils and barley in a mesh sieve and rinse well. Add to the pot. Cover and simmer on low for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils and barley are fully cooked. Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaves. (Optional: at this point, if you want to thicken it a bit, you can pulse a few times with an immersion blender directly in the pot or you can transfer 1-2 cups to a blender to puree it, then add it back into the pot.)
- Stir in the roughly chopped 5 oz. baby spinach, chopped ½ cup fresh cilantro, and the 2 tablespoons lime juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, extra herbs, and/or lime wedges, and of course a nice crusty bread for dipping, if you desire.
Notes
- Pressure cooker / Instant Pot instructions: Quick soak the lentils and barley as directed. Using the “sauté” function, cook the onions in oil as directed, followed by the garlic, spices, and tomato paste. Add the broth, carrots, bay leaves, and drained and rinsed lentils and barley. Cover, seal, and cook on “manual, high” for 15 minutes. Quick release the pressure and once the float valve has indicated it’s safe to do so, press “cancel” and carefully open the pot. Stir in the spinach, herbs, and lime juice as directed, and season to taste.
- Slow cooker instructions: Quick soak the lentils and barley as directed. Sauté the onions in oil in a skillet, pot, or if your slow cooker has a sauté or stovetop function, directly in the crock. Add garlic, spices, and tomato paste as directed. Transfer mixture to the slow cooker crock if using a separate pot (tip: deglaze with a little water or broth if there is stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan before adding to the crock). Add broth, carrots, bay leaves, and drained and rinsed lentils and barley. Cover and set your slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. When it’s finished, stir in the spinach, herbs, and lime juice as directed, and season to taste.
- Green and brown lentils are similar – they have the same cooking time and hold their shape for cooking – but have slightly different tastes and textures. I like using an equal mix of both when I make lentil soup. Red and yellow lentils do not hold their shape when cooked – they turn to mush. If you like, you can use a little bit of red or yellow lentils in the mix, which will help thicken the soup and negate the need to blend it at the end to thicken, but I wouldn’t do all red lentils here because you want more texture to it.
- Pearl barley is more commonly found in grocery stores and is essential here, rather than hulled. Hulled barley maintains the outer bran layer, which takes a very long time to cook.
- Lime or lemon juice adds acid to the soup, which in my opinion is essential in lentil soup. If you don’t have either lime or lemon juice, try adding a little bit of vinegar – red wine or apple cider would probably be best here.
- For the vegetable broth, I used Better than Bouillon low sodium seasoned vegetable base. It’s become my favorite secret for my vegetable broth-based soups! I hardly make my own veggie stock anymore since the bouillon paste is so flavorful. I do usually opt for homemade chicken broth, since it has collagen and other nutrients not found in bouillon.
- You can freeze this soup in an airtight container for around 6 months.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute the barley with rice or quinoa. Keep in mind rice has different cooking times – most, as well as quinoa, cook faster than the lentils. So you may have to adjust when you add it to the soup so it doesn’t turn mushy.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
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