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
1tablespoonolive oil
2onionspeeled and diced
3ribsceleryscrubbed and diced
1teaspoonkosher salt
6clovesgarlicpeeled and minced
1/2cupdry red wine
4cupsleftover chopped beef roast or shredded beef in juices
1canpetite diced tomatoes in juices or tomato puree28 ounces
2tablespoonsbrown sugar
1tablespoonWorcestershire sauce
2bay leaves
1teaspoondried thyme leaves
1 1/2cupspearl 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.
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.