Get this hearty Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup simmering in your slow cooker and you’ll come home to a wholesome and comforting weeknight dinner. It’s loaded with chunks of tender beef, vegetables, and wholesome barley.
Make it a cozy meal and serve this soup with warm Cheddar Dinner Rolls or a slice of Cheese Beer Bread.
I think I ate nearly an entire batch of this beef barley soup by myself the first time I made it. Not in one sitting, I swear. It was over the course of a few days.
It’s very uncharacteristic of me to do such a thing. I like variety in my life and will rarely eat the same thing twice from one day to the next, but wow, I couldn’t get enough of this soup. I know my husband had a bowl and I believe one of my boys had a bowl or two, but the rest was mine.
It has that leftover pasta thing happening. The thing where it tastes even better on the reheat. I warmed a bowl-full for myself the second day and noticed the barley was a bit softer and plumper but still retained a nice, slightly chewy bite. The flavors intensified and the whole situation was just really, really good. Literally to the last drop. And, there was not a drop left at the end.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Cubed beef: Save yourself the trouble of cutting down a roast and look for the beef labeled “Beef for Stew” at the grocery store. It’s just chuck roast that has conveniently been cut down into chunks for you. For soup, I like to cut it into even smaller, bite-size pieces.
- Seasoning: Salt, freshly ground black pepper and either fresh thyme of dried thyme.
- Vegetables: Diced yellow onion, diced celery, minced garlic, chopped carrots, and chopped cremini mushrooms.
- Oil: A little vegetable oil for browning the beef and cooking the veggies.
- Tomato paste: A vital component for adding richness to the soup broth.
- Worcestershire sauce: A quick way to add a ton of flavor and umami to recipes.
- Low-sodium beef broth: I mix up my own with Better than Boullion Reduced Sodium Beef Base.
- Pearled barley: Hulled barley has an extremely tough, fibrous outer layer so in order to reduce the amount of cooking time, some of that fibrous layer is polished off to make pearl or pearled barley, thus the name. Even though it has been polished, it’s still a healthy grain that is quite high in fiber and has a distinctive and lovely, chewy bite.
How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup
- Brown the beef: Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet and sauté the beef in batches, seasoning with salt and pepper while cooking. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the browned beef to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Cook the veggies: In the same skillet, sauté the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Add the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and cook, stirring for a minute or two until well combined. Transfer the veggie mixture to your slow cooker with the beef.
- Add remaining ingredients: Add the beef broth, barley, and thyme. Reserve the mushrooms to add later (see tips below).
- Cook and add the mushrooms: Stir to combine, cover, and cook on Low for 5 to 7 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours. About 45 to 60 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the mushrooms. Continue to cook, covered, until the beef is fork tender.
Valerie’s Tips
Timing: If you can’t add the mushrooms during the last hour of the cooking time, they can be added with the broth and barley. Just be aware that they will shrink more and become much softer with the longer cooking time.
Consistency: The soup will seem quite brothy at first, but the barley works as a thickener as it cooks into the soup and will add some body to the broth.
Storage and Reheating Tips
Refrigerate: Transfer the cooled soup to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Freeze: For longer storage, I like to ladle the soup into freezer-safe gallon size plastic storage bags, press out as much air as possible and seal the bags. They can be laid flat and stacked in the freezer to save space and will stay fresh and tasty for 2 to 3 months. Thaw frozen soup in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat the soup in a pot on the stove over medium-low heat or in the microwave, just until warmed though. Soups with barley have a tendency to thicken when refrigerated or frozen so you may want to add a little additional broth or water to thin it to the desired consistency.
More Slow Cooker Soups You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Hamburger Minestrone
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup
- Check out my entire collection of delicious soup, stew, and chili recipes for more ideas!
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Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus additional as needed
- 1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds cubed beef stew meat, boneless beef chuck
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 cup chopped carrots, from 2 to 3 peeled carrots
- ¾ cup diced celery, from 2 ribs
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
- ⅔ cup pearl barley
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 cups coarsely chopped cremini mushrooms
Instructions
- Cut the beef stew meat down into small (½ -inch) bite-size pieces.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add half of the beef to the skillet and allow to brown on one side for about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste while cooking. Flip pieces over and brown for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the browned beef to a 6-quart slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining beef, using additional oil, if needed.
- Return the skillet to MEDIUM heat and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring, to incorporate with any juices the beef left behind in the skillet. Add the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and cook, stirring for a minute or two until well combined. Transfer the veggie mixture to your slow cooker with the beef.
- Add the beef broth, barley, and fresh thyme to the slow cooker. Stir to combine, cover, and set the slow cooker to cook on LOW for 5 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. About 45 to 60 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the mushrooms. Continue to cook, covered, until the beef is fork tender (slow cookers can vary, times are approximate). Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on October 5, 2015. It has been updated with new text and images.
This totally reminds me of one of my childhood meals! Thanks for the memory, I need to make it for my mom and dad. 🙂
What a beautiful hearty stew! I love pearled barley too, have a bag in the pantry and just looked at it other day thinking I needed to use it. My family would LOVE this.
Such a good combo — I don’t know why I don’t make this more often!
This looks downright perfect. I love a good bowl of beef, barley, and veggie soup.
Beef and barley stew has always been one of my faves, I just love the flavor of barley! Great slow-cooker version!
I share your love of pearl barley – we just don’t eat it enough! Looks delicious!
This looks just perfect for cooler weather!
mmm, the beef & barley combination looks very enticing in this recipe!
There are far fewer things to come home to than a delicious soup such as this! My mom was making a beef stew today and now I see this…looks like I know what I making next!
This looks so good, Valerie! I love mushrooms and beef — and using my slow cooker! This is on my list of slow cooker meals to make! 🙂
Hi Amy! I hope you try it and love it! :
Soup is one of my favourite things about fall, and like you, I love adding barley to mine! What a fantastic recipe and love that it is in the slow cooker!
I love coming home to a meal ready in the crock pot! It just makes you breathe easy, doesn’t it? This soup looks like the perfect comfort food to keep us warm and happy this fall!
It definitely does, Sara. I love the days when I ‘m on the ball enough to have planned a Crock-Pot meal.