This easy recipe for Instant Pot Tomato Barley soup is full of healthy veggies and hearty barley, and is a warm and wonderful soup that cooks up in your pressure cooker! Thick, satisfying, warm and wonderful for those chilly winter days.
I would love this easy recipe for Instant Pot tomato barley soup simply for its thick, hearty flavor, all full of tomatoes and carrots and scrumptious barley. But I also love it because I can whip it up in about a half hour in my beloved Instant Pot. And in these days right after the holidays, I love it because it is all kinds of healthy after a season packed with hot cocoa ice cream floats and goat cheese truffles and various other scrumptious things. Ready to give your Instant Pot a soup recipe the whole family is going to love? Let’s make it!
As you may have heard me mention a time or two, the Southern daughter is getting married in, oh, 73 days. And I have had my mother of the bride dress hanging in the closet since last summer, and in between then and now we have had various delicious shenanigans going on. In December alone we celebrated my birthday at one of my favorite restaurants, toasted the Southern daughter getting her master’s degree, and the Southern husband and I clinked glasses for our 27th anniversary.
And if that wasn’t enough, there was a scrumptious Christmas feast at my little brother’s house…
…these two lovebirds did their wedding cake testing (and I may have helped taste things)…
…we had a tailgate party (complete with a full spread of tailgate food) to watch our Clemson Tigers whup up on Notre Dame. At this point I should mention that one of my dearest friends AND her sweet son both went to Notre Dame, and they were watching with us, and I was very tactful and sensitive about not celebrating Clemson’s triumph too much.
And as if all that wasn’t enough, my mama made about one million of her famous cinnamon rolls, and I took the ones we couldn’t finish and chopped them up and made them into cinnamon roll bread pudding.
I’m still working on that recipe and will share it when it’s ready, which will definitely be AFTER I have successfully fit into my mother of the bride dress. In between now and then, I will be cooking up things like this healthy and delicious and very well behaved Instant Pot tomato barley soup.
The only slightly naughty thing about it is the dollop of sour cream on the top which is completely optional – or as my friend Ann suggested to me when I was writing this recipe, you could use almond cream instead. If you want to add a little protein and you have some leftover chicken lying around, tear it up and stir it in once the soup is done.
How were your holidays, and do you have any healthy, mother of the bride dress-friendly recipes you want to share with me? Tell me in the comments and Happy New Year!
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Instant Pot Tomato Barley Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Category: Dinner
Method: Instant Pot
Cuisine: American
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Pin RecipeDescription
This easy recipe for Instant Pot Tomato Barley soup is full of healthy veggies and hearty barley, and is a warm and wonderful soup that cooks up in an instant!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ cup pearled barley
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or almond cream (optional)
Instructions
- Add the oil to the Instant Pot and press the Sauté button. Add onions and carrots and stir for 5 minutes until the onion starts to get tender. Press the Cancel button.
- Add the tomatoes, broth, barley, oregano, salt and pepper and stir. Put on the lid, make sure the vent is sealed and press the Manual button. Set the timer for 25 minutes on high pressure.
- When time is up, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then carefully open the vent for a quick release of any remaining pressure.
- Stir in sour or almond cream if using and serve!
Notes
This soup thickens up in the fridge, so if you have leftovers you can thin with chicken broth.
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Hi there! I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN! My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too. And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!
This is a great idea for the instant pot I just got! I also love the idea about adding chicken for protein, especially since I already love tomato soup with chicken! I will be trying this recipe ASAP!!
Grace! I’m so glad you like this one, and enjoy that new Instant Pot – I love mine!
Plain Greek yogurt mimics sour cream pretty well and is healthy for you…just saying. You could probably even use 3 tablesppons of it since it’s healthy. ;0) This looks really good and something that begs to be eaten in big bowls with a side of crusty bread while watching the snow fall.
Plain Greek yogurt is a FAB idea! And I’m with you on the crusty bread (of course!) :)
Hi Kate,
I just made a double batch of your
very thick and hearty, quick and easy, super yummy Instant Pot Tomato Barley Soup.
I modified your recipe a little… I water sauteed the onions and carrots in my beloved IP (we cut out added oils from our diets years ago for weight loss – since oils are extremely calorie dense.) I used an enormous onion, garlic granules and extra carrots. After it was made, I added a 1-1/2 cups or so of garbanzo beans that were precooked. I know that addition will make it even thicker after refrigeration.
We will be topping baked potatoes with it as well as eating it as a soup.
This my first time trying any of your recipes. Thank you so much. I’ll be back to try more recipes now that I’ve found you!!!
Hi Pegi, and I’m so glad you found my site! And also glad you liked the tomato soup recipe – I love your fun additions, especially the garbanzo beans. And the idea of using it as a baked potato topping – that is genius! Happy holidays and let me know if you try any more recipes – I love getting feedback. :)