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February 22, 2019

Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup

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Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup–with Italian sausage and barley this soup has flavor and texture in every spoonful. It’s perfect for a cold night supper and the leftovers are the best for lunch the next day. 

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Get the SLOW COOKER sausage barley recipe here

Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup--with Italian sausage and barley this soup has flavor and texture in every spoonful. It's perfect for a cold night supper and the leftovers are the best for lunch the next day.

Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup

We were in a hurry the other night to make dinner and get out the door to my son’s basketball game. My husband pointed to a chicken and barley soup recipe in my cookbook* and said “make this except with Italian sausage.” It turned out to be an amazing idea. The soup was just a perfect flavor. I love the texture of barley and am committed to using it in more recipes. And of course the leftovers were super tasty for lunch the next day.

A few notes about the ingredients:

Sausage–I buy the ground Italian sausage. Usually I just find the store brand on the foam trays wrapped in plastic. I like the mild flavor. If you’re a spicy person then get hot.

Pearl Barley–I buy my grains like barley in the bulk section of Winco. I know I’ve seen the quick cooking kind in packages by the rice. Don’t use the quick cooking kind in the Instant Pot. It will get to too mushy.

Broth–I often use Better than Bouillon Chicken Base in the place of broth. I used 5 cups water and 5 teaspoons of chicken base. I buy this in the big container from Costco because I use it so often.

Pin this recipe for later!

Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup--with Italian sausage and barley this soup has flavor and texture in every spoonful. It's perfect for a cold night supper and the leftovers are the best for lunch the next day.

More Instant Pot soup recipes you’ll love…

Instant Pot Tuscan Sausage White Bean Soup

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup

Instant Pot Greek Lemon Soup

Instant Pot Greek Lemon Soup

See all my Instant Pot Soups here

Pin this recipe for later!

Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup--with Italian sausage and barley this soup has flavor and texture in every spoonful. It's perfect for a cold night supper and the leftovers are the best for lunch the next day.

What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?

To make Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly.  It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.

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    Instant Pot Sausage Barley Soup


    ★★★★★

    5 from 8 reviews

    • Author: Karen Petersen
    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
    • Total Time: 55 minutes
    • Yield: 6 servings 1x
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    Description

    With Italian sausage and barley this soup has flavor and texture in every spoonful. It’s perfect for a cold night supper and the leftovers are the best for lunch the next day.


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 1 pound ground Italian sausage (I used mild)
    • 1 cup diced onion
    • 1 tsp garlic powder
    • 1 tsp dried basil
    • 1 cup diced celery
    • 1 cup diced carrot
    • 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
    • 5 cups chicken broth
    • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
    • 1 (14 oz) can petite diced tomatoes (or fired roasted tomatoes for more flavor)
    • 1 bay leaf
    • Salt and pepper to taste

    Instructions

    1. Brown your sausage. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in your sausage. Break it up*. Add in the onion. Brown the sausage for about 5 minutes. If there is excess grease, drain it off.
    2. Add in ingredients. Add in the garlic powder, basil, celery, carrot, barley, broth, tomato paste, tomatoes and bay leaf.
    3. Pressure cook. Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the soup button to 20 minutes (if you don’t have a soup button use the manual/pressure cook button). When the time is up let the pot sit for about 10 minutes (display will say L0:10) and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
    4. Serve. Discard the bay leaf. Taste and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and enjoy.

    Notes

    I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.

    • Category: Soup
    • Method: Instant Pot

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @365dayscrockpot on Instagram

    *Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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    24 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Sausage, Instant Pot, Soups

    Recommendations

    Comments

    1. Jaci says

      October 31, 2021 at 6:52 pm

      One of our very favorites 🤩

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Karen says

        November 2, 2021 at 12:55 pm

        Thanks Jaci!

        Reply
    2. Priscila says

      March 11, 2021 at 7:58 pm

      Quick, easy, no frills and tasty! There’s simply no wayto go wrong with this recipe.
      Just made it for the first time today and, only a few bites in, my husband already tells me I need to save this recipe. (That’s a very good sign in our home! lol)

      I opted for pearl barley, without any adjustments for time, and it turned out just fine. Also, I added in some diced cabbage that needed to be used up, and for the meat I actually went with 1/2 Italian sausage, 1/4 ground beef and 1/4 ground pork (the ground meats needed to be used up).

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Karen says

        March 13, 2021 at 11:53 am

        I love the idea of cabbage! Yum!

        Reply
    3. Marion says

      November 1, 2020 at 11:36 am

      When I first got my Instant Pot, one of the first things I made was the excellent Loaded Baked Potato Soup from this website. This recipe is equally good. I used fresh garlic, sautéed the veggies in the sausage oil for about 3 minutes, sautéed the tomato paste for a minute, and used dried italian seasoning since I didn’t have basil. I threw in a cup of diced zucchini b/c I wanted to use it up. Thanks for a simple and tasty recipe.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Karen says

        November 2, 2020 at 5:14 pm

        Yum I like the idea of zucchini!

        Reply
    4. Brett says

      October 7, 2020 at 7:54 pm

      This was sooooooo good! I made a double batch that almost over filled my instant pot!

      I used fresh garlic and added some oregano and paprika and a charred jalapeño,

      I added the tomato paste while sautéing the sausage and onions to “caramelize” it.

      I also added a can of corn niblets and a can of chopped spinach.

      Mmmmmmm! Thanks!

      Reply
      • Karen says

        October 8, 2020 at 12:39 pm

        Your version sounds amazing Brett!

        Reply
        • Brett says

          October 8, 2020 at 12:55 pm

          Best soup I have ever made. Thank you!

          ★★★★★

          Reply
    5. Sharon says

      April 10, 2019 at 6:12 pm

      This was delicious. I used a little less sausage and added a bit more rinsed barley. The 20 minute cook time, and the 10 minute stand time were right on.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Karen says

        April 15, 2019 at 11:45 am

        Good! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    6. Vicki Knight says

      March 14, 2019 at 6:55 pm

      The Sausage barley soup was fantastic!!!! My family also thought so too. Easy to make, this was the 3rd recipe I had tried making in the pressure cooker. Thanks for the tip of using pearl barley and not the quick type.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Karen says

        March 15, 2019 at 9:27 am

        Glad you liked it Vicki!

        Reply
    7. Chris says

      March 4, 2019 at 8:27 am

      Great recipe Karen! I made it yesterday and had some for dinner, supper AND a snack. I love soup, as you can tell. 😁 And it’s on the menu for today as well. I didn’t have pearl barley on hand, so I used the quick cooking kind and reduced the time to 10 minutes and it turned out perfect! Thanks for adding a new soup to my repertoire. It’s a definite keeper!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Karen says

        March 4, 2019 at 9:09 pm

        Okay thanks for the tip on the quick cooking barley!!!

        Reply
    8. rhoda says

      March 3, 2019 at 1:17 am

      This turned out amazing! I added kale and I think next time I might add some beans!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    9. Nancy Benck says

      February 24, 2019 at 9:55 am

      I loved this recipe with sausage instead of ground beef, like I make. With a crusty French bread, it will be dinner tonight!

      Reply
      • Karen says

        February 25, 2019 at 10:04 am

        Yum that sounds great!

        Reply
    10. Tamara says

      February 23, 2019 at 6:55 pm

      I made this in my Instant Pot tonight for dinner, It was delicious! Thank you Karen. I made no changes to the recipe, however next time I will add 1/4-1/2 cup more of the pearl barley. I served it with home made bread, perfect for a cold, rainy February night.

      Reply
      • Karen says

        February 25, 2019 at 10:06 am

        Thanks Tamara! More barley is a good idea.

        Reply
    11. Billie Sontag says

      February 22, 2019 at 4:10 pm

      I’m confused about the barley. You list pearl barley as not being the instant kind. I always thought it is because it has been processed and is quicker cooking than whole grain hulless barley. Can your recipe be modified for hulless barley, which is the only kind I am permitted to eat?

      Reply
      • Karen says

        February 25, 2019 at 10:18 am

        I would cook it longer. I am not exactly sure how much longer but I would suggest starting with 25-30 minutes.

        Reply
    12. Anita says

      February 22, 2019 at 1:15 pm

      Can I make this vegan and still get flavor?

      Reply
      • Karen says

        February 25, 2019 at 10:19 am

        Is there a vegan sausage substitute?

        Reply

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    Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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