🍲 Bündner barley soup
Bündner Gerstensuppe is a hearty barley soup from the Swiss Alps, simmered with beef, smoky bacon, cabbage, carrot and celery until the barley turns soft and creamy. A splash of cream at the end makes it rich and smooth. It is a warming winter meal, served in deep bowls straight from the pot.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g pearl barley
- 300 g beef shin or brisket, diced
- 100 g smoked bacon, diced
- 1 onion and 1 leek, chopped
- 2 carrots and 2 celery sticks, diced
- 200 g white cabbage, shredded
- 2 litres water
- 100 ml single cream
- Salt, pepper, 1 bay leaf, chopped parsley
Method
- Fry the bacon in a large pot until the fat runs, then add the onion and leek and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the beef, barley, bay leaf and water, bring to the boil and skim, then simmer covered for 1 hour.
- Add the carrots, celery and cabbage and simmer for 30–40 minutes more until the barley and vegetables are tender.
- Stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.
How to make it lighter
- Halve the bacon and use a lean cut of beef; the smoky flavour still comes through.
- Replace part of the cream with extra vegetables blended into the broth for a creamy texture.
- Serve one bowl as a full meal — barley and beef make it filling without extra bread.
History
The soup takes its name from the canton of Graubünden (Bünden) in eastern Switzerland, where barley was a staple grain of mountain farming. Today it is served in Alpine restaurants and mountain huts across Switzerland, especially in the ski season.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →