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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This soup was amazing – it is now on our monthly play list.
We made a couple of tweaks (like adding sugar and using less broth and a 28oz. tin diced tomatoes) and will be making more for next time (cut carrots much thinner and beef cubes half the size we made), Our butcher recommended top sirloin which was the same price as stewing been and much more tender).
But all these teaks are for us … it’s an amazing recipe. so much flavour. Thanks Spend With Pennies for making it available.
I am so glad you are enjoying this recipe Peter!
Hi Hi,
Awesome, nice simple recipe,
I’ve cooked professional for many years.
I would suggest to increase all off the spices by 3 ..
You are making almost 4 quarts of soup..
Also, you might consider adding red pepper flakes to give it a bump. mmm
This is delicious! I didn’t use the wine or gravy mix. I added additional spices, baby bella mushrooms and extra Worcestershire. My parents (older and live next door) and I love it! Will definitely make again.
this is BY FAR the BEST beef barley soup I’ve ever had!!! it didn’t last one day at my house!!
Great flavor and super easy. Only change I would make is to sauté the onions, celery and carrots then add garlic. The direction is to only sauté onions and garlic.
Was super easy to make and tasted great. I used leftover steak and double up the amount of carrots, celery, and added some frozen peas because why not? Defenitly will be making it again! Also this is one of those soups that grows with cooling and reheating!
So delicious! A neighbor shared it with me and I just had to have the recipe. I can’t wait to make a batch of my own. Additionally, I can’t wait to share this website with my friends:)
Our favourite Soup!
This soup is delicious! Wonderful flavor!
hi, I want to use ground beef. how much would I use? 1lb?
I think this would be delicious with ground beef Carolyn! I would still use 2 cups, which will be approximately ⅔ pound of cooked ground beef. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious!!! I made a few alterations only, added more stock, more beef, diced tomatoes, etc, only because we wanted to make a larger portion but we used this as a base for our soup and it was FANTASTIC!!! Thank you so much!!!
Oh didn’t use a gravy packet just used more stock and it tuned out great.. Added quick cook Barley for the last 20 minutes along with some Orzo. ❤️
I’ve made this soup a lot and always is amazing. Tried a little something new the last time I made it added left over roast lamb instead of the beef. Very good both ways
Good Job Mack all it.
this Beef Barley soup is the bomb! It is so delicious and I will definitely be making it again and again.
Is the beef gravy mix a 1.4 oz or a .80 oz package? I see both at the store.
Hi Emily, the beef gravy mix I use is approximately 0.87 oz. I hope this helps!
I love this recipe so much! Just a question, is it meant to be a whole stalk of celery or a rib? ty!
Just one rib. Enjoy!
I used deer steak, beef bone broth & beef soup base powder. Turned out amazing! Will definitely make again.
I have made this soup twice now…will make again this weekend it is so easy & most of all so very good.
Did not have the barley on recipe? So how much would we use!?
Hi Melissa, this recipe uses ⅔ cup barley. You can find the full list of ingredients and amounts by clicking the “jump to recipe” button or scrolling down towards the bottom. Enjoy!
I’d love to make this, but I’m a very busy mom and was wondering if it could be done in a slow cooker.
Hi Heather, I have never personally tried this recipe in the crockpot, but other readers have had great success. One reader cooked everything (except barley) for a few hours in the crockpot then added cooked barley at the end. Hope that helps!