Spring may be around the corner but this fennel bean and barley soup is perfect to keep your warm while we wait for the weather to catch up!

It’s a comforting soup that is bright with flavor and has a hint of spice to help clear those sinuses.

We just got through a long weekend with colds and a little stir craziness. I was craving soup, but also promised to take Brayden out fishing. This fennel bean and barley soup is perfect for days like this.

I took him fishing (a first for both of us), had a blast even though we caught nothing but some weeds. By the time we got back from the lake it was time to throw soup together.

This is the perfect soup recipe for that as it can take as little a 20 minutes to be done.

Its packed with fennel, cannellini beans, barley, fresh spinach and fire roasted tomatoes. We’ll add fresh spinach and Parmesan with a nice baguette to dip as well.

IF you want to speed things up a bit, try using fast cooking barley, which will cook in about 10 minutes. I like the texture of the normal cooking barley, but when I’m in a time crunch I’ll opt for the faster cooking stuff.

This will save about 25 minutes in the cook, so its a great weeknight trick!

Fennel Bean and Barley Soup

Course: Dinner

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Calories: 2001kcal

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 medium fennel cored, sliced
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 48 oz vegetable broth
• 15 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes canned
• 30 oz cannellini beans canned
• 1 cup barley
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan

Instructions

• In a dutch oven with 2 tbsp olive oil, sweat down fennel, onion for about 5 minutes, add in garlic and basil and cook for another 2-3 minutes until aromatic.
• Stir in fire roasted tomatoes, canellini beans, barley salt and pepper. Bring to a bowl, then reduce to a simmer. Let cook for about 30 minutes until barley is tender.
• Add in spinach and stir until wilted. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve with bread.

Nutrition

Sodium: 10804mg | Calcium: 2032mg | Vitamin C: 58mg | Vitamin A: 9998IU | Sugar: 27g | Fiber: 86g | Potassium: 2339mg | Cholesterol: 88mg | Calories: 2001kcal | Saturated Fat: 18g | Fat: 34g | Protein: 119g | Carbohydrates: 338g | Iron: 32mg