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Nothing beats a bowl of warm soup when you’re craving a comfort meal. This Easy Beef Barley Soup is rich, flavorful, and easy to make. It’s full of tender beef and vegetables, and hearty grains to keep you feeling warm and satisfied.
This best beef barley soup recipe is the perfect winter soup, but you can also enjoy it all year round. Swap out the vegetables for seasonal produce throughout the year to change it up. It’s also a great meal for portioning and freezing, so you always have a nutritious dinner option in the freezer. This is sure to be your new favorite comfort meal!
If you like easy and hearty dinner recipes, you will love my Best Pasta Fagioli and Healthy Shepherd’s Pie!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Hearty and Warm Comfort Meal: Classic barley soup sticks to your ribs due to the tender beef, grains, and vegetables. It makes it a great comfort meal that’s good for you and feels indulgent.
- Full of Veggies: This simple beef soup is packed with vegetables, like carrots and celery. You can also add more vegetables to make an even more nutritious meal.
- Perfect for Meal Prep: Soups are excellent for meal prepping because you can make a large batch, then portion it into smaller servings to freeze for later.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Lean Beef Stew Meat: While you can use a variety of beef for barley soup, I’ve found that using a lean stew meat cut into uniform 1” pieces is best for this recipe.
- Beef Broth: Use a low-sodium beef broth to add moisture and flavor to the soup. Be sure to have a little extra broth on standby in case the soup gets too thick.
- Barley: You could use hulled or pearl barley for this recipe. I recommend pearl barley because it doesn’t take as long to cook and has a softer texture.
- Carrots & Celery: Tender carrots and celery add a bit of texture, sweetness, and depth of flavor to soups and stews.
- Mushrooms: Not only do mushrooms add deep, umami flavor to the soup, but they are also nutrient-dense and great for your heart and gut health.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Try a Different Meat: While this healthy beef and barely soup recipe tastes best with chunks of rich beef, you could also use lean ground beef instead. This recipe also works with cuts of pork butt or tenderloin.
- Add More Vegetables: Pack in even more veggies and add diced tomatoes, potatoes, kale, or even butternut squash to your vegetable beef barley soup.
- Switch the Grains: Change up the flavor of the soup, or adjust for dietary needs, and use a different grain like brown rice, farro, or wild rice, like in my chicken and wild rice soup. Lentil would be a great alternative too.
How to Make Easy Beef Barley Soup
This is the best beef barley soup recipe because it’s easy to make, good for you, and doesn’t include any instant flavoring packets or gravy. It’s a simple blend of meat, grains, and vegetables that tastes phenomenal together.
- Step 1: Brown the Beef. Heat olive oil in the bottom of a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is warm, add the chunks of beef and cook them until the outsides are slightly browned. Then remove the beef from the pot and set it aside.
- Step 2: Soften the Vegetables. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and mushrooms to the hot pot and saute them until they slightly soften. This takes about 3-5 minutes.
- Step 3: Add the Broth and Barley. Pour the barley, broth, and seasonings into the pot over the vegetables. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
- Step 4: Cook for 30 Minutes. Add the beef back to the pot, then place the lid on and let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Step 5: Serve. The soup is finished when the beef is cooked through, and the barley is soft. Enjoy it as a main dish soup paired with pumpkin cornbread muffins or zucchini biscuits.
Expert Tips
- You Must Sear the Beef: Don’t skip browning the outside of the beef before assembling the rest of the soup. Searing the meat seals in the flavor and deepens it. It also forms a caramelized crust on the meat that tastes delicious and has a great texture.
- Rinse the Barley: It’s important to rinse barley before cooking it because it washes away the excess starch. It tastes better and helps ensure a tender, not gummy texture as well.
- Adjust the Liquid As Needed: Set aside a bit of extra broth for your soup as you cook, in case it becomes too thick. The barley will absorb a lot of the broth as it simmers, so a little extra broth will help thin it out and ensure the barley fully cooks.
Storage Directions
- Storing: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 6 months.
- Reheating: Reheat leftover soup in the microwave in 60-second intervals, stirring between intervals until it is heated through. Thaw frozen soup for 24 hours in the refrigerator before reheating. Add more broth to the soup during reheating as it may thicken during storage.
Serving Suggestions
Nothing beats a bowl of healthy beef and barley soup when it’s a little chilly outside, and you want a warm, nourishing meal. Soups are a great dinner option because they come together in a single pot, are easy to customize, and there’s almost always leftovers. While you don’t need a side dish with a hearty bowl of soup, a little bit of bread or a salad is always a great addition to dinner.
- This recipe for beef barley soup pairs perfectly with a warm kale and butternut squash salad or a Brussels sprouts sweet potato salad. Both are comforting, winter meals that feel like a hug.
- You can never go wrong with soup and bread. My gluten-free honey oat bread is perfect for dipping into any excess broth you have in your bowl.
- If you do want a side dish for your soup, I recommend adding a helping of vegetables, like roasted broccoli.
Recipe FAQs
No, barley is not a gluten-free grain, so this is not a gluten-free recipe. However, you could swap the barley for a gluten-free grain, like brown rice, to make it gluten-free.
The barley absorbs a lot of moisture as it cooks. If your soup is too thick, add a little more broth or water to the pot. Start with ¼ cup of liquid and add more as needed.
Your barley may be a little crunchy if it ran out of liquid to absorb or if it didn’t simmer long enough. Add more broth or water if needed, and let it cook for another 5-10 minutes to let the barley get tender and plump.
More Healthy Soup and Stew Recipes
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Easy Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb. Lean Beef Stew Meat, diced
- 4 cups Beef Broth, low sodium
- ½ cup Pearl Barley
- 1 cup Carrots, diced
- 1 cup Celery, diced
- 1 cup Onion, diced
- 1 cup Mushrooms, sliced
- 2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
- 1 ½ tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parsley and thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the beef and cook until lightly browned (not all the way). Remove the beef from the pot and set aside.
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and mushrooms to the pot and sauté until soft about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the barley, broth, dried parsley and thyme. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to low.
- Add the beef back to the pot. Cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the beef and barley are cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste then garnish with fresh parsley and thyme.
Notes
- Sear the beef before assembling the soup to lock in the flavor and create a brown, caramelized crust on the outside.
- Rinse the barley before cooking it to wash away excess starch or dust that could change the flavor and texture of the grain.
- Set aside a bit of extra broth to add to the soup if it starts to thicken too much. You could also use water, but broth has more flavor. You will also want extra broth for reheating leftovers as barley will absorb liquid.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this soup as soon as you put it up. It is fantastic and I will make it again!
This soup is so good! The flavors are perfect. I have to stop myself from overeating, so comforting and wholesome. My whole family enjoyed it.