Slow Cooker 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.
Get the INSTANT POT Sausage Barley Soup recipe here
Slow Cooker Sausage Barley Soup
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 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.
More slow cooker soup recipes you’ll love…
Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage White Bean Soup
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
See all my Slow Cooker Soups here
What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Slow Cooker Sausage Barley Soup I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.* My favorite feature of this slow cooker is that it has a stove top function. This is perfect for sauteing or browning before you slow cook. This slow cooker has four manual cooking functions: slow cook, stove top sear/Saute, steam, and bake.
Slow Cooker Sausage Barley Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4-6 hours
- Total Time: 38 minute
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
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
- 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
- In a pan over medium high heat brown your sausage and at the same time saute the onion. Drain off any grease. Add the sausage and onion to the slow cooker.
- Add in the garlic powder, basil, celery, carrot, barley, broth, tomato paste, tomatoes and bay leaf.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until barley is cooked through.
- Discard the bay leaf. Taste and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and enjoy.
Notes
I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.*
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
*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.
dear j.w. saret –
Awww, don’t be mean!
it’s obvious you haven’t tried this soup or you wouldn’t be so quick to criticize. You seem to be smack-mouthing the soup and at the same time are willing to chow down those salty crackers and crusty bread with your serving.
This a delicious, simple and relatively healthy soup (had it last night) and I used lo-sodium broth.
There are so many low sodium options available and if that doesn’t work for you, don’t make the recipe and for goodness sake don’t be so mean, just keep it to yourself please!!
To J.W. Saret. I gotta say that nobody is twisting your arm and forcing you to use the salt. If you don’t like all the salt, then don’t use any. Recipes lead us in a particular direction. There’s no problem if you want to stray. You can make it your own. No need to be unkind to someone who is just trying to help us all.
Excessive salt much? Add crackers and/or two slices of crusty bread and you’ve got a day’s worth of salt in a lunch bowl of soup!
★★