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!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
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.
laura says
i just followed the directions (mostly) and it was DELICIOUS! I used reduced sodium beef broth.
Will definitely put this in the rotation – thank you !
Nikita Taylor says
Hi,
I’m in New Zealand so can’t get better than bouillon, is there anything else you would suggest to get the stronger flavour?
Thanks
The Chunky Chef says
If you could source some beef bouillon cubes or powder, that would work as well.
Madison Smith says
Hi Amanda, I’ve been trying out a slow cooker lately, and am thrilled to find this recipe around! I usually cook stews like this using a trusty pressure cooker, but I’ve been hearing great stuff about slow cookers. I’ll be sure to report back on how it tastes at dinner tonight!
Kathy Burke says
I made this, th, the first time ever making beef barley soup ( I usually make chicken barley which is awesome as well) and it was a home run with the family! It came out great! I also added mushrooms instead of carrots just as a family preference. Outstanding
Autumn says
The only regret I have about making this recipe is that I didn’t make a triple batch in a super big pot.
Wendy says
Made it tonight in the slow cooker. Beef came out very soft. I used no salt added beef broth and added salt to taste. The only thing Is that the beef was quite bland. Next time, I would add salt to the beef when browning it. I also thickened it with a cornstarch slurry as it was a little runny for my liking but overall it was quite good. Would do it again with modifications.
Nichole Oberg says
I am curious, how does the tomato paste affect the taste? I am very much a straight up beef flavored stew kind of person. When buying the cans in the store I have to read the ingredients because I don’t like the taste of the tomato paste in it. Yes, I know, picky. Back to my question, is it a flavor you don’t notice or is it something that will stand out (even a little)?
The Chunky Chef says
I don’t notice the flavor, but I also like the taste of tomato paste. You can omit it if you’d like… I haven’t tested the recipe without it, but I think it would still taste great 🙂
Trap Mom says
Hi …I use tomato paste that comes in a tube. Also I always add it after soften the veggies and cook it a bit, that helps take that tomato paste bite out. Hope this helps you.
Shari Giarraputo says
This soup was amazing. My entire family loved it. Can’t wait to try it again 😊. I used my crock pot and sauteed the beef and I also sauteed the ionions and garlic and after sauteed the onions and garlic I added a little beef broth to the pan to scrape up the remaining carmelized residual onions and beef and garlic and put all of that flavor in the crock pot. I only added the Better than Bullion and skipped the extra salt. I noticed someone mentioned that it was salty. We found it to be delicious and not salty at all. Thank you so much for sharing. It’s my husband’s favorite soup.
Jenna says
Is there nutritional information for this?
The Chunky Chef says
In the written recipe it states the calorie amount, but as I’m not a nutritionist, I don’t provide full nutritional information for my recipes (don’t want to inadvertently pass along incorrect information). Your best bet would be to copy the ingredients into your favorite online nutritional calculator.
Stephanie Smith says
If I am making this in a crockpot what do I have to do differently? Do I still have to cook everything on stove first?
The Chunky Chef says
This is a crockpot recipe… the main directions are for the slow cooker. I suggest you brown the beef first, for better flavor, but other than that, it all cooks in the crockpot.
Cathy says
Love this recipe and LOVE the idea of an aluminum insert for the slow cooker! Can’t believe I don’t have one yet!
Tiffany La Forge-Grau says
My crock pot is begging me to make this! It is so perfect for these cold times of year.
Jacque Hastert says
I love making stew in my crockpot! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try and enjoy it on these cool evenings we are having.
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
Get in my belly! This looks so good.
Dorothy Reinhold says
Cold wdeather makes me want alllll the soup! This look hearty and delish!
Jen says
This is one of my family’s favorite go-to soups on a cold and dreary day. it’s pure comfort food and the perfect way to warm ourselves up. Love it!
Kim Seghers says
Love this hearty soup recipe. It’s such an amazing comfort food.
Pat Brown says
excellent.
Melisa says
I made this recipe about a month ago and doubled it. We had a death in the family and took it to the relatives. They and us absolutely loved it. It is definitely a soul food that warms you from the inside out. I am getting my grocery list ready to make it again.
Lynn says
While great flavor, did anyone else think this was tooo…salty! The better than bouillon is very salty and 2 Tbsp of it along with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and beef broth was wayyyyy too salty. Maybe I misread something in the recipe. Comments please.
The Chunky Chef says
I’m sorry this recipe wasn’t to your tastes! I always use the lowest sodium content broth I can find, and if you found this to be too salty, perhaps you could try a reduced sodium better than bouillon, or cut back on the salt.
Lynn says
I will definitely make it again but seeing no other comments about saltiness I wondered if I had misread the recipe. I will try it with the low sodium better than bullion and cut back on the kosher salt as well. Otherwise it has great taste!
Rebecca Wasserman says
I made this recipe last night for myself and my son. That kid will eat anything lol. I’m the picky one. This was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I made it in my instant pot and I have shared this recipe with all of my cooking friends. The only things I did different was use baby carrots because I find them more sweet . I used white cooking wine to remove the beef residue from the bottom of the instant pot after I sauteed the meat and veggies too and I added a quarter cup of red lentils. They totally dissolved but that’s ok because it thickened it up a little and gave it a very rich flavor without the lentils being obvious. I’m hooked. This will become a staple in my house! Thank you!