Venison Barley Soup

This blog post is for my dad, who called me recently and suggested that I make venison barley soup. He had just had beef barley soup at a restaurant and decided it would be even better with venison. This soup is full of autumn flavors, root vegetables and bright parsley and will comfort you and keep you warm as the months get cold and crisp. If you like venison, try out my library of venison recipes while you’re here. And let me know what you think of this soup! 

Venison Barley Soup

I played around with root vegetables for this recipe–carrots, parsnips, turnips. I even added radishes in though I don’t think they added a lot when they were cooked, so I would perhaps add them raw at the end for color and crunch. 

Bonus points if you can make your own stock ahead of time. It freezes well and is worth the improved flavor. 

This recipe is worth making in a large batch and having in your refrigerator. It reheats well and gets better as it sits and the flavors develop.

What’s your favorite cold weather recipe? Share with me in the comments or on Facebook and Instagram!

Print Recipe

Venison Barley Root Vegetable Soup

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 pounds venison cubed
• 2 medium carrots diced
• 2 medium parsnips diced
• 1 medium turnip diced
• 2 cups button mushrooms quartered
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 bunch radishes about 8, halved
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 quarts venison or beef broth
• 1/2 cup pearled barley
• Parsley roughly chopped

Instructions

• In a heavy bottomed pot, brown the meat in oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, rotating so it browns on all sides.
• Remove from pot and set on a plate. Add more oil and brown the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.
• Return the meat to the pot, add the rosemary and broth and cook partially covered for 2 hours. In the last 30 minutes, add the pearled barley.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.