Beef and Barley Soup

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Beef and Barley Soup

With tender stew meat and pearl barley in a rich, savory fully flavored broth, this Beef and Barley Soup recipe is hearty, filling, and easy to make. It's just the thing for cold winter nights!

Prep Time15

Cook Time2

Total Time2 15

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beef and barley soup, beef and barley soup recipe, beef barley soup

Servings: people

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 pounds lean beef stew meat
olive oil
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 medium yellow onion , diced
2 celery ribs , chopped
2 carrots , roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic , minced
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon better than bouillon beef base
6 cups low sodium beef broth (or stock)
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme , or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup pearl barley
3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot over medium-high heat. Pat meat very dry with a paper towel. Drizzle pot with olive oil. Place about a third of the beef in the pot, leaving at least 1-inch space between each piece (if you crowd the pan, the pieces will not brown.) Leave the beef undisturbed for 2-3 minutes on the first side, flip and brown the other sides briefly. Transfer beef to a plate along with its juices. Repeat with remaining beef, in batches, adding more oil if needed.
Blot any excess oil out of pot with a paper towel. Reduce heat to medium, add the butter, onion, celery, and carrots. Sauté until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and tomato paste, cook 20 seconds until fragrant.
Deglaze pan with the red wine, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon.
Return partially cooked beef back to the pot along with the better than bouillon paste, beef broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle bubble. Place lid on pot and simmer for 1 hour.
Add the barley and cook at a simmer for another 45 to 60 minutes until the barley and beef are tender.
Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme sprig. Stir in the chopped parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with crusty bread, if desired and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Brown the beef first. Before the beef simmers, the goal is just to brown each side of the beef until it develops a nice golden crust, which locks in flavor. Don't skip this step.

Omitting the wine. Any alcohol in the wine completely cooks off and just enhances the flavor of the broth and also helps tenderize the beef. You can replace it with more beef broth if desired, but note the flavors won’t be as deep. Still delicious, though!

Make the soup thinner or thicker. If your beef and barley soup is thicker than you'd like, you can thin it out by adding in some water or extra beef broth near the end. Just continue simmering until it's warmed through. Alternatively, if you prefer a thicker beef and barley soup, you can dissolve 3 tablespoons of brown gravy mix into cold water then stir into the boiling soup to thicken the broth.

Nutrition