This ultra comforting beef barley soup recipe is made so easily in the slow cooker, which also makes for incredibly tender beef and vegetables, with perfectly textured barley!
Recipes like my Crockpot White Chicken Chili and Crockpot Meatloaf are great for when you want a family pleasing meal with minimal effort. We love cooking in the crockpot, and this is one of my Slow Cooker Recipes you’ll definitely want in your recipe box!
BEEF BARLEY SOUP
Tender beef, hearty vegetables and plump barley… it’s the perfect beef barley soup! Get out the slow cooker and get ready to enjoy one of the best comfort foods, with minimal effort!
When the weather turns colder, it’s the time for some SERIOUS comfort food… and this is my all time favorite.
Soup is so perfect this time of year; especially slow cooker soups, since there’s not a lot of hands-on cooking time!
As I mentioned, beef barley soup is my favorite soup… ever! Despite loving it so much, for the longest time, I never made it at home. I was perfectly happy opening a can.
But now that I’ve been working on and perfecting this recipe… I’ll never have canned beef barley soup again!
HOW TO MAKE CROCKPOT BEEF BARLEY SOUP
You won’t believe how easy this soup is to make… seriously!
- Brown the beef cubes (this is optional, but I highly recommend it)
- Add all ingredients to slow cooker, stir
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or HIGH for 4-5
- Remove bay leaves and thyme stems and serve
COOKING TIPS FOR BEEF BARLEY SOUP:
- Use a tough cut of meat – this is a prime example of when to use a tougher cut of meat like a chuck roast or shoulder. No need to buy expensive sirloin tips or anything.
- Browning the beef adds flavor – but isn’t absolutely essential. I love to brown my beef pieces, since I love that extra deep flavor it adds… but I’ve made this several times without taking that extra step, and it still tastes delicious.
WHAT IS THE BEST MEAT FOR SOUP?
Since this soup cooks for a long time in the slow cooker, a tougher cut of meat is usually used. I like to use chuck roast or chuck shoulder. The low and slow simmer will turn these marbled cuts of beef into incredibly tender bites of meat that can be literally cut apart with a spoon.
WHAT DOES BARLEY TASTE LIKE?
Barley is such an underused grain. It’s texture is chewy with an almost nutty flavor, and it cooks perfectly in the slow cooker.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- Potatoes are optional – I always prefer some buttery potatoes in my soup, so I added them here… but if you’d rather not add them, no worries, the soup will still taste amazing!
- In fact, feel free to switch up the veggies to ones that you love. Mushrooms are a lovely addition as well!
- Prefer a different meat? Go for it! This soup can be made with ground beef if you’d prefer. Just fully brown and drain the beef before adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker.
- Other cooking methods – if you’d prefer another cooking method, please see the recipe notes section right below the written recipe for full details.
MAKING BEEF BARLEY SOUP AHEAD OF TIME
This soup is great to make ahead of time, with one modification. Since the barley can absorb too much of the liquid when made ahead, and get mushy, I find it best to cook the barley separately.
Make as directed, just omitting the barley. Cool completely and refrigerate. Follow package directions for barley and cook it separately when you’re ready to eat the soup.
FREEZING
Yep! Since this soup doesn’t contain any dairy, it freezes beautifully. Cool the soup completely (or any leftovers), then transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw it out, place it in the refrigerator the night before you want to eat it, and reheat it in a saucepan on the stovetop.
STORAGE
Leftovers should be kept refrigerated for up to 4-5 days.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- Slow cooker with aluminum insert – I LOVE using a slow cooker like this, since you can brown the beef in the slow cooker without losing any of those browned bits of flavor!
- More economical slow cooker – This slow cooker has been a workhorse for me, and at the price, you can’t beat it!
- Plastic cutting boards – These are perfect for cutting up the chuck roast so you don’t have the juices running into your wooden cutting board.
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT OTHER READERS’ COMMENTS FOR TIPS AND REVIEWS.
AND DON’T FORGET, IF YOU’VE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!
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Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 - 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces (Yukon gold or russets are preferred)
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, sliced in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp better than bouillon beef base (optional but recommended)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups beef broth or stock reduced sodium
- 2/3 cup pearl barley
Instructions
- If desired, heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over MED HIGH heat. Add beef cubes and brown for 1-2 minutes per side.
- Add beef and all remaining ingredients to slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.
- Remove bay leaves and thyme stems and serve. Goes perfectly with some crusty bread.
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Chef Tips
INSTANT POT (PRESSURE COOKER) DIRECTIONS
- Place 1 Tbsp oil in the bottom of Instant Pot and set to "Saute". Once hot, work in batches to brown the beef. Place on a plate once browned.
- Add additional 2 teaspoons oil to the Instant Pot and saute the onions and celery until softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 more seconds. Add the beef back in along with the carrots, tomato paste, beef base, potatoes, worcestershire, barley, broth, salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf.
- Stir together, place lid on and set valve to "seal". Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes with a 15 minutes natural release followed by a quick release. Remove lid when safe. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS
- Place 1 Tbsp oil in the bottom of a pot (a dutch oven works great!). Work in batches to brown the beef. Place on a plate once browned.
- Add 1 Tbsp butter to pot and saute the onions and celery over medium heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Add the beef back in along with the carrots, tomato paste, beef base, potatoes, worcestershire, barley, broth, salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer 60-90 minutes or until beef is tender.
- Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Michael L. says
This is awesome! I did the 8 hours on low heat crockpot version and put the barley in at the halfway point as recommended and used the better than bullion beef. Made zero adjustments and it came out perfectly delicious. This is definitely on my permanent recipe list. Thanx!
Brent says
My family and I love this recipe!
Merle Ralph says
I made the beef barley soup for the first time. It is delish!!!! I can’t believe how easy in the crock pot. Thank you!!!
Julis says
Simple ingredients, super easy and tons of flavours. My kids even asked for seconds!
MaryAnn says
I’ve made this many times already and it is wonderful just how the recipe states, barley half way through. I add some peas in at the end for color and because I love them. Thank you for sharing a great recipe! 🙂
rebecca says
Really good! I want to use more barley next time because I love barley. This was great. Thanks!
Cindy says
You may have addressed this, but I made this twice and was great. I made last night, with stew meat and it is terrible. (everything else identical except I use a bit more barley and leave out potatoes.) This batch astes very artificial. Is there a brand of broth that you prefer? I am not going to make my broth, altho I did brown all of the meat. Thanks for your input.
The Chunky Chef says
Hmm, if the only variable that changed other than leaving out the potatoes and adding a little barley was the stew meat, I would say maybe that batch of beef wasn’t the greatest. I’ve had that happen to me before, and it’s definitely frustrating! I usually use Swanson broth if I’m not using my own, but this recipe was tested with Swanson 🙂
Metha Schilling says
This soup was delicious, and my husband loved it. Will make it again soon. Thank you for the recipe. Was looking for something tasty and easy. You have it alll with this soup!!!.
Kathy says
I have never made Beef Barley soup. This was amazing. I did not have to change a single ingredient. Thank you for making the recipe so easy and sooooooo delicious! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
Rebecca says
I followed this recipe as written. I did use low sodium beef broth as recommended. I found this soup to be too salty. I think the 2T of Better Than Bouillion was too much and contributed to over salting. I would decrease the bouillion base to 1/2 T and instead of 6c low sodium beef broth I would use one quart (4C) along with 2c water. I did add 1/12c water so hoping that the leftover soup will be better.
Rebecca says
Addendum. Added 1 and 1/2 c water for decreasing salt for leftover meal. Also, not sure the bouillon base is even necessary. I will likely look for a different recipe.
Kara says
This was the best beef barley soup we’ve ever had! My family absolutely loved it. The only addition I made was about 1/2 c. Of black coffee because it’s always something my mom adds to stew (I added it without thinking). It was perfect!!! The kids are already asking when we are making it again!
Judi says
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! My picky husband even loved it. I used a package of beef stew meat which was perfect.
Jean says
where do you find better than bouillion beef base?
The Chunky Chef says
My grocery store carries it by the broth/stock, but you can also find it on amazon 🙂
john coles says
This was really good growing up in England I used to eat this a lot, this was every bit as good as my Grandmothers, I also shared some with a friend of mine also from England, and she was equally impressed.
Roberta says
Very good recipe, I tried this for the first time today. Not much I would change, I added another cup of beef broth towards the end of cooking. I used my slow cooker. And added the barley, (which was quick cooking) in last 2 hours of cook time. I will use this recipe again. Yumm!
Michelle says
This recipe is wonderful. I doubled the batch and froze for meals during our cold winter Michigan winter.
KT says
Excellent beef barley soup! I made it last week and it was so good I made another crock pot full today! (6 qt) Excellent flavors combine to make the melt in your mouth chuck roast cubes delicious. I did cook 8 oz of mushrooms separately and added them and the barley in the last hour of cooking on high. The best beef barley soup recipe ever!!! Thank you!!!!
Mark says
This recipe looks delicious. But as a new cook-the main question I have-and it’s the same question I have on a lot of the recipes I read from multiple sites-what size slow cooker are you using? (Unless of course it’s mentioned somewhere on your site, and I missed it. If not, then for all of us novices out here would it be possible to list the size of the slow cooker in the recipe?)
The Chunky Chef says
Most of the time, the standard slow cooker size is 6 quart. This recipe was tested in both a 6 quart and a 4 quart (the 4 quart is the one in the photos), and I’ve linked to both of the ones used in the “special equipment” section right above the recipe 🙂