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–+ servings
Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup is hearty and comforting, easy to make, and incredibly delicious! It's absolutely bursting with tender beef, good-for-you vegetables, and flavourful, plump barley.

Beef Barley Soup

Rebecca Lindamood
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup is hearty and comforting, easy to make, and incredibly delicious! It's absolutely bursting with tender beef, good-for-you vegetables, and flavourful, plump barley.

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 onions peeled and diced
  • 3 ribs celery scrubbed and diced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled and minced
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • 4 cups leftover chopped beef roast or shredded beef in juices
  • 2 quarts low sodium beef stock or low sodium beef broth
  • 4 gold or red potatoes
  • 3 carrots scrubbed and diced
  • 1 can petite diced tomatoes in juices or tomato puree 28 ounces
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 1 1/2 cups pearl barley

Instructions
 

  • Drizzle the olive oil into a 12-inch skillet or everyday pan over medium heat. Add the onions and celery.
  • Sprinkle the salt over the top and saute for about 4 minutes, or until the celery and onions have begun to soften.
  • Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, or until fragrant. Raise the heat to high and add the red wine.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any browned or stuck on bits. Scrape the contents into a slow cooker set on LOW.
  • Add the beef, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes or tomato puree, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and thyme. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for at least 4 hours, but up to 8 hours, depending on how much time you have to be away from the slow cooker.
  • One to two hours before serving time, stir in the pearl barley and cover the slow cooker again. Cook for at least 1 hour, but up to 2 hours. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Notes

If you will be unable to add barley an hour or two before serving, you can cook the barley separately using these instructions:
Combine the 1 1/2 cups of barley, 4 1/2 cups of water or stock, and a half teaspoon of kosher salt in a 2 quart saucepan with a tight fitting lid.
Bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat, watching carefully as barley tends to foam a lot at the beginning.
When it reaches a boil, plop the lid in place and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, until the barley is done. For pearl barley, begin checking for doneness at about 20 minutes. For hulled barley, begin checking at about 40 minutes.
Drain the barley only if there is a lot of liquid unabsorbed. Fluff the grains with a fork and add to the soup immediately or put into a container with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate to be used within 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 215kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 10gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 718mgPotassium: 954mgFiber: 7gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 2685IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 71mgIron: 2mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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