Beef Barley Soup Recipe (Stovetop or Crock Pot)

This beef barley soup is made with chuck, pearl barley, carrots, celery and a rich broth. It takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes on the stovetop, or 7 to 8 hours on LOW in a crock pot. The beef turns tender, and the barley stays a little chewy.

Barley has one quirk to plan around. It keeps drinking the broth, even after it is cooked. The tips below keep your pot brothy, today and tomorrow. Jump to the recipe card.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless beef chuck, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 celery ribs, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 8 cups (1.9 L) low-sodium beef broth, plus more if needed
• 3/4 cup (150 g) pearl barley, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Rustic crusty bread, for serving

Choosing the Beef and Barley

Beef chuck is the best all-around choice. Its connective tissue softens during a slow simmer. That gives you tender beef and a fuller broth. Brisket or boneless short ribs also work. Lean sirloin works too, but add it later and cook it briefly so it doesn’t get tough.

Stew meat is fine, but the pieces often come from different cuts. They may not all turn tender at the same time. Pick evenly sized, well-marbled pieces. Trim any gristle.

Cut the chuck into even 3/4-inch cubes so they cook at the same speed. Trim away big pieces of hard outside fat. Keep the fine marbling inside the meat, because it adds flavor and keeps the beef moist. Follow safe food handling with raw beef.

Pearl barley has the bran polished off, so it cooks in about 35 to 45 minutes. It gives you predictable timing, which is why it’s the usual choice for soup. Rinse it under cool water to remove surface dust and loose starch. Don’t soak it, and don’t precook it for this method. Bob’s Red Mill has good basic instructions for pearl barley if you want to cook it on its own.

Hulled barley keeps more of its outer layer. It is chewier and a little more nutritious. It takes an hour or longer on the stovetop, and 60 to 90 minutes more on LOW in a slow cooker.

Quick barley can replace pearl barley. Add it only in the last 10 to 15 minutes, and follow the package timing.

How much barley? About 3/4 cup for a big pot. More than that and the soup turns thick as the grains swell.

How to Make Beef Barley Soup

1. Prepare the beef. Pat the cubes dry, then season them with the salt and pepper. Dry beef browns better.
2. Brown in batches. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown half the beef for 5 to 7 minutes, turning now and then. Move it to a plate. Repeat with the rest of the oil and beef.
3. Cook the vegetables. Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits.
4. Simmer the beef. Return the beef and its juices to the pot. Add the broth, thyme, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a gentle boil. Turn the heat to low, cover partly and simmer for 35 minutes.
5. Add the barley. Stir in the rinsed pearl barley. Simmer, partly covered, for 35 to 45 minutes more. Stir every 10 minutes so the grains don’t stick. Stop when the barley is tender with a slight chew and the beef is fork-tender.
6. Finish and serve. Remove the bay leaf. Adjust the salt, pepper and thickness. Top with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

A heavy Dutch oven spreads the heat evenly and helps prevent scorching. The browned bits on the bottom of the pot are concentrated flavor. When the vegetables release their moisture, scrape the bits loose with a wooden spoon. Cooking the tomato paste for a full minute takes away its raw edge and gives the broth a deeper color.

Low-sodium broth gives you control, because the liquid reduces as it cooks. Wait until the beef and barley are tender before the final salt. Worcestershire supports the beef flavor. Parsley adds freshness at the end.

Beef Barley Soup in the Crock Pot

The slow cooker does most of the work here. Allow about 20 minutes of prep. Use a 6-quart slow cooker. A 5-quart one may work, but it will be very full.

1. Start with thawed beef. Never put frozen beef in a slow cooker. The USDA’s slow cooker food safety guidance explains why: frozen meat stays too long in the unsafe temperature range.
2. Sear the beef (optional). Brown the seasoned cubes in a skillet in 2 or 3 batches, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Searing adds a roasted flavor, but the soup still cooks properly without it. Pour a splash of the measured broth into the hot skillet, scrape up the brown bits and add them to the cooker.
3. Load the cooker. Add the beef, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, Worcestershire, rinsed barley and 6 cups of the broth. Stir so the tomato paste spreads out. Keep the other 2 cups of broth for the end, because almost nothing evaporates in a slow cooker.
4. Cook. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours. LOW gives the most tender beef. Don’t lift the lid often. Each peek lets heat out and can add cooking time.
5. Check for doneness. The beef should come apart easily with a fork. The barley should be tender with a slight chew. The vegetables should be soft but whole. If the beef is still tough, give it 30 to 60 minutes more.
6. Adjust and serve. Remove the bay leaf. Thin with warm broth, 1/2 cup at a time. For a thicker soup, cook uncovered on HIGH for 15 to 20 minutes. Taste, season, and top with parsley.

For firmer barley, add it during the last 3 to 4 hours on LOW, or the last 2 to 2 1/2 hours on HIGH. Barley added at the start gives softer grains and a thicker broth.

Slow cookers differ in shape, age and heat. Check the beef and barley at the early end of the time range. Texture is a better guide than the clock. Don’t double the recipe in a 6-quart cooker; make two batches instead. And can it cook overnight? The LOW setting needs 7 to 8 hours, so yes, if your cooker switches safely to WARM afterward. Don’t stretch the time, or the barley gets very soft.

Keeping the Barley Right

Barley is a thirsty grain. It keeps soaking up broth as it cooks, and it keeps going while the soup sits. A pot that looks brothy at dinner can be thick and sludgy by the next day. Two habits keep it in check. Cook the barley just until tender, not soft, because it keeps softening in the hot soup. And keep the broth generous. The soup should look a little loose when you finish, because the barley will thicken it.

Factor	Right way	What goes wrong
Amount	3/4 cup	More makes it too thick
Doneness	Tender with a slight chew	Overcooked, it turns pasty
Broth	Generous	Too little, sludgy soup
Type	Pearl, for speed	Hulled needs much longer
Leftovers	Add broth when reheating	It keeps absorbing
Storage	Barley apart, ideally	The soup sets thick

Cook the barley separately for leftovers. If you’ll eat the soup over several days, cook the barley on its own and add it to each bowl. It’s the same trick people use for pasta or rice in soup. This keeps every bowl brothy and the grains chewy.

Tips

• Dry the beef well. Wet beef steams and won’t form a brown crust.
• Don’t crowd the pot. Leave space between the cubes so each one touches the hot pan.
• Keep every browned bit. They dissolve into the broth and make it richer.
• Keep it at a gentle simmer. A hard boil tightens the beef, breaks the vegetables and ruins the barley texture.
• Give the beef a head start. Adding the barley after 35 minutes lets the meat and grain finish together.
• Stir near the bottom. Once the barley is in, stir every 10 minutes.
• Cut evenly. Same-size beef and vegetable pieces finish at the same time.
• Season at the end. The broth reduces, so a final salt check is more reliable.
• Warm the extra broth. Warm broth thins the soup without cooling it down.
• Skip flour and cornstarch. The barley already thickens the soup. For more body, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, or mash a spoonful of barley against the side of the pot.

If the soup tastes flat, add salt a little at a time. A small splash of Worcestershire deepens it. A teaspoon of lemon juice brightens a heavy broth. Taste after each addition and stop when it’s balanced.

Variations and Substitutions

Mushrooms. Mushrooms and barley are a classic pair. Add 8 ounces (about 2 cups) of sliced mushrooms with the onion, carrots and celery so they have time to brown. Cremini mushrooms taste deeper; white button mushrooms are milder. For a mushroom-forward pot, double them.

More vegetables. For a beef barley vegetable soup, stir in peas or green beans near the end so they keep their color. A can of diced tomatoes, added with the broth, gives more depth and a little acidity.

Potatoes. Add diced potatoes when the beef starts to simmer. In the crock pot, add about 12 ounces of 1-inch pieces with the other vegetables. Then cut the barley to 1/2 cup so the soup doesn’t get too thick. Red or Yukon Gold potatoes hold their shape better than russets.

Gluten-free. Barley contains gluten, so replace it. Use 3/4 cup rinsed brown rice. In a slow cooker, start checking it after 5 to 6 hours on LOW. For the most control, stir 2 cups of cooked rice in during the last 15 minutes. Check that the broth and Worcestershire are gluten-free too.

No tomato paste. Leave it out and add 1/2 cup more broth. The soup will be lighter in color and a little less rich.

Ground beef. For a faster soup, brown ground beef instead of chuck and drain the fat. It needs no long simmer, so skip the 35-minute beef step and add the barley right away. The soup is ready in about 30 to 45 minutes. Our ground beef vegetable soup is built the same way.

Herbs. Dried thyme holds up through the long cooking. Rosemary works too. Save fresh parsley for the end.

Want a barley-free classic? Try this old-fashioned vegetable beef soup.

What to Serve With It

Beef, barley and vegetables make each bowl a full meal. Crusty bread or warm dinner rolls are ideal for the broth. Other good sides:

• Whole-grain rolls or cornbread
• A crisp green salad with a bright dressing
• Buttered crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich
• Pickles
• Roasted vegetables

For a balanced plate, the Healthy Eating Plate suggests filling half with vegetables and fruit. Smaller bowls also make a good starter before a roast chicken or roasted vegetable main. For a family meal, put the parsley, black pepper and some warm broth on the table so everyone can finish their bowl.

Let the soup rest for 5 to 10 minutes before you ladle it. The broth gains a little body. Use wide, deep bowls with room for big pieces of beef.

Make Ahead, Store and Freeze

Prep ahead. The day before, chop the vegetables and trim and cube the beef. Store the raw beef apart from the vegetables, covered, in the fridge. Measure the dried seasonings. Rinse the barley just before cooking, not the night before. Don’t store the full uncooked mixture in the slow cooker insert overnight.

Make it ahead. The flavor gets better after a night in the fridge. If you’ll serve it later in the week, cook the barley separately and keep it apart from the beef and vegetable base. Combine only what you’ll reheat. If you store it all together, it will thicken. That’s normal. Keep extra broth on hand.

Fridge. Cool leftovers promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours, at 40°F or below, as the USDA’s leftovers guidance recommends. Use shallow airtight containers and eat within 4 days. Meal-size containers cool faster and make easy lunches. Leave room to stir in broth, because chilled soup is much thicker. Label each container with the date.

Freezer. Freeze cooled soup for up to 3 months. Leave a little space in each container, since liquid expands as it freezes. Barley softens after freezing. For the best texture, freeze the base without barley and add fresh barley when you reheat. If you freeze it with the barley, cook the barley a touch underdone. Use containers sized for one meal.

Reheat. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Warm gently on the stovetop until steaming hot all the way through. Stir now and then, and add broth or water until it’s soupy again. For a single bowl, microwave in 60-second bursts and stir between each one.

Troubleshooting

The beef is still tough. It needs more time, not more heat. Keep the pot at a low simmer and check every 10 to 15 minutes. In a slow cooker, give it 30 to 60 minutes more. A hard boil makes the outside of the cubes firm.

The barley is still firm. Keep simmering and check every 5 minutes. Barley varies by brand, pot and heat, and hulled barley takes close to an hour. If the broth is mostly gone, add warm broth so everything stays covered.

The barley is mushy or pasty. It cooked too long or boiled too hard. You can’t firm it up again, but a little broth helps the texture. Next time, check at 35 minutes, or cook the barley separately.

The soup turned thick and sludgy. The barley drank the broth. Too much barley or too little broth can also cause it. Loosen it with hot broth, 1/2 cup at a time, then taste and add salt, because the extra liquid dilutes it. Next time, use a little less barley.

The soup is too thin. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, or 15 to 20 minutes on HIGH in a slow cooker. Stir first, because barley settles at the bottom. It also thickens as it cools.

The vegetables went too soft. They were cut too small or cooked too long. Keep carrots and celery in 1/2-inch pieces and check at the earliest time, especially with a newer slow cooker.

The broth tastes bland. Check the salt first, since low-sodium broth and barley both mute it. Add a little, stir and taste. More Worcestershire adds savory depth. A teaspoon of lemon juice balances a heavy broth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should pearl barley be rinsed, soaked or precooked?

Rinse it under cool running water. It doesn’t need soaking or precooking. It cooks right in the broth in 35 to 45 minutes and thickens the soup a little. If you want very firm grains, cook it separately by the package directions and stir it into each bowl.

How do I keep the barley from getting mushy?

Add it after the beef has simmered for 35 minutes. Check it at the earliest time and avoid a hard boil. In the crock pot, add it for the last 3 to 4 hours on LOW. If you’re making the soup days ahead, cook and store the barley separately.

Why does the barley soak up all the broth?

Barley keeps absorbing liquid as it sits. Keep the broth generous, add more when you reheat, or store the barley apart.

What is the best cut of beef for this soup?

Chuck. Its connective tissue softens during long cooking and enriches the broth. Stew meat is convenient, but the pieces can come from different cuts and may not turn tender together. Judge by tenderness, not the clock.

Can I put frozen beef in the slow cooker?

No. Thaw it in the fridge first, so it heats through the unsafe temperature range quickly and cooks evenly.

Do I have to sear the beef?

On the stovetop, yes: it’s the main source of flavor. In the crock pot, it’s optional. The soup cooks properly without it. Searing gives a deeper, roasted taste when you have the time.

Can I cook it entirely on HIGH?

Yes. Cook it for 4 to 5 hours on HIGH, and check that the beef is fork-tender and the barley is cooked. LOW gives more tender beef.

How do I know when the soup is done?

The beef comes apart with gentle fork pressure. The barley is tender with a slight chew. The vegetables are soft but still whole.

Can I add mushrooms or potatoes?

Yes. Add 8 ounces of sliced cremini mushrooms with the other vegetables. You can also add about 12 ounces of 1-inch potato pieces. Cut the barley to 1/2 cup so the soup doesn’t get too thick.

Can I double the recipe?

On the stovetop, use a pot big enough for twice the volume. In a 6-quart slow cooker, don’t. The insert gets too full to heat properly. Make two batches.

Can I freeze beef barley soup with the barley in it?

Yes, but the barley will be softer after thawing and will soak up more broth. For the best texture, freeze the base without barley and add freshly cooked barley when you reheat.

What is the best way to reheat it?

Warm it gently on the stovetop, stirring so the barley doesn’t stick. Add broth or water as needed. For one portion, microwave in short bursts and stir in between until steaming hot.

Recipe Card

Beef Barley Soup

Yield: 6 servings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes on the stovetop (or 7 to 8 hours on LOW, 4 to 5 hours on HIGH in a slow cooker)

Total time: 1 hour 50 minutes on the stovetop

Equipment: 6-quart Dutch oven or 6-quart slow cooker, wooden spoon, cutting board, chef’s knife, measuring cups and spoons

Method: Brown the seasoned beef in batches. Cook the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and tomato paste. Add the broth and seasonings and simmer for 35 minutes. Stir in the rinsed pearl barley and simmer gently for 35 to 45 minutes more. Remove the bay leaf, adjust the thickness and seasoning, and top with parsley.

Approximate nutrition: about 410 calories, 31 g protein, 35 g carbohydrates, 7 g fiber, 16 g fat and 790 mg sodium per serving. This is an estimate. Your broth, beef and serving size will change it.

Notes: Use low-sodium broth so you control the salt. Add quick barley only in the last 10 to 15 minutes.

Related Recipes

For another hands-off dinner, try this crock pot vegetable beef soup. If you like slow-cooker soups, this crock pot French onion soup lets the cooker caramelize the onions for you.

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