This Irish Vegetable Soup recipe is loaded with all the good stuff in life! It contains stock and barley in addition to an abundance of root and garden vegetables. This recipe is reminiscent of a farmhouse Vegetable Soup which would have originated in Ireland centuries ago. Vegetables grown around the farm were thrown into a pot of water and cooked. Any grains available would have been thrown in the pot too. The end result was a flavorful, healthy, low calorie Soup, chocked full of vitamins and fiber.
Nowadays, this simple Vegetable Soup has moved on from the farmhouse to the dinner table and the Irish pub. It’s a common occurrence to see a bowl of steaming hot Irish Vegetable Soup on an Irish Pub menu served with Soda or Wheaten bread.
There’s nothing better than homemade vegetable soup! This Irish Vegetable Soup is a hearty, thick, stick to your ribs kind of soup, similar to a potage (very thick soup made from boiling vegetables and grains together). Simply add more stock if you prefer the Soup on the thinner side. I made mine thick, like a stew because I was serving it for dinner.
This Vegetable Soup is more commonly prepared and served in N. Ireland. It differs from some of the other Vegetable Soups served in the rest of Ireland because it is not a puréed soup, but rather a soup that displays all of its ingredients in full splendor! It’s a real Taste of Ulster (Ulster is the Province I’m from.)
This soup is oftentimes called Irish Vegetable and Barley Soup, due to the very obvious presence of barley. Oftentimes people will make stock from the carcass left from their roast chicken dinner. They’ll throw in all the vegetables listed below, along with some chicken meat off the carcass and make a very similar soup to Irish Vegetable Soup.
Ingredients- What is Irish Vegetable Soup made of?
- Leeks: probably the most important vegetable to include.
- Parsley: I used Italian flat leaf parsley and curly parsley, either work.
- Celery: stalks and leaves if available.
- Onion: yellow, white, red or sweet.
- Stock: vegetable.
- Potatoes: I used red and Russet potatoes.
- Scallions: I had scallion tops only, try to use all of the scallion.
- Barley.
- Carrots.
How to Make the Best Irish Vegetable Soup
This is a simple straightforward Soup, however there is a lot of vegetable prep – so let’s get cracking’!
Remove the root and about an inch off the tops of the leek. Chop the entire leek into thin slices.
Place the slices in a salad spinner basket or sieve and soak in cold water to thoroughly wash them. Drain the water and spin them.
Wash the celery stalks. Slice off the root and an inch off the top of the stalks. Chop celery into even slices, chop any celery leaves too. Place into a large bowl.
Peel and chop the onion into even pieces. Add them to the large vegetable bowl.
Wash, and peel the carrots. Remove the carrot tips.
Slice the carrots into thin even slices. Add to the vegetable bowl.
Wash and slice scallions. Then place into the vegetable bowl.
Wash the parsley and remove the stalks. Tear into smaller pieces. Likewise, add to the vegetable bowl.
Large vegetable bowl full of ready to cook veggies.
Place the veggies into a slow cooker.
Wash potatoes. Peel the skins if desired.
Add potatoes and barley to the slow cooker.
Add the vegetable stock.
Season with salt and pepper. Cook the Irish Vegetable Soup on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Finally, before serving, check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper it needed.
Flexibility When Making Irish Vegetable Soup
The basic formula needed, to make this great tasting soup authentically Irish, is:
Onion + Green leaves + Carrots + Potatoes + Grain + Stock
Use the tables below to see just how flexible this Vegetable Soup is. Remember that any deviation away from the original recipe will alter the flavor and nutritional values of the end result.
| Onion based vegetables | Green Leaves | Carrots | Potatoes |
| *Shallots *Garlic *Leeks *Onion (yellow, white, red, sweet) *Chives | *Parsley (flat leaf or curly) *Leek leaves *Celery leaves *Carrot tops *Savoy cabbage *Napa cabbage *Kale | *Any type of fresh carrots *Parsnip (carrot alternative) *Turnip (carrot alternative) | *Any type of fresh potatoes. Peeled or with peel. *Waxy potatoes (like red skinned potatoes) will retain their texture. *Russet potatoes will dissolve into the soup, this helps thicken it. |
| Grain | Stock |
| *Ready made Soup mix (typically contains split peas, barley, lentils) *Barley *Lentils *Yellow and / or green split peas *Chick peas *Beans – Great Northern, kidney, black-eyed. *Dried green peas | *Vegetable stock *Beef stock *Chicken stock *Bone broth *Bouillon cubes *Stock cubes |
Many people from Ulster (one of the four provinces in Ireland) will know this Soup as Irish Chicken and Vegetable Soup, where a boiling fowl (retired egg laying hen) is cooked in water. This makes a flavorful stock. It is this chicken stock that becomes the base for the soup, with the chicken meat added to boost the protein level.
Irish Vegetable Soup can be enhanced by adding croutons (rosemary croutons are a welcome topping,) and/or crispy bacon crumbles.
Flexibility with Equipment
This recipe is for slow cooker / crock pot Vegetable Soup. Alternatively, this soup can be made be made in an Instant Pot (use slow cooker mode) or stove top in a sturdy soup pot. Cooking stove top will speed up the cooking time, the Soup will be ready once any grains you have added are soft, maybe 30-60 minutes.
Uses for Irish Vegetable Soup
Any time of the year, but especially Fall and Winter are welcome times to eat this Vegetable Soup. Serve it for lunch with a couple of slices of Wheaten Bread slathered with Irish butter. Or eat it for dinner- I like it thick in consistency served in a bread bowl. In the States bread bowls are usually found in the bakery departments of grocery stores. In Ireland, I recommend using a wholegrain crusty or sourdough bun (all sold at Dunnes). Those of you closer to the north of Ireland should serve this Vegetable Soup in a round Belfast Bap!
A favorite pub grub choice, this traditional Irish Vegetable Soup is often spotted on the lunch menu. But as it is a hearty Irish Vegetable Soup, with a higher vegetable and barley to stock ratio, it lends itself well to being served in a bread bowl. Small round sourdoughs are fairly easy to find in the States, if I were in N. Ireland, I would use a Belfast Bap!
Take this Soup on hike with you or include it when you go pumpkin picking. It is the perfect Autumn Vegetable Soup. Pack it in a flask (flask = thermos) and bring it to work, you’ll be the envy of all!
Storage
Refrigerate Irish Vegetable Soup in an airtight container, such as a mason jar for up to 5 days. The flavor of the Soup will further develop over time. Heat thoroughly before serving.
Freeze this Soup again in an airtight container, or better yet, in a freezer bag. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and reheat the following day, ensuring the Soup is piping hot when served.
A Tip From Me
In addition to making hearty Irish Vegetable Soup, I encourage you to freeze all of the peelings, skins and leaves gathered during prep time. Use these vegetable scraps to make Vegetable Stock. Any bad parts of vegetables should be composted.
Got Questions?
I’ve got answers – hopefully!
My first response is to add more salt. Add half a tsp at a time. You may also want to include a little soy sauce to not only increase the sodium content but to give a little Unami flavor too. Additionally include foods that are particularly flavorful such as raw or roasted garlic, and fresh herbs such as rosemary, chives and thyme. You can add these foods during cooking or at the end if you feel your soup is lacking flavor. The Soup will require a further 30 minutes in the slow cooker to allow these foods to release their flavor.
This particular Vegetable Soup is both Vegetarian and Vegan friendly. It contains no fats as none are added, nor do any of the ingredients contain fat. Surprisingly, it contains less than 25 calories for a hearty vegetable and barley laden 8oz bowl and a whopping 3-4 times more than the recommended daily intake of vitamin A, (over 9000 IU). Without a doubt, I would consider this soup healthy!
There’s nothing nicer than a wee biscuit (cookie) and a cup of tea to follow a steaming hot bowl of Irish Vegetable Soup. Here are my recommendations – Butter Shortbread or Peanut Butter Cookies if you prefer to continue the gluten free theme of the soup.
Irish Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb carrots
- 10 oz celery about 6 stalks
- 10 oz potatoes
- 10 oz leek 1 large leek
- 10 oz onion 1 large onion
- 2 oz scallions small bunch
- 2 oz parsley either flat leaf or curly or both
- 4 pints vegetable stock
- 8 oz barley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Remove the root and about an inch off the tops of the leek. Chop the entire leek into thin slices, then wash it and drain it.
- Wash the celery stalks. Slice off the root and an inch off the top of the stalks. Chop celery into even slices, chop any celery leaves too. Place into a large bowl.
- Peel and chop the onion into even pieces. Add them to the large vegetable bowl.
- Wash, and peel the carrots, remove the carrot tips and slice into thin even slices. Add to the vegetable bowl.
- Wash and slice scallions. Then place into the vegetable bowl.
- Wash the parsley and remove the stalks. Tear into smaller pieces. Add to the vegetable bowl.
- Place the contents of the bowl of veggies into a slow cooker.
- Wash potatoes. Peel the skins if desired, then add potatoes and barley to the slow cooker.
- Add the vegetable stock to the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Check seasoning before serving.
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