Vegetable Beef Barley Soup Recipe
Hearty and super simple, this vegetable beef barley soup recipe goes from stovetop to table in about an hour! Perfect for busy weeknight dinners, it’s semi-homemade and delicious!
Years ago, my husband came home one day, and told me about this amazing beef barley soup he had at our local Elks. Keep in mind, this is a guy who, when you ask him what he thinks of ANYTHING, his answer is “It’s fine.” He just doesn’t get excited about too many things. Anyway, I started asking questions about the soup. What was in it? Was it thick? Was it all barley or just a little barley? He was no help at all, so I decided to just make up my own recipe, and see what he thought. Instead of “It’s fine,” I got “That was pretty good.” Which from him, is high praise. So I’ve been making this simple and hearty vegetable beef barley soup ever since!
Why This Recipe Works
This beef barley soup is something you can make in hardly any time at all, and it tastes like you’ve been cooking all day. It really is so easy, but everyone will think it’s made completely from scratch.
Ingredient Notes + Variations
- One variation that is very good is to substitute tomato juice for one carton of the beef broth. (I make my vegetable beef soup this way.)
- I have used both chopped carrots and bagged shredded carrots. The shredded carrots are, of course, faster because there’s no chopping involved. Both are equally good.
- When choosing your chuck roast or stew meat, look for good marbling. This adds tremendous flavor.
- Beef stock can be used in place of beef broth.
How To Make
- In the bottom of a soup pot or dutch oven, swirl olive oil to almost cover the bottom.
- Add stew meat, carrots, celery and onion.
- Cook and stir until beef is well browned.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add consomme and one carton of beef broth.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add barley.
- Add enough of the second carton of beef broth to get your desired thickness.
- Bring to a second boil, lower heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Cover and turn off heat.
- Let sit on the stove top for 1 hour. Stir well and serve.
Beef Barley Soup Prep Variation
- When I have time, I like to prepare the meat the day before. Instead of stew meat, I purchase a 2 to 3 pound chuck roast.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- On medium high heat, add olive oil to the bottom of a dutch oven.
- Salt and pepper one side of the chuck roast and place it, salted side down, in the dutch oven.
- While it’s cooking, salt and pepper the side facing up.
- Turn the roast so both sides are nicely browned.
- Add enough water to come to the top of the roast, but don’t cover it.
- Bake for 3 hours.
- Remove from oven and let the dutch oven cool. Refrigerate the whole thing overnight.
- The next day, remove the meat from the pot and skim off the fat. Cut up the meat for the soup, and use the broth for the soup base.
More Soup Recipes
Note: soup making is not an exact science. I have made countless pots of soup, and no two have turned out the same. The measurements in all of my soup recipes are guidelines, and can easily be adjusted according to your family’s tastes.
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Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 3 lbs. stew meat
- 1 cup carrots (shredded or chopped)
- 1 cup celery (chopped)
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- salt and pepper
- 10 oz. Beef Consomme (I use Campbell's)
- 2 cartons beef broth (32 oz. each)
- 1 cup quick cooking barley
Instructions
- In the bottom of a soup pot or dutch oven, swirl olive oil to almost cover the bottom.
- Add stew meat, carrots, celery and onion.
- Cook and stir until beef is well browned.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add consomme and one carton of beef broth.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add barley.
- Add enough of the second carton of beef broth to get your desired thickness.
- Bring to a second boil, lower heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Cover and turn off heat.
- Let sit on the stove top for 1 hour. Stir well and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, and love it, please come back to leave a comment and a 5-star review. I would really appreciate it, and it would help me so much. Thank you!
