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A simple yet comforting beef barley soup made in the instant pot or slow cooker! The beef chunks are tender, and the veggies and barley are perfectly cooked. It’s seriously the simplest, most flavorful stick-to-your-ribs kinda soup!
Feelin’ all the cozy feels with this hearty beef barley soup.
Warm soups make me want to bust out my fuzzy socks, oversized sweaters and drink warm earl grey tea lattes all day long. Needless to say, soups are some of my favorite types of food.
And my instant pot beef barley soup isn’t just some boring old soup. I’m talking about the kind of soup that hits all the perfect warm and cozy notes with spoonfuls of flavorful broth, melt-in-your-mouth tender chunks of beef, veggies, and al dente barley. It’ll stick to your ribs, pack on the protein, give your insides a big hug, and leave your belly extra happy!
@littlespicejar Beef ans Barley Soup plus tips! Full recipe linked in my profile and on littlespicejar.com 3 things to make a better pot of soup – Chop your veggies into bite-sized pieces so you get a bit in each bite – Sear the meat , Saute your veggies, and aromatics to create layers of flavor – Allow it to simmer for longer periods of time so everything melds together #beefandbarleysoup #beefsoup #beefsouprecipe #soup #soupseason #souptok #souprecipes #goodsoup #goodsoup👌🏼 ♬ Natural Emotions – Muspace Lofi
What makes this soup recipe 1000x times better is that we’re making it from start to finish in the instant pot. With around 60 minutes of total time, you’ll have a soup that tastes like you’ve been slow-simmering it all day long. And yes, you sure can cook this recipe all day long and make beef barley soup in the slow cooker if that’s more your jam.
Made the soup today in my instant pot. It was easy to follow and to make. The soup turned out great. Everybody liked it and we have some leftovers for this week. Thank you.
Ingredients for beef barley soup recipe
- Beef: stewing beef or a beef chuck roast cut into 1-inch pieces works best. My grocery store sells pieces that are about 1–1½ inch pieces. Keep in mind that the smaller your pieces are, the less time this soup will take in the instant pot. If the beef cubes are too large, chop them down.
- Mushrooms: I like to use baby Bella mushrooms for this recipe. However, button mushrooms would also work here.
- Mirepoix: Mirepoix is the base of the soup. It’s a combination of onions, celery, and carrots.
- Garlic: You can use as little or as much garlic as you like for this recipe. I typically go a bit heavier than most, and we love a good flavorful broth. I use about 6-8 cloves garlic!
- Beef broth: I suggest using low-sodium beef broth for this recipe. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have beef broth on hand, you can substitute it with low-sodium chicken broth (or stock) and add a tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce. I’ve done this plenty of times with great results!
- Seasonings and sauces: I recently started adding a dash of tomato paste to my soup, and I love the flavor profile it adds to this soup. Along with that, you’ll need bay leaves, dried thyme, and mushroom powder. The mushroom powder is optional, but it’s an umami flavor bomb if you have it on hand! Just ½ teaspoon takes this soup to new heights!
- Pearl barley: is a grain that has had the tough fibrous outer hull removed from it. Barley is a fiber-rich food that is great to include in your diet.
- Potato: Just a big old russet is what you need here! Remove the peel and shred the potato in your food processor.
- Fresh parsley: adds a bit of color and freshness to the soup recipe.
* Up until recently, I’ve always used diced potatoes in my beef barley soup but the shredded potatoes is a little trick I picked up from The Food Charlatan and it’s seriously the best thing in this soup!
How to make instant pot beef barley soup
- Generously season the stew meat with salt and black pepper. Heat a splash of oil in the instant pot on the saute setting on medium-high heat. When hot, add a batch of the meat and brown it evenly on all sides for a couple of mins. The browning process develops a layer of fond on the bottom of the pan. Which will ultimately aid in providing more flavor for our soup. Remove the meat to a plate when it’s done. You’ll treat the mushrooms the same way; brown them, and remove them to the same plate.
- Add another splash of oil to the instant pot and saute your onions, carrots, and celery. When the vegetables have softened, add the garlic and tomato paste. You want to allow the tomato paste time to bloom in the oil before adding the remaining ingredients. Then, add everything but the potatoes, cover the instant pot, and let it come up to a simmer before it starts the pressure cooking.
- When the instant pot timer goes off, allow a natural pressure release. You can do a manual quick release, but because it was a hot liquid, you might end up getting splatter. For this reason, I suggest natural pressure release. Then, place the instant pot on the saute setting, stir in the shredded potatoes, place the IP lid on top (not locked, just placed on top) let the soup continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the potato has cooked through. Taste and adjust with additional seasonings. If the soup is too thick, you can thin it with additional broth until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Serve it up. Ladle the soup into your favorite bowl and serve this with a slice of the best garlic bread.
Additional tips and tricks
Use store-bought mirepoix to cu todwn on prep time. If you look in the prepared foods section, they often sell a 3-cup container of prepared mirepoix, so it’s ready to cook.
Use store-bought shredded potatoes. You can usually find these in the breakfast refrigerated section of your grocery store. Thawed shredded hash browns would also work for this recipe.
Since this recipe is made in the instant pot it’s difficult to suggest substitutes for the pearl barley as the cooking time on these ingedients varies from the beef stew meat.
I like a good salad, maybe a shaved brussels, apple and manchego situation, or a kale crunch salad. Garlic bread is always a welcome side! My no knead focaccia or jalapeno cheddar bread would be delicious dipped in this!
I like to use a dutch oven. Follow directions 1 and 2. Then add everything but the barley and potatoes and let the soup simmer, covered, on low heat for 1 hour. Test the meat for doneness, it should be almost there. Then add the rinsed barley and shredded ptoatoes and continue to simmer the soup, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Honey Lemon Chicken with Green Beans
- Rustic Shepherd’s Pie with Cheesy Mashed Potatoes and Peas
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup
- Mini Moroccan Meatball Soup
- Homemade Minestrone Soup
Comforting Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds stew meat cut into 1¼ inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 10 baby bella mushrooms quartered
- 3 cups mirepoix just a combination of chopped onion, celery, and carrots
- 6-8 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 7 cups low sodium beef broth or vegetable
- 1 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon mushroom powder optional
- ⅔ cup pearl barley rinsed
- ¾ pound russet potato peeled + shredded (using a food processor or grater)
Instructions
- SAUTE: Season the stew meat with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot or in the instant pot over medium-high heat. Add ½ the stew meat and brown on all sides for about 2-3 minutes total. Remove meat to a plate and repeat with the second batch and the second tablespoon of oil. Add the mushroom to the pot and brown the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes or until they start picking up the brown bits left behind by the meat. Remove the mushrooms to the same plate as the stew meat.
- VEGGIES: If needed, add a little more oil to the pot and the mirepoix mix. Cook the veggies for 4-5 minutes or until the onions soften and become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds before adding the tomato paste and letting it brown for an additional 30 seconds.
- INSTANT POT: Add the stew meat, mushrooms, bay leaves, dried thyme, mushroom powder, water, beef broth, and barley to sautéed veggies in the instant pot, cover and hit the manual button (high pressure), and cook for 16 minutes. Allow the pressure to release before removing the lid. Hit the saute setting on the instant pot, covered (use the IP lid and just place it on top, don’t lock.) Add the shredded potatoes allow the soup to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. Season with additional seasonings to taste and thin soup with additional water or stock if it gets too thick. Serve warm with chopped parsley on top and a loaf of crusty bread or crackers.
- SLOW COOKER: to make the soup in the slow cooker, add the softened veggies, stew meat, mushrooms, bay leaves, dried thyme, mushroom powder, water, beef broth, and barley to the slow cooker and allow the soup to cook on the high setting for 3 hours or on the low setting for 6 hours. Add the shredded potatoes to the slow cooker during the last 1 hour of cooking. Season with additional seasonings to taste and thin soup with additional water or stock if it gets too thick. Season with additional seasonings as desired. Serve warm!
Notes
- Sometimes I like to spice things up by adding a little pinch of red pepper flakes along with the dried thyme too but this is purely optional.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Can I use frozen vegetables and when would I put them in the insta pot?
Depends on the kind of frozen veggies! If you’re looking to add the mirepoix frozen, I’d add it along with the garlic, right before you start pressure cooking (no need to saute). If you’re looking to add other veggies (such as green beans or something) I’d add those in with the potatoes and barley.
I was disappointed that you call this an instant pot recipe, having to use the crockpot feature of it instantly cancels
out the quick and easy reason so many of us like the instant pot. I used Tara Mondays suggestion and I added it all at once. 35 mins on meat /stew and it was delish. Meat was cooked and tender. Barley was just right. Potatoes, which i did in chunks good, only needed a wee bit of salt and pepper. I’m slurping down a bowl as I type. Perfect for a snowed in Sunday.
Thanks for sharing this recipe — it sounds delicious!
Oh wow.! Thank you for posting this beef barley soup. I left out the potatoes and cooked it for 25 minutes, 15 min natural release and it was amazing! The beef was so tender and the flavour delicious. This one is a keeper!
If I only have normal beef broth and not low sodium will this turn out too salty? Any suggestions?
You can use regular beef broth if you’d like. I’d suggest cutting back the broth to 5 cups and upping the water to 2 cups to ensure your soup doesn’t turn out too salty!
This soup is amazing. I don’t mind a more “done” barley so next time I will through it all in at once. Also we added a little more barley as we had instant barley on hand. Great recipe.
I made this last night in my Instant Pot and it was very tasty. I made as is. Short cut I used: shredded frozen hashbrown potatoes in place of the grated real potato. I put them in frozen with the barley and they were perfect. Make it, you won’t be sorry!
Thanks for sharing your tip on the frozen shredded hash browns! Glad to hear you enjoyed the soup! 🙂
Great soup! Like others, I’m interested to see if it turns out differently if I put the barley and potato in when I do the pressure cooking so it all finishes up at the same time and finishes faster. I cut my stew meat into small bites that were more spoon friendly, so I did 13 minutes of pressure and quick release because I was anxious to get the barley and potato in and start the hour of slow cooking. Meat turned out slightly tough, so next time I think I’ll put it all together and cook under pressure for 20-25 minutes with natural release. Thank you for a yummy recipe! I plan to make the skiilet chili with cornbread this weekend while it’s super cold!
Made the soup today in my instant pot. It was easy to follow and to make. The soup turned out great. Everybody liked it and we have some leftovers for this week.
Thank you.
Made this last night and it’s quite delicious. I cooked it on Manual for 25 minutes instead of doing the slow cooker method for an hour (ain’t nobody got time for that!) to cook the potatoes and barley and it came out PERFECT.
I ran across this recipe today and I am going to make it very soon. It looks and sounds delish. I am a soup lover, so no matter what time of year it is… For me it is always SOUP time!!
Is the depressurization before the potatoes and barley natural or quick?
Either works! I’m impatient so I usually do the quick release!
This is an excellent recipe. Thanks for the clear instructions! It’s a keeper!
can this recipe be doubled? And does the meat need to be defrosted first? Thank you! Excited to try
Yes, the recipe can be doubled but it’ll depend on the size of your pressure cooker. If you’ve got the 6 qt. IP, like I do, I don’t think it’ll be able to hold a double batch. And yes, I suggest defrosting the meat beforehand for it to cook and become tender in the time specified. You could probably add frozen meat but I’m uncertain how much it’ll change the cooking time. If you decide to try it with frozen beef, I’d love to hear how it went!
Can you 1.5 or double this recipe in the instant pot? Making it tonight! Looks delicious.
Hi Megan! Yes, I think a 1.5 batch should fit in the instant pot (if you’ve got a 6 qt or larger). I don’t think a 6 quart would be able to hold a double batch though. Hope you enjoy the soup!
This is my favorite soup which I freeze and is my go to lunch. I really do not change anything except I try to use home made stock and I do up the meat.
I just made a big batch of beef stock last week and this was the perfect use for some of it! I used a grass fed beef bone shank and cooked it for 25 minutes before chopping it up and returning it to the pot. Because of the longer cooking time, I waited to add the mirepoix. I added it, the mushrooms, and the barley (skipped the potato because I had none) to the pot and set the soup button to 10 minutes. The beef was tender and the barley was cooked perfectly. Great meal for the first chilly evening of fall!
Hubby and I made this as our 1st recipe in the Instant pot. Not knowing what to expect it took 6 months to get it out of the box!
This was a bit complicated but I have to say it was well worth it! This was fantastic! Thank you for sharing, this will be a regular fall and winter comfort food.
Does this freeze well?
Just made this in my instapot I just bought last week and it is terrific. Very flavourful and yummy. Will be making this again and again.