This Slow Cooker Ham Barley Soup with Spinach Pesto is the perfect vegetable packed weeknight dinner of your dreams. It also has a make ahead option that will make those busy mornings just that much easier! AND… it’s on the list of Best of Healthy Seasonal Recipes!
I originally shared this recipe on October 28, 2011. I have updated the images and some of the text today.
I love a good slow cooker recipe. I mean, what’s not to like about that smug feeling while you’re at work, knowing that you’ve hooked yourself up for later. I love arriving home to the house filled with the smell of dinner, all ready to go.
What I don’t love is a slow-cooker recipe that falls flat on flavor. As a result, I tend toward the recipes that involve a stove-top step first. I think caramelizing the vegetables or searing the meat goes a long way in intensifying flavors and building complexity. But I’m not always that organized, so that’s not always an option.
So when we got a giant bag of fall vegetables and a big bag of local barley from our CSA this week, I knew it was time for me to bust out my slow-cooker. But I wanted to try to develop a recipe that wouldn’t require that stove-top step. I had to look elsewhere to bring on the flavor. That’s when I thought of Soupe au Pistou. Soupe au Pistou is a traditional summer Provencal soup where a dollop of pesto-like paste is spooned on top. As you take each bite you can gently stir in a bit of the pistou. It is a great way of giving a simple bowl of soup a big burst of flavor.
Tips for Making Soup in a Slow Cooker
- Add longer cooking ingredients like lean cuts of meat, hardier veggies (think potatoes, onions, celery, carrots) and dry spices in the beginning of cooking to allow the flavors to meld.
- Add ingredients that need less time to cook like peas, greens, corn, seafood, fresh herbs and cooked grains towards the end of the the cook time, so they don’t get mushy and retain their fresh flavor.
- Cut all of your ingredients about the same size so that everything cooks at the same rate.
- If you have time, sautéing the veggies and searing the meat really does add an amazing depth of flavor.
- But if you are in a rush a spoonful of pesto, dollop of greek yogurt or sprinkle of grated cheese are a welcome last minute flavor boost to almost any soup!
The vegetable line-up in this Slow Cooker Ham Barley Soup with Spinach Pesto is no joke! It’s packed with leeks, carrots, celery and turnips. Check out my Ultimate Guide to Turnips, so you can find out why they are so awesome! I decided to use a little artistic-license (or what chefs call fusion) and make the flavors more Spanish-inspired than Provencale. So I added smoky paprika and ham and brightened it up a splash of sherry vinegar. The pistou is an earthy blend of spinach and pumpkin seeds with a pungent pop of garlic, lemon zest and Asiago cheese. I didn’t have Manchego, but obviously that would have been great. If you happen to have a really good olive oil in your pantry, this is a great use for it. It really shines in the pistou.
Here are a few of my other slow cooker soup favorites…
slow cooker chicken tortilla soup
slow cooker white bean stew with chicken and ham
slow cooker chinese 5 spice beef stew
slow cooker kielbasa, cabbage and potato soup
Don’t miss this Ultimate Guide to Turnips!
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This Slow Cooker Ham Barley Soup with Spinach Pesto is the perfect vegetable packed delicious weeknight dinner of your dreams. It also has a make ahead option that will make those busy mornings just that much easier!
Ingredients
For the soup
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- ½ cup barley
- 2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups diced smoked boneless ham, about 10 ounces
- 2 cups peeled and diced turnip, about 1 large
- 2 cups chopped leeks (see how to clean here)
- 1 ½ cup diced carrots
- 1 ½ cup diced celery
For the Pesto
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed and peeled
- 2 cups packed baby spinach
- ¼ cup unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- ¼ cup finely shredded Asiago or Manchego cheese
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup finest quality extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Make soup:
- Whisk broth, tomato paste, paprika, sherry vinegar, salt, pepper and thyme in slow cooker insert. Add barley, bay leaf and garlic. Top with ham, turnip, leeks, carrots and celery. Cover and cook in the slow-cooker 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
Make Pesto:
- Fit food processor with the steel blade attachment. Cover and turn on motor. Drop garlic through the feed tube and process until minced. Remove lid and add spinach, pepitas, Asiago or Manchego, lemon zest and salt. Process until ground. While motor is running, drizzle the oil trough the feed tube and continue processing until the paste is evenly moist, scraping down sides if necessary.
- Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve soup topped with a dollop of pesto.
Notes
25 mg Cholesterol, 0 g Added Sugars
To make ahead, place ingredients in slow-cooker insert and refrigerate overnight. Because the insert will be cold, you’ll need to add 1 hour to the cooking time.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups soup and 2 Tablespoons pistou
- Calories: 305
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 657 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 20 g
Here are the original images associated with this blog post.
Hi Katie, Your Slow Cooker Barley Soup recipe has been selected to be featured in a Recipe Guessing Game. Please share the following link with your friends and fans. To play, go here: http://knapkins.com/guess_games/303?source=blog Congrats again!! 🙂
Looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe I’m going to try it out tonight! 🙂
Thanks so much Sarah. Please let me know how it went!
All thee flavors sound so delicious and comforting!! Perfect for the colder weather.
The temps really dropped here this week and I am all about the soups!
Wow! Looks at all those veggies packed in there. It’s tasty AND healthy.
You gotta love a recipe that uses up some of those fall veggies! Harvest season is upon us!
This is such an easy comforting soup! The pistou adds a lovely pop of bright flavor.
★★★★★
Thanks so much my friend Amanda. Nice to hear from you. I hope you’re well.
I simply adore slow cooker meals and this one look delicious! I love how easy this sounds and will be a great addition to the rotating menu plan!
A slow cooker dinner is always a winner *wink!
This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much Jillian. I hope you enjoy it!
I am sure in a soup mood and barley with ham sounds perfect! And I’m loving the dollop of pesto!
★★★★★
Perfection for fall. Love that pesto topping!
★★★★★
Thanks Jennifer. I hope you enjoy the soup. Have a great week.
Looks absolutely hearty!
Hey Suzy! Thanks so much!
I love that topping tip! I love my slow cooker and rarely have time for a stove top step, so have to resort to bigging up the flavour.
I like that expression “bigging up”! Never heard that, but that is exactly what’s going on here.
I love pesto but never thought of adding it to soup! This is a great recipe, and you can’t beat the convenience of a slow cooker.
I hope you try it. It really adds another dimension to soup.
I love that pesto! It always adds such a nice touch to soups! So ready for fall soup weather!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Pam. I love making soup at this time of year. It’s the best!
Mmmmm!!! I love soup season and this combination of flavors sounds amazing!
Thanks Jessie. It is a flavor explosion!
The soup alone looks amazing but the addition of pesto on the top is such a great addition!
Thanks Sharon! It really adds so much to the soup.
Fall comfort food for the win! Looks so cozy and delicious!
★★★★★
I love cooking at this time of year!
5 Plus stars! Just made this and it is wonderful. Flavorful and I like the combo of veggies. I like it even without the pesto topping. I had some really good left over ham a Garrett Valley spiral sliced one -saving in freezer for recipes. Turnips are a wonderful thing in soup. I like them better then a potato.
Thank you so much for coming back to rate and review Frances! I appreciate it so much and I am thrilled you love the recipe too. Have a great day!
Thank you, Wonderful! As usual I play with a recipe a bit, but essentially followed your recipe. I couldn’t decide between a ham and bean soup, and ham and barley so I did some of each, one can white beans and 1/4 cup barley, Instead of the topping I added some roasted pumpkin seeds on top, and was going to add baby spinach to the whole thing, but forgot and we didn’t miss it. My husband said it was the best soup! I even only had 1/2 the amount of left over ham that was called for and it didn’t hurt it all. Added a bit of dried sage, and parsley too. A keeper! Very flavorful. Love the barley and would easily use all barley next time.
★★★★★