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
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
More Recipes You’ll Love
I made this recipe because I already had alot of the ingredients in my house. I had leftover meat from shish kebob so I used that for my meat. I also added mushrooms – well because I like mushrooms and I had some leftover mixed veggies which I threw in too. There weresno gravy packets to be found in the store so I used the liquid gravy which worked well. I thought it would be a bit thicker but my husband thought it was just fine.
I’m sure it’s delicious, but too many ingredients for cooking for two.
You can always freeze the leftovers! :))
Love this recipe
good soup
Best beef barley soup ever! Made it… loved it!! Highly recommend.
This is the best beef barley soup & so easy to make – I left out carrots, celery, tomatoes & green peppers (I used tomato sauce instead)& I used ground beef I just browned up & it was so amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe it’s so worth it & I even just had an extraction done at the oral surgeon so as long as I cooled it off completely first real good it was perfect.
How much tomato sauce did you add? I don’t like diced tomatoes and would prefer to use sauce instead.
So yummy! I would have given it 5 stars if my daughter had liked it as much as me….but unfortunately she was not a fan! I recommend all the same though!
If you make this using home made bone broth the flavor will send you over the moon! Parsnips are a lovely addition too. Reserve the stewed meat to add in at the end. No need for packaged gravy mix.
Exactly what I did … Omitted the gravy package, and used beef bones broth for flavor.
I made this recipe, adding slightly more beef and barley along with 2 Tbsp beef base. I didn’t have beef broth on hand, so I used chicken stock. It was super delicious! I will make this again. Yum.
Great soup – have made it a number of times. In fact I’m making it for dinner tomorrow night along with the buttermilk biscuits. The last time I made it, I made the biscuits and gave my neighbour some. She asked when I was going to make them again!! I didn’t have the gravy mix so I just left it out and still tasted great.
White onion or yellow onion please? Also, if I didn’t have an o ion, could I replace with a shallot? Thank you!!
We use a yellow onion for this recipe Kathi. And we haven’t tried replacing it with a shallot but I am sure that would work.
Delicious, nutritious, and oh so easy! I made this for my family a few nights ago. It was delicious the first day, even tastier the second. The broth became richer. I couldn’t find gravy mix, so I just added a can of beef gravy. Likewise, I couldn’t find low sodium broth, so I substituted fat-free broth. I used stew beef, browning them on the sides in the olive oil, before removing them and sauteeing the onion. I added the garlic after the onion softened to make sure I didn’t overcook them, and used the broth to deglaze the pan before adding in the rest of the ingredients. Many thanks for this wonderful recipe! I already want to make another pot!
My family loved this soup! I I Added a 1/4 or more of red wine (Cabernet) while cooking – it added robust flavor! Delicious!! Will definitely make it again!
Holly I made the Beef Barley soup,and it turned out great!. I did leave out Red wine for didn’t have any. Also left out green peppers,and Parsley. I cooked the soup in a crock pot. Put the Barley in the last hour of cooking the soup.
Thanks for sharing Bruce! Glad to hear this soup worked out great in the crockpot.
This beef barley soup is so good. I’ve made it a number of times and it’s always a hit. I don’t know what it is about that gravy mix, but that is key for this soup!
Thanks again.. I’m anxious to see what other recipes you have.. so glad to finally find a like minded cook!!
Kelly
I finally found someone who cooks like me!!
Love this recipe.. I’ve never cooked with barley before.. bought it but never used it!
The only change I made was adding a tablespoon of sugar to cut the acidity and used frozen leaf spinach the last 10 minutes instead of green peppers
If you use diced up chuck, do you have to cook it first or could you just let it cook in the soup?
Hi Louis, we add cooked beef to this recipe. If you only have raw beef, you’ll want to cook it with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper until browned before adding it to the soup.
Could you make this in the crockpot instead of on the stove?
We have never tried this recipe in the crockpot Pattie, but other readers have with 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!
Has anyone made this with hamburger?
I think this would be delicious with ground beef Linda!
I make it with ground beef all the time, it’s very good . You cook the ground beef and drain off the fat , before making the soup.