This hearty, nutritious one-pot Farro Soup is packed with veggies, a rich broth, and plenty of farro. It’s delicious and satisfying! Top with fresh herbs, Parmesan, and enjoy with crusty bread for dunking!
If you’ve tried my favorite Farro Salad, you likely need no convincing how delicious this grain is. But if you haven’t, I’m aiming to convince you today that it needs a permanent spot in your pantry!
Try out this Farro Soup Recipe, which is part of our collection of favorite soup recipes. Click here to see all the recipes in the collection.
Delicious Farro Soup!
If you take a quick glance at the ingredient list you’ll notice just how nutritious the ingredients in this soup are–it’s basically all veggies, broth, and farro.
But it’s in the marriage of these ingredients that the magic happens–there is an unbelievable amount of flavor in this soup! My favorite type of healthful recipes are the ones that you wouldn’t even think are healthy because they’re just that delicious!
Can Farro Be Used In Soup?
Absolutely! And making soup with farro is a great way to add a filling, protein-packed element to your meal.
Farro isn’t always easy to find in grocery stores, but it is well worth the time taken to source it (especially with how easy online ordering is these days!).
Farro is a whole grain, and very similar to brown rice. It has a wonderful chewy-yet-tender texture with a slightly nuttier flavor. Farro originates from the Tuscan region of Italy; it is extremely filling, rich in protein and high in fiber.
Quick Tip
We love this brand and this brand of Farro. The important thing to note is you want to grab pearled farro which means the bran layer has been removed and it’ll need less cooking time than whole farro. Whole farro still has the bran intact and takes a lot longer to cook. It will also absorb too much liquid in this recipe.
What Do You Serve With Farro?
Our favorite accompaniments to this grain are loads of veggies and a heartily-seasoned broth.
We’ve got onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes making up the bulk of veggies in this soup.
For the broth base, we love using a good quality vegetable stock (like Swanson®) which keeps this soup vegan/vegetarian. If you aren’t concerned with making this farro soup vegetarian/vegan, chicken stock/broth works great here too.
Variations
- Swap out veggies: Try some other veggies like butternut squash, Yukon gold potatoes, or more of one of the veggies in the recipe.
- Add in a can of drained and rinsed white cannellini beans.
- Make Beef Farro Soup: Try our favorite Beef and Barley Soup, but replace the barley with farro!
- Make Chicken Farro Soup: Replace the vegetable stock with chicken stock and stir through some shredded, seasoned rotisserie chicken at the end.
Farro Soup FAQs
Yes, farro is a great substitute for barley. They have similar textures and flavors and cook the same way (if both are pearled!).
I love topping each bowl with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, a squeeze of lemon, and using crusty, warm (and buttered) bread for dunking!
These Dinner Rolls, French Bread, No-Knead Bread, or Focaccia would all be great sides for this soup.
If you’d like to serve a salad on the side, I recommend this Italian Salad, Caesar Salad, or Garden Salad.
Farro needs about 35 minutes in simmering liquid to cook through. Cooked farro should have a nice chewiness but shouldn’t have a hard center like uncooked rice.
It’s most similar to brown rice in appearance and flavor, but with a more complex taste that’s slightly nutty and even oat-like.
Quick Tip
Make sure to get flat-leaf Italian parsley, as opposed to curly for this amazing Farro Soup. Flat-leaf parsley has a more robust flavor and curly parsley is used more commonly as a garnish.
More Veggie-Filled Soup Recipes:
- Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup with quinoa
- The best Vegetable Soup with basil pesto
- Black Bean Soup with red peppers and carrots
- Lentil Soup with the best seasoning blend
- Vegetarian Split Pea Soup Recipe with carrots and onion
Farro Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1-1/2 cups finely diced yellow onion (~2 medium onions)
- 1-1/2 cups chopped (1/2-inch) carrots (~3-4 carrots)
- 1 cup chopped (1/2-inch) celery (~3 stems)
- 1-1/2 cups peeled and chopped (1/2-inch) sweet potato cubes (~2 small or 1 medium)
- 1-1/2 cups whole white mushrooms, cut in 4ths (5-1/2 oz.)
- Fine sea salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (~4 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon each dried thyme and ground coriander
- 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 cup pearled farro (Note 1)
- 2 containers (32 oz. each) good-quality vegetable stock (we love Swanson) (8 cups total)
- 2 dry bay leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
- Optional: Parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
- PREP: Thoroughly rinse farro in a mesh sieve/strainer under cool water. Shake off excess water and let stand in strainer to dry until ready to use. Prep veggies: very finely dice onion, peel and cut carrots to 1/2-inch pieces, cut celery to 1/2-inch pieces, peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes, and cut mushrooms in 4 pieces (or cut larger ones in 6-8 pieces).
- VEGGIES: Add olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, sweet potato, and mushrooms. Season to taste (I add 2 tsp fine sea salt & 1 tsp pepper). Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and onion is beginning to turn golden, 5-7 minutes.
- SEASONINGS: Add minced garlic, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp dried thyme and coriander, plus optional 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes. (The red pepper flakes add a touch of heat, so leave out if you don't love that.) Add in rinsed farro. Sauté, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- SIMMER: Add in bay leaves and all the vegetable stock. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. (The soup should be slightly bubbling, but not rapidly boiling/bubbling.) Simmer, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until farro is cooked through and veggies are tender. Farro has a lovely chewiness, but shouldn't have a hard center.
- FINISH: Once soup is done, remove from heat and stir the parsley through. Taste, adjusting seasonings to personal preference. Serve in bowls topped with Parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy with crusty buttered bread!
- STORING: Farro will continue to soak up surrounding liquid, so to store leftovers, use a slotted spoon to separate farro & vegetables from the broth. Re-combine the two when ready to enjoy the leftovers!
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So delicious! My 3 and 1 year old boys devoured it (and so did we!)
YAY! So happy to hear this! It’s always a win when the kids like it! 🙂