Instant Pot Beef, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Put all of the ingredients into an 8-quart Instant Pot. Stir well and smooth out the surface to level it. Lock the lid of the pot on and turn the steam release handle to “Sealing”.

Press the “Meat/Stew” button or “Pressure Cook” to high for 5 minutes. Walk away.

While you are gone, the Instant Pot will take about 20–22 minutes to come to pressure, then it will beep once and begin the 5-minute countdown. It will beep several times at the end of the countdown.

Once it beeps that it has finished, carefully turn the release handle to “Venting.” Steam will immediately shoot upward out of the steam release. That will take about 7 minutes to fully release. Once the pressure indicator drops back into the lid, it is safe to unlock and open the pot.

Stir and serve. If the stew is left sitting, the barley will continue to expand, absorbing more liquid. Therefore, water will need to be added in order to reheat for leftovers. The stew will keep several days in the refrigerator or can be frozen. You can also prep all of the ingredients and freeze them in a large 2 gallon baggie to be added to the pot when you are ready to use them.

Tip: Place an empty two gallon baggie into your pot insert, then fill it with the ingredients. Seal the bag, and put the whole insert with the bag into your freezer. Once frozen, you can remove the bag from the insert and then it will stay frozen in “pot” shape. When ready to use, just remove from the bag and the frozen ingredients will slide perfectly into the Instant Pot!