This beef barley soup is a hearty combination of beef, vegetables, barley and mushrooms, all simmered together until tender and flavorful. A hearty dinner option that’s easy to make and freezer friendly.
My family could eat soup every night, some of our favorites include cabbage roll soup and chicken tortellini soup. Beef barley soup is also on the list because it’s simple yet totally satisfying.
Whenever I’m looking for a comfort food style meal that I know my family will approve of, I turn to this beef barley soup. It’s got bold flavors, fork tender meat, plenty of veggies and the barley adds such great texture. Kids and adults alike will enjoy this one!
Enjoy this beef barley soup with amazing side dishes like Irish soda bread, asparagus salad, honey cornbread and caprese bread.
Table of Contents
Beef Barley Soup Ingredients
To make this beef barley soup recipe you will need olive oil, beef stew meat, an onion, carrots, celery, garlic, beef broth, a bay leaf, fresh thyme, pearl barley, mushrooms, fresh parsley, salt and black pepper. See the recipe card below for amounts and details.
How Do You Make Beef Barley Soup?
To make this beef barley soup recipe, start by heating olive oil in a large pot. Season your beef stew meat with salt and pepper and place it in the pot. Sear each side of the meat until the chunks are browned. Remove the meat and place your onion, carrots, celery and garlic in the pot. Cook the veggies a few minutes until tender. Add the stew meat, beef broth, bay leaf and thyme to the pot. Cook for an hour and add the mushrooms and barley. Cook another half an hour and season the soup with salt and pepper. Sprinkle parsley on top and enjoy this hearty dish!
Tips For The Perfect Beef Barley Soup
- Depending on the size of your stew meat chunks, you may want to cut your beef into similar sized pieces that fit well on a spoon.
- I cut my vegetables on the larger side so that they don’t disintegrate into the soup while the meat is simmering. If you prefer firmer veggies, you can sauté them, remove them from the pan, then add them back in halfway through the cook time.
- I typically use button mushrooms but cremini mushrooms also work well.
- You can usually find pearl barley in the grocery store near other grains like farro or near the rice. It also may be labeled “pearled barley.”
Quick Tip
I use beef stew meat because it’s inexpensive and convenient. You can also buy beef chuck roast, short ribs or a similar cut of beef and cut it into cubes if you prefer.
Recipe FAQs
Pearl barley is a type of barley that has been processed to remove the hull and bran. Pearl barley is faster cooking and has a better texture than unprocessed whole barley, which can sometimes be overly chewy.
Beef barley soup is the perfect candidate for the freezer. You can either freeze your cooked soup, or you can do it meal prep style where you freeze all of the ingredients in one bag, then thaw everything and cook.
No, you don’t need to cook barley before adding it to soup. My beef barley soup recipe has the barley cooking in the soup for 20-30 minutes which makes for tender and delicious barley.
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Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup
This recipe can easily be adapted to use in the slow cooker. Simply brown your beef and vegetables as directed, then place all of the ingredients except the parsley into a crock pot. Cook for 6-8 hours on low, then serve. If you choose to make this soup in the slow cooker, the barley will have a softer texture than the stove top version, but it’s still totally delicious.
Flavor Variations
This beef and barley soup makes for a fantastic and filling dish especially on cold evenings. However, you can adjust the recipe to suit your own taste.
- Veggies: Feel free to add some of you favorite veggies like green beans, peas or chopped cabbage. Add those veggies for the last 10-15 minutes of cook time.
- Ground Beef: You can speed up your cook time by using ground beef. Substitute 1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef for the stew meat in this recipe.
- Chicken: You could make this dish with chicken thigh chunks. Cut 1 1/2 inch cubes of boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat. Sauté the meat and veggies as described in this recipe. Substitute chicken broth or chicken stock for beef broth and cook everything in a pot for 30 minutes.
- Seasonings: For extra flavor you can add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce or stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste when you add the beef broth to the pot.
- Toppings: You could add your favorite fresh herbs like chives or sliced green onions. You could also sprinkle on a little fresh ground pepper.
Once you have a bowl of this beef barley soup, you’ll be hooked. It’s an interpretation of the classic recipe that’s anything but ordinary!
More Hearty Soups
Stuffed Pepper Soup
40 mins
Mexican Chicken Soup
45 mins
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
50 mins
Tortellini Soup with Sausage
30 mins
Chicken Taco Soup
30 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds beef stew meat
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 large carrots cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 3 stalks celery sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3/4 cup pearl barley
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Season the beef stew meat with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place half of the meat in the pot in a single layer. Cook for 3-5 minutes per side, or until browned. Repeat with remaining meat.
- Remove the meat from the pot and cover to keep warm. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until softened.
- At this point you can either leave the veggies in the pot to simmer with the beef, or remove the vegetables and add them back in later. It depends on whether you prefer softer or firmer vegetables in your soup.
- Add the beef, beef broth, bay leaf and thyme to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 60 minutes or until beef is tender.
- If you’ve reserved your vegetables, add them back in now. Add the barley and mushrooms to the pot. Cook for an additional 20-30 minutes until barley is tender.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Notes
- I use beef stew meat because it’s inexpensive and convenient. You can also buy chuck roast and cut it into cubes if you prefer.
- Depending on the size of your stew meat chunks, you may want to cut your beef into similar sized pieces that fit well on a spoon.
- I cut my vegetables on the larger side so that they don’t disintegrate into the soup while the meat is simmering.
Can this soup be home canned? If so, what should be omitted before canning and added later? Sounds really tasty!
Unfortunately I am not a canning expert, so I’m not able to give a lot of advice in this area!
Excellent soup! I didn’t change a thing, and the entire family loved it. I’m sure I’ll be making this again during the fall and winter. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
I make this soup all the time now. I do add a tsp of ground ginger to mine and I also use no sodium added beef stock. Also I throw parsnips and potato in it with lots of onion carrots and celery.
I love recipes with barley and can’t wait to make this as I have all the ingredients at home 🙂
I love soup… could literally eat soup every day of the year. This is a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
This soup looks amazing, and simple to make too! Will be making it very soon.
I hate to admit I just bought two cans of barley soup from a favorite brand. This certainly look 1k times better, I am going to try it tomorrow thanks!
This soup is so delicious. Easy to follow directions and the end result, super tender meat. The barley is soft and tasty. I will make again.
It’s so cold here so I made this barley soup and we loved it! Full meal in a bowl!
Should I cover the pot while it summers? Thanks!
I meant simmers 🤪
I do not cover the pot!
Do I cover the pot to cook the beef?
I do not cover the pot, but you can if you prefer!
Hi! I would love to try this – but I’m wondering if it can be done in the Instant Pot? I prefer things I can basically leave – but without the time of slow cooker. Thank you!
Yes I think that would work fine!
I used to go to a deli and get this soup with my mom. I gave this recipe a try and it was delicious! Deli style food at home. Even better the second day!
This recipe looks amazing! But 1 question: can you freeze leftovers?
Yes you can freeze it!
This is the best beef barley recipe ever!
I added a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon of gravy thickener amd it turned out really good . Slow cooked for 6 hours.
Everyone at home loved it.
Very tasty beef and barley soup. I love this kind of soup but the store-bought versions always leave me wanting. I used closer to 3lbs of Chuck roast and cubed it myself. Some butchers hide old meat and rough cuts in the packaged cubed stew meat. Dusted with baking soda to encourage browning. Carrots got a little soft so I’d cook them first and pull for the last cook next time but it’s fine. They are just a little soft. I used dried parsley flakes and dried thyme. I used quick cook barley and it took 20 mins to tender. Great recipe and really easy all told.
Made this and husband and I loved it. It was so delicious a few days later when we finished it off, that we are making it again tonight.
My husband and I thought this recipe was delicious!!!!
My family loved this dish. This Beef Barley soup, is easily one of the best soups I’ve ever made.
Delicious and easy! It was a hit at our house, and I’ll definitely be making it again!
Hi I just have a question. I have never used barley before and the store I bought it at had pot barley not pearl. Does it make a difference and does it require more time to cook? I really like the recipe you have so I wanted to try it but very inexperienced with barley.
Pot barley is fine it will just take longer to cook, let it simmer for at least 50 minutes!
And pot barley is better for you. It is less process it still has the bran on it