Description
A cozy crockpot beef barley soup with melt-in-your-mouth beef chuck, pearl barley, and classic vegetables in a savory broth. Minimal effort, maximum comfort.
Ingredients
Scale
- Beef chuck cut into 1-inch cubes 1½ lb
- Kosher salt 1½ tsp and black pepper ½ tsp
- Olive oil 1 tbsp for optional sear
- Yellow onion chopped 1 medium
- Carrots chopped 3
- Celery stalks chopped 2
- Garlic cloves minced 3
- Tomato paste 2 tbsp
- Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp
- Dried thyme 1 tsp
- Bay leaf 1
- Low-sodium beef broth 8 cups
- Pearl barley rinsed ¾ cup
- Mushrooms sliced 1 cup optional
- Soy sauce 1 tbsp optional umami boost
- Fresh parsley chopped 2 tbsp to finish
Instructions
- Optional sear: pat beef dry, season, and brown in hot oil 2–3 minutes per side; transfer to slow cooker.
- Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, bay leaf, remaining salt and pepper, and beef broth; include mushrooms and soy sauce if using; stir to combine.
- Cook on Low 4 hours or High 2 hours until beef begins to turn tender.
- Stir in rinsed pearl barley.
- Cook on Low 2–3 hours more or High 1–1½ hours more until barley is plump and beef is fork-tender.
- Remove bay leaf, adjust salt and pepper, stir in parsley, rest 5 minutes, then serve.
Notes
- For richer body, reduce uncovered 10–15 minutes at the end.
- If reheating leftovers, add hot broth or water to loosen to your preferred consistency.
- For a wine accent, swap ½ cup broth with dry red wine during the base load.
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 6–7 hours total (Low) or 3–3½ hours total (High)
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cook
- Cuisine: Comfort
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 360Kcal
- Fat: 12g
- Carbohydrates: 33g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 28g