Beef Barley Soup is incredibly easy and so delicious!
Loaded with nutritious veggies, tender beef and plump barley, it’s a complete meal in a bowl!
This homemade beef barley soup can be made ahead of time and freezes well making it the perfect family dinner!
All of my favorite soups are fully loaded with goodies including veggies and grains, this Beef Barley Soup definitely fits the bill!
It is a rich and hearty barley soup that leaves you completely satisfied and warms every inch of your body!
It screams comfort food, like mom used to make and is perfect served up with a side of buttermilk biscuits and a side salad!
How to Make Beef Barley Soup
While the list of ingredients may seem long, this Beef and Barley soup is really easy to make.
I start out by cooking garlic and onions just until softened.
All of the remaining ingredients are simply added to the pot and simmered until tender.
I use homemade stock whenever possible for the best flavor.
What is the Best Beef for soup?
This recipe calls for cooked beef. You can use any kind of leftover beef for this beef barley soup including pot roast, leftover steak or roast beef.
If you don’t have cooked beef, you can cook your own. I use either flank steak (sliced against the grain) or cubed chuck.
If you’d prefer, you can most certainly substitute cooked hamburger in this barley soup recipe. If making a ground beef barley soup, you’ll want to brown the beef with the onions and drain any fat.
One of the main components in this recipe is barley. Barley is a grain that is very similar in size and texture of brown rice. There are several different types of barley but the most common is pearl barley which is used in this recipe.
I use it frequently in place of rice and pasta in many soup recipes, perfect in my Chicken Barley Soup!
With its slightly nutty flavor and interesting texture, it will sure to be a hit in your next homemade soup!
Try adding it to my Easy Hamburger Soup or in place of the noodles in my Turkey Noodle Soup! Your family will love the change!
Cooking the same things all of the time can leave any home chef in a bit of a meal-making rut. The addition of vegetables makes this a great and healthy choice and keeps is relatively low in calories.
Incorporating new ideas, flavors and textures helps to keep things interesting in the kitchen!
This Old Fashioned Beef Barley Soup is traditional soup that has not lost it’s lustre! We serve this alongside our favorite biscuits or 30 Minute Dinner Rolls with a fresh garden salad for a perfect meal!
Make a large pot and freeze smaller portions to enjoy later – it freezes amazing and you will love how convenient it is to microwave or reheat on the stove!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 rib celery sliced
- 2 cups cooked beef
- 6 cups reduced sodium beef broth
- 14.5 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes with juices, 1 can
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ⅔ cup pearl barley
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 packet beef gravy mix
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons red wine optional
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook onions and garlic in oil over medium heat until softened.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered about 40-50 minutes or until barley is cooked.
- Remove bay leaf and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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I have been looking for a good beef soup recipe and this one is AMAGING!!! Thank you so much for posting this. I didn’t change a thing. I too am wondering like another poster if I put chicken gravy mix in the chicken barley soup if it will make it as good as this one. Thanks again!! A+++++
So glad you love the soup Flo!
Going to cook this today as it sounds like a good recipe
I’d love to make this soup in a slow cooker. Has anyone tried it? Can you share your directions and the final flavor? Thanks.
Soup was easy to make and tasted great
So glad you loved it Patti!
Was so easy to make, and my husband loved it, especially with fresh bread rolls!
This soup was excellent! I used Sherry instead of red wine but everything else exactly. Making it again today.
I am suppose to cook the meat first if so how? C
You can use leftover cooked roast beef or even leftover steak. If you only have raw beef, you’ll want to cook it with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper until browned.
On this cold rainy day I made this delicious beef barley soup, To save time I used low sodium organic beef stock, I omitted the pkg of beef gravy, added a marrow bone, and mushrooms to this easy recipe! It is delicious!
Sounds great Eileen!
I used leftover pork tenderloin. Im sure this will be great.
That sounds delicious too Paul
What to do with left over pot roast? After using in this recipe I can’t wait to make another pot roast!
It is delicious. I didn’t have the pkg of gravy in the recipe so I just added the broth from the roast.
So happy to hear you love this recipe Dona!
The family really like this!
Enjoyed this soup for lunch today. Especially liked the beefy taste of the broth. Likely the package of beef gravy mix made the difference. I wonder out loud if I add a package of chicken soup gravy mix to a chicken soup recipe if the results would be the same.
Yummy idea!!
The barley in the soup in the picture is way under cooked. It takes a long time to cook barley. This would be the kind of chewy stick to your teeth meal Cook it longer.
It was definitely not undercooked. It was perfectly tender, this is pearl barley which cooks in about 25 minutes. Hulled barley takes at least 40 minutes.
The only type of barley available in our area (NW Minnesota) is a quick and a medium (brand name left off). I found, in fine print, this is pearl barley. The quick cooks in 10-12 minutes (with a 5 minute stand time). Medium cooks in 45-50 minutes (with a 5 minute stand time).
I will choose the barley type based on the total cooking time of a recipe.
Amazing recipe. I let ALL my veggies sweat a little bit not just onions and garlic. And it still was amazing!
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe!
Every dish caught my attention would look delish thank you thank you millions
This soup was amazing! I made it tonight with homemade bone broth I had simmering all day. I used beef cubes and cooked them with 2 cups of bone broth in my instant pot, first sautéing them then cooking them for 75 minutes on manual. The seasonings were perfect. Will freeze the leftovers. Restaurant quality soup recipe. Thanks so much!
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe Pam!
This soup is so delicious!!! Will be making this again…
Can you make this in the crock pot?
I haven’t tried this in the slow cooker but I’m sure it would work.
I would likely cook on low about 8 hours to make sure the barley is cooked through. Please let us know how it goes!
I bet this would be great with deer meat also !!!
Oh yeah.
Do you have a recipe for vegetarian barley soup?
I don’t have a recipe for a vegetarian barley soup.
Try this. I think it’s pretty good! I use chicken broth or vegetable broth in place of the water.