Hearty Beef Barley Soup

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I think just about everyone could use this Hearty Beef Barley soup in their life. Well, I mean, except our vegetarian and vegan friends. I am don’t think they would appreciate this! Of course, you can always sub out the beef for mushrooms and beef stock for veggie stock. What a great soup as well.

Beef For The Stew

Let’s start with the star of this show, the beef. You can always buy stew meat. That is a great, simple option. It is a little more expensive though, so I almost always opt to cut up my own. Now, the cut of meat you use is pretty important. You generally don’t want a super lean cut of beef, a little fat is a lot of flavor. This was a lean chuck roast. Still pretty fatty, but not as fatty as the regular. Cut into 1-2 inch chunks.

There are 2 ways this soup will thicken, one is the barley. When it releases the starch, this will thicken the soup substantially. Another way I like to thicken the soup is by adding some flour to the beef, coating it in it, before searing.

For searing, there are a few things to mindful of. Make sure your pan is really hot and the oil is really hot when you add the beef. You want it to sear hot and fast. The second is, don’t overcrowd your pan. I know it is tempting to get it done quickly, but sometimes that means in 2 batches. The more you add to the pan, the more it will cool the pan. So, with my beef, I did 2 batches.

It doesn’t need to a dark, all-over sear, the photo below shows a good sear for what we are doing.

Making the Hearty Beef Barley Soup

There, the hardest part is over!! Add all your beef back into the pan with the onion and celery.

Saute these together for about 3-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute another minute.

Your stock, seasoning and tomato paste are in next.

Now is the waiting game. You want tender beef, so this is going to need to cook for a while. I let mine go for about 30 minutes. You may need to add in a little more water or stock as it is cooking down. You will need plenty for when you add the barley in as it absorbs so much liquid.

The Barley

There are several types of barley to choose from. I used pearled barley, the quickest cooking, and easiest to find. This technically is not a whole grain as the bran has been stripped away. If this concerns you, go for a barley groat, a whole grain. Just know it takes a little longer to cook. Not a big deal though. The pearly barley will take about 30 minutes to tender in this soup.

Let the barley cook for about 15 minutes, then add in your frozen peas and carrots. I add then in towards the end as you don’t want them to be overcooked!

Let it finish out the last 15 minutes of the cooking time and it is done. Look at how thick, hearty, and totally delicious!!

You pan should look like this when you are finished. This is a reduction line. Reduction helps your soup to have so much flavor and intensifies it all.

This looks just like what a fall meal should look like. Doesn’t this look cozy and look like it would warm your soul??

The flavors, texture, and substance are perfect this time of year!!

If you are looking for a great bread or roll to go with this, I have some really good options! How about this Rosemary and Gruyere roll? Or a Parmesan-Herb??