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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Our family favorite. I love that you added a pkg of beef gravy. I also add an ox tail and cook slowly for a little longer. Then I scrape off the meat and put it back in the pot. Ox tails are actually beef tails and have become very expensive but they do the similar job of the gravy. Love it. Keeps you regular as well.
Amazing. Left out bell pepper. Otherwise the same. So tasty!!!!
this is an amazing soup. Sooo good!
is there an easy way to convert the cooking time to instant pot time?
I haven’t tried this in the Instant Pot so I can’t say for sure although I do think it would work just fine. Instant Pot suggests 20 minutes for barley so I would set the IP to high pressure for 20min and allow a 10 min natural release. Let us know how it goes!
Hi Holly,
Made a pot of beef barley soup today, yum! Stacking our wood for the winter and a bowl of beef barley was a great hearty lunch. I was happy I opened that bottle of Pinot last evening lol. Thank you for the delicious recipe. Cheers
Very good soup!
Quick, easy and most ingredients in the house:)
Thank you!
Really good recipe
Best beef barley soup I’ve ever had, and made! Everyone asks for the recipe
We have made this multiple times and it’s delicious each time! We have added this to our recipe rotation!
I’ve made this recipe many times. It is absolutely delicious! I admit I sometimes add extra veggies like corn or beans, and there is never a drop left!
seriously the best soup I have made in a long time! I used left over flank steak. I did not add any bell pepper, because I’m not a fan. The soup was rich, and velvety!! Perfect for a chilly day/night.
Amazing soup. I’ve been making last few years and never left a comment. As fall approaches this is the first soup I want to make. It’s a great dinner with a salad. I always make 4x recipe to freeze some. I often use your recipes so thank you for publishing.
This soup is EXCELLENT! I made it awhile ago, family loved it and I had enough to freeze for another day.
It freezes well and we had those leftovers the other day. This soup lover will be making this soup again and again.
I cannot find something called “beef gravy.” Is it just the packets of brown gravy?
Yes, a packet of brown gravy will work perfectly!
This is a perfect recipe for leftover roast beef. I use the extra gravy from the roast instead of the gravy mix packet. It is a great recipe and freezes so well for a quick night dinner. Love your recipes.
Barbara
Yum
Really good!
I used leftover corned beef, the stock it was cooked in, with leftover potatoes and chopped cabbage great recipe!
would love to try beef barley soup, but am stumped with the ingredient ‘cooked beef’. What does this involve?
Hi Nancy, you can find this information in the post:
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.
I hope this helps!
Wholly delicious.
To get the most out of the beef flavor, I chop the beef into 1-inch cubes and add them and 3 tbsp flour to a Ziplock bag. Searing the cubes (just the sides) at the bottom of the Dutch Oven. Remove the cubes and fry the onion and garlic in the sear juice. Add all other ingredients per the instructions. The red wine adds a lovely depth in flavor.
Note: My butcher recommended top sirloin instead of stew beef bec. it was less expensive and would bring the same flavor to the soup so that’s what we did. He was right.