I don’t know about you, but it’s finally winter in my neck of the woods. It’s cold. I’m hungry. And I’m ready to hibernate.
I could live off soups year round, and find that nothing is more satisfying that a big bowl of stew (or two) followed by a few cookies. Maybe some bread. Maybe a salad. But the soup is where it’s at. According to my mom, my grandma made an excellent beef and barley soup. However, it was never one of the recipes she made in my lifetime. It’s been hidden in my recipe box since she passed away, and I had all but forgotten about it until I came across this Beef with Barley Soup recipe from Terri. I could hardly wait to whip up a pot; it just screamed comfort. And it’s much easier than I thought it would be. Win!
Here are your super simple ingredients: salt, pepper, thyme, carrots, olive oil barley, stew beef, season salt, diced tomatoes, beef stock, garlic, potatoes, onions and 1 bay leaf.
It should be noted that I had a difficult time finding pearl barley and had to resort to a quick cooking barley. Because of this, I reduced my simmer time a bit, and while I was afraid the barley would be a hot mess, it still came out great! More on that later.
Begin by dicing your onion. Also peel and chop your potatoes.
Next up, add your olive oil to a large stock pot and let it get nice and hot. Once hot, add your beef and DON’T TOUCH IT. Let it sear first, then once it can easily be flipped (and is not sticking to the pot), toss it.
See the caramelly brown color? That’s what you want. Gray meat is the worst. Trust me. Give it some color!
After about 5 minutes your meat should be browned, and it’s time to add your onions and garlic. Stir everything together.
Continue stirring every few minutes until the onions become caramelized. You can add a little more oil here if needed, but it wasn’t necessary for me.
Now it’ time to add everything else! Throw in the potatoes and carrots and barley …
Dump in the stock …
Then add your seasonings and bay leaf.
Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and let it cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Again, I shaved a bit of time off here since I used the quick cooking barley. I let mine simmer for about 45-60 minutes.
After the 2 hours (or 45-60 minutes, in my case), add in your diced tomatoes. Give it a good stir and let it simmer for another hour. Easy!
Give it a taste and adjust your seasonings. I snuck multiple spoonfuls for about 2 hours straight.
Remove your bay leaf and serve it hot with a sprinkle of fresh parsley. I added some crusty bread with butter for dipping. Crackers would be good, too!
Dig in!
This soup actually warmed me to the core and the flavor was just incredible. It is a perfect dish for cold winter nights, and if you use the quick cooking barley, you can even make this as an easy weeknight meal. I didn’t even care that I burn every inch of my mouth.
Thanks so much Terri for the delicious recipe! Be sure to check out her blog That’s Some Good Cookin’. It’s chock full of fabulous dishes and stories.
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Description
Take the chill off with a warm bowl of this filling soup.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 pound Beef Cubes (for Stew)
- 1 whole Large Onion, Medium Diced
- 2 cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 whole Carrots, Smaller Ends Cut Into Rounds, Larger Ends Diced
- 2 whole Potatoes, Large Dice
- 1-½ teaspoon Seasoning Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt (or To Taste)
- Ground Black Pepper To Taste
- 6 cups Beef Stock
- 2 cups Water Or As Needed
- ½ cups Pearl Barley
- ½ teaspoons Thyme
- 1 whole Bay Leaf
- 1 can (14.5 Oz. Size) Diced Tomatoes
Preparation Instructions
Heat a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add the olive oil.
Brown the beef cubes for three minutes in the oil, then add the onions and garlic. Lower the heat to medium low and cook until the onions are cooked and just start to caramelize. Stir as needed to keep onions and garlic from burning. Lower heat if necessary; drizzle a little more olive oil if needed to keep food from sticking.
Add everything except the tomatoes to the pot and stir well. Increase the heat and bring the soup to a boil, then turn heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Adjust heat as necessary to keep soup at a slow simmer. If the soup thickens too much, add a little more water or broth.
Taste to correct seasonings, then add tomatoes and simmer for another hour. Remove bay leaf before serving.
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Jessica Merchant is a personal trainer turned food writer and blogger. Her blog, How Sweet Eats, is where she proclaims her love for all things sweet, all things bacon, and everything else in between. She works her magic in her Pittsburgh kitchen, which she shares with her husband of 2 years.
27 Comments
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eileenrn on 1.14.2012
One of the best soups I have ever made. My family loved it and has asked for more.
Joanna on 1.12.2012
bingo! Soup of love, smells up the house for hours. Made it last night and will eat on it for days. Had medium barley on hand – cooked up thick, like little dumplings. Green bean and mushroom ideas are good as variations. Kudos to author!
RedApron (Liz) on 1.10.2012
My Grandmother also made Beef with Barley soup. However in her ‘recipe’ she would have used mushrooms instead of potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. This looks like another recipes I’d like to try. Love the photos and commentary!
Barbara M on 1.9.2012
Made this today, perfect for a cool, rainy Monday ! I made double recipe and added more carrots than it called for as well. My MIL was sick, so took her some, which she really enjoyed, as did my husband, two kids and my next door neighbor ! It took a while to get it all prepped, but after that, it was easy! I served it with corn bread, but some crusty bread would have been lovely as well !
Judy on 1.9.2012
This is delicious, but a bit salty. Would use sodium free stock next time, and/or cut down on amount of seasoning salt added. Also would increase amount of barley. Thank you!
Paula on 1.8.2012
Wow! Beef and barley soup was one of my favorite soups my mom made. I never sat her down to get the recipe, it was in her head. Now I have the recipe. Thank you!
Tiffany AF on 1.8.2012
Made this for dinner on an especially rainy night. I doubled the carrots. Replaced the water with a splash of red wine (yum) and at the last minute decided to shake 1TBS of flour with 1C of heavy cream and threw it in. Made the soup a bit more stick-to-the-bones-yummy! By the way, this soup is plenty salty on its own, buy sodium free beef stock (or better yet, use homemade and control the salt). Thanks for a great one.
Vikki on 1.8.2012
This looked so good I had to make it today…it is simmering away and the french bread can’t wait to jump in! Thanks for a great recipe.
Kimmie on 1.8.2012
Oh, dear! You’ve sold me on yet another too-tempting-to-not-try recipe, gf! I could smell it from here in TX!
BTW, the Pecan Pie Muffins (along w/many others) were to die for! Have dutifully passed the recipe on to family & friends, as will do this one, after making it this afternoon. I know everyone will be in Heaven with it!
TYVM!
emily W. on 1.7.2012
Oh.
Heck.
Yes.
In the crockpot tomorrow morning.
WOOHOO!
Wenderly on 1.7.2012
THAT looks so magnificent!! Can’t wait to curl up on a cold winter’s night with a bowl of that!
ChristyK on 1.7.2012
I made this yesterday afternoon. It was a HUGE hit with my husband and daughter. I followed the original recipe to the “T” except the only barley I could find at our store was called “medium” barley and cheated a little on the time. I cut the 2 hour cooking session by about 15 minutes and everyone was hungry so the 1 hour cooking session ended up cut by about 15 minutes as well. I will definitely make this again except I will add the potatoes later as they ended up too cooked for my taste and cut the total cooking time by about an hour.
A neighbor who dropped by to visit sampled and has already asked for a copy of the recipe!
Thanks for the tastiness!!!
Terri @ that's some good cookin' on 1.7.2012
What a surprise! Thanks so much for choosing this recipe. Your photos are beautiful and if I didn’t already know how this tastes, your photos and write-up would convince me to give the recipe a try! I often find pearl barley stocked in the same area of the grocery store as rice and dry beans, just FYI. Funny, but I’ve never seen barley flakes. It’s interesting to learn that something I thought was as common as white rice is apparently not so common in other parts of the country. Anyway, thanks again for choosing this recipe and I am so glad that it worked well for you!
dianeygirl on 1.7.2012
A few words about barley:
The first set of photos used pressed barley, sometimes called rolled or flaked barley. This kind of barley is commonly used for hot breakfast cereals, but can be used in soups, and takes 10- 30 minutes to cook.
Pearl barley is what the recipe called for, it is plumper, like a wheat berry, and is used commonly for stews, soups, and salads. The pearl has the outside hull and bran removed, it has a different texture than the pressed barley, and it takes about 40 minutes to cook.
The third common kind of barley used is hulled barley or barley groats. Only the outer hull is removed, it is the most nutritious of the three, it’s chewier, and is mostly found in health food stores, and takes at least an hour to cook.
laurah on 1.6.2012
In Northern Wisconsin and an unheard of mid 50s yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We are grilling out tonight, another thing never done in January.
hamadryad on 1.6.2012
This looks wonderful! I was just thinking that I might try making soup. Thanks!
Mary Camu on 1.6.2012
This is just what I’ve been craving! Can’t wait to make this tonight! Thanks!
krg on 1.6.2012
this looks and sounds soo good. have to have some. we make a great one too, but don’t use lawrey’s or garlic. will try those next time. we also add short ribs or the bones from a prime rib or oxtails for a little extra yumminess.
like you, we could live on good soup every day. mmmm
Jillian Cutter on 1.6.2012
Funny that you posted this recipe…. A few weeks back I had a hankering for Beef with Barley Soup, but could not for the life of me find any pearl barley in our stores. Being that we live on an island and have limited resources, having to work with a substitute is very common, so I tried Israeli couscous instead. “Who’d a thunk?!?!” A couple of questions arise from this, 1) What is Israeli couscous? A pasta, just light regular couscous but only larger — about the size of a tapioca grain. 2) Why is it available on the island and NOT barley? Not a clue! I’ve given up trying to figure out that one. and 3) Why are you even making soups when you live in a tropical region? We’ve acclimated to the warm stuff and anything below 70℉ is soup weather.
Anyway, the Israeli couscous worked very well, tasted great and I have plenty left over to try in other recipes!
Jeanne on 1.6.2012
Anything with barley, man!
Laurie - Simply Scratch on 1.6.2012
I could totally go for a huge bowl of this today! Beef and barley is one of my favorite soups!!
Julie on 1.6.2012
That looks really yummy! I want to try this soon. We love beef around here
Christy on 1.6.2012
That looks delicious. I have some barley but it didn’t look anything like that so I had to go look it up. I just learned about pressed barley. Learn something new everyday
Allyn on 1.6.2012
I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten soup with barley in it, though I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes with it recently. Might have to try it out!
The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh on 1.6.2012
I can’t wait to make this. I love good hearty soups like this!
All Good in Mommyhood on 1.6.2012
Oh man…it was 14 degrees at noon here on Tuesday…this would have been divine!!!
Heather (Heather's Dish) on 1.6.2012
ugh, yes it’s winter here too…at least there’s good soup to warm us up though!