You don’t need beef to make a delicious, satisfying bowl of “beef” barley soup. This vegan version stars hearty, protein-packed seitan simmered with tender vegetables and barley in a savory, herbed red-wine tomato broth. It’s comfort in a bowl!
My vegetable barley soup is one of my favorite winter soups. I feel like I could make a meal of it. Emphasis on feel, because actually, I can’t. I need something a little heartier, which is where this vegan beef barley soup comes in.
Jump to:
“But beef isn’t vegan!” I can hear everyone saying (and they probably will, on social media). They’re not wrong. For this soup, I use my favorite vegan beef alternative: seitan.
This is one of those recipes you could probably feed to your vegan-food-hating family members and they’d never be the wiser (though you should absolutely tell them what’s in it first — trickery is uncool). It’s just as hearty and satisfying as the beef barley soup I grew up eating, and flavor-wise, it’s even better, thanks to zippy red wine and savory herbs.
This one is really easy to make, with most of the cook time being hands-off. You can absolutely make a meal of this soup, and I’m betting you will — over and over again throughout the chilly months of the year.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Olive oil. You could use another neutral, high-heat oil if preferred.
- Onion.
- Celery.
- Carrots.
- Seitan. I like making this recipe with my beef-style homemade seitan, but store-bought also works.
- Garlic.
- Red wine. Use a full-bodied dry variety like zinfandel or cabernet sauvignon. Make sure to check your brand with Barnivore before you buy, since not all wines are vegan.
- Vegetable broth.
- Pearled barley.
- Spices. You'll need dried thyme, bay leaves, and black pepper.
- Salt.
- Fresh parsley.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Cook the vegetables. Heat your oil in a large pot, then add diced onion, diced celery, and sliced carrots. Cook everything for a few minutes to start softening the veggies.
Steps 2 & 3: Seitan and garlic. Brown the seitan in the pot with the veggies — it will take just a few minutes. Once that's done, add minced garlic and cook it for about a minute.
Step 4: Reduce the wine. Stir in the wine and let it simmer for a few minutes, until it reduces in volume by about half.
Step 5: Simmer. Add the broth, diced tomatoes, barley, and spices. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer until the barley is tender, about 40 to 50 minutes.
Step 6: Finish the soup. Take the pot off the heat, take out the bay leaves, then add salt, pepper, and fresh parsley.
Your vegan beef barley soup is done! Ladle it into bowls and dig in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but you'll need to replace the seitan and barley. Try Butler Soy Curls or your favorite gluten-free vegan beef alternative in place of the seitan, and brown rice or sorghum in place of the barley, adjusting the cook time as needed.
You can! Simply leave it out and skip step 4. Taste-test the soup when it's done and add a splash of balsamic vinegar only if it tastes like something is needed.
Leftovers of this soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months. The barley will soak up broth as it sits, so add some water or broth if needed when reheating.
More Hearty Vegan Soups
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 8 ounces seitan, diced (about ½-inch)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 1 (14 ounce/397 gram) can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup pearled barley
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- salt, to taste
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, and carrots. Sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften.
- Add the seitan and cook the mixture for another 5 minutes, until the seitan just starts to brown at the edges, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the garlic and cook everything for about a minute longer, stirring constantly, until the garlic becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the red wine. Bring it to a simmer and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until reduced by about half.
- Stir in the broth, tomatoes (including any juice in the can), barley, thyme, bay leaves, and black pepper. Raise the heat and bring the broth to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer the soup, uncovered, until the barley is tender, 40 to 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add some water if the broth reduces too much.
- Take the pot off the heat. Remove the bay leaves and season the soup with salt to taste, if desired. Stir in the parsley.
- Ladle into bowls, serve, and enjoy!
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
We really liked this. Perfect recipe for an 18 degree day with 2 feet of snow on the ground!
I made the soup without the seitan and it was still delicious but I think 1 teaspoon of dried thyme is too much. I will definitely half the quantity next time. I also used a vegan beef stock instead of vegetable stock.
I made seitan (successfully) for the first time today using your recipes. I had also (oddly enough) cooked a pot of purple barley just because it was hanging around in my pantry, taking up space. I decided to make this stew since I had all the ingredients. As it was cooking, I had some major doubts. I didn't think it was going to come together but it did. I added a half cup of lentils for thickness and more protein and I didn't use the seitan since I opted for the pork flavor broth. But I had a bag of store bought vegan meatballs that I threw in and they worked just fine. It was so good that I ate TWO bowlfuls and now I'm stuffed and I don't want to finish my weekend chores. :) Thanks for the recipe. This was totally delicious.
I have made this many times and it's been delicious every time. I do sub out the wine for 2 TBS of tomato paste and the soup is still wonderful. My meat eating family devours it every time I make it so I rarely have leftovers for the next day.
What kind of red wine do you usually suggest with this kind of thing? I love red wine, but I've never used it to cook with! Thanks!
Anything dry and full bodied should work - I usually buy a cabernet or chianti when I don't know what to go with. I hope you enjoy it!
Is 1/2 cup right for the barley? Just made it and there is much less barley in the soup than pictured.
I've made this a bunch of times, so it should be correct. Maybe try letting it cook a little longer - barley expands quite a bit during cooking!
I love this recipe! I was wondering what the suggested serving size is though?
Glad you like it!! It's about 1 1/2 cups. :)
Is there an Instant Pot version?
I don't currently have an Instant Pot, so unfortunately not! If I get one and have the chance to experiment with this recipe I'll add the instructions. :)
I'm going to make this tonight for my vegan son, and I'm sure I will enjoy it too! It's exactly what I was looking for.
I hope you both enjoy it!!
This was delicious. I did carmalize the onions first to add a deeper flavor. Next time I will also add some mushrooms for more umami. I buy the little boxes of wine.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I LOVE the idea of caramelizing the onions!
What is saitin.I live in AUSTRALIA and have not heard of it here.
It's a vegetarian meat substitute made from wheat gluten. You can read up on how to make it here if you're interested: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/how-to-make-seitan/
Is there any way that I could sub the red wine? I don't like red wine, so I wouldn't have any use for the rest of the bottle lol. Would it make much of a different if I left it out?
You could just leave it out and skip that step entirely. It definitely adds some nice flavor, but I think the soup will still be good without it. Sometimes my liquor store carries half-sized bottles of wine, so maybe you could look for one of those - I never drink it either, just cook with it, so they always come in handy. :)
I buy the tiny bottles and keep them in the pantry
You can always pour the leftover wine into ice cube trays and freeze them for future recipes. Once they're frozen, just pop them out and put them in a baggie and keep in the freezer. ;)
Great idea! Thank you!
I LOVE soup for dinner, and this is one of the best soups I have ever made. And it is so easy to make! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed it. Glad to hear it!