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A simple yet comforting beef barley soup made in the instant pot or slow cooker! The beef chunks are tender, and the veggies and barley are perfectly cooked. It’s seriously the simplest, most flavorful stick-to-your-ribs kinda soup!
Feelin’ all the cozy feels with this hearty beef barley soup.
Warm soups make me want to bust out my fuzzy socks, oversized sweaters and drink warm earl grey tea lattes all day long. Needless to say, soups are some of my favorite types of food.
And my instant pot beef barley soup isn’t just some boring old soup. I’m talking about the kind of soup that hits all the perfect warm and cozy notes with spoonfuls of flavorful broth, melt-in-your-mouth tender chunks of beef, veggies, and al dente barley. It’ll stick to your ribs, pack on the protein, give your insides a big hug, and leave your belly extra happy!
@littlespicejar Beef ans Barley Soup plus tips! Full recipe linked in my profile and on littlespicejar.com 3 things to make a better pot of soup – Chop your veggies into bite-sized pieces so you get a bit in each bite – Sear the meat , Saute your veggies, and aromatics to create layers of flavor – Allow it to simmer for longer periods of time so everything melds together #beefandbarleysoup #beefsoup #beefsouprecipe #soup #soupseason #souptok #souprecipes #goodsoup #goodsoup👌🏼 ♬ Natural Emotions – Muspace Lofi
What makes this soup recipe 1000x times better is that we’re making it from start to finish in the instant pot. With around 60 minutes of total time, you’ll have a soup that tastes like you’ve been slow-simmering it all day long. And yes, you sure can cook this recipe all day long and make beef barley soup in the slow cooker if that’s more your jam.
Made the soup today in my instant pot. It was easy to follow and to make. The soup turned out great. Everybody liked it and we have some leftovers for this week. Thank you.
Ingredients for beef barley soup recipe
- Beef: stewing beef or a beef chuck roast cut into 1-inch pieces works best. My grocery store sells pieces that are about 1–1½ inch pieces. Keep in mind that the smaller your pieces are, the less time this soup will take in the instant pot. If the beef cubes are too large, chop them down.
- Mushrooms: I like to use baby Bella mushrooms for this recipe. However, button mushrooms would also work here.
- Mirepoix: Mirepoix is the base of the soup. It’s a combination of onions, celery, and carrots.
- Garlic: You can use as little or as much garlic as you like for this recipe. I typically go a bit heavier than most, and we love a good flavorful broth. I use about 6-8 cloves garlic!
- Beef broth: I suggest using low-sodium beef broth for this recipe. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have beef broth on hand, you can substitute it with low-sodium chicken broth (or stock) and add a tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce. I’ve done this plenty of times with great results!
- Seasonings and sauces: I recently started adding a dash of tomato paste to my soup, and I love the flavor profile it adds to this soup. Along with that, you’ll need bay leaves, dried thyme, and mushroom powder. The mushroom powder is optional, but it’s an umami flavor bomb if you have it on hand! Just ½ teaspoon takes this soup to new heights!
- Pearl barley: is a grain that has had the tough fibrous outer hull removed from it. Barley is a fiber-rich food that is great to include in your diet.
- Potato: Just a big old russet is what you need here! Remove the peel and shred the potato in your food processor.
- Fresh parsley: adds a bit of color and freshness to the soup recipe.
* Up until recently, I’ve always used diced potatoes in my beef barley soup but the shredded potatoes is a little trick I picked up from The Food Charlatan and it’s seriously the best thing in this soup!
How to make instant pot beef barley soup
- Generously season the stew meat with salt and black pepper. Heat a splash of oil in the instant pot on the saute setting on medium-high heat. When hot, add a batch of the meat and brown it evenly on all sides for a couple of mins. The browning process develops a layer of fond on the bottom of the pan. Which will ultimately aid in providing more flavor for our soup. Remove the meat to a plate when it’s done. You’ll treat the mushrooms the same way; brown them, and remove them to the same plate.
- Add another splash of oil to the instant pot and saute your onions, carrots, and celery. When the vegetables have softened, add the garlic and tomato paste. You want to allow the tomato paste time to bloom in the oil before adding the remaining ingredients. Then, add everything but the potatoes, cover the instant pot, and let it come up to a simmer before it starts the pressure cooking.
- When the instant pot timer goes off, allow a natural pressure release. You can do a manual quick release, but because it was a hot liquid, you might end up getting splatter. For this reason, I suggest natural pressure release. Then, place the instant pot on the saute setting, stir in the shredded potatoes, place the IP lid on top (not locked, just placed on top) let the soup continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the potato has cooked through. Taste and adjust with additional seasonings. If the soup is too thick, you can thin it with additional broth until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Serve it up. Ladle the soup into your favorite bowl and serve this with a slice of the best garlic bread.
Additional tips and tricks
Use store-bought mirepoix to cu todwn on prep time. If you look in the prepared foods section, they often sell a 3-cup container of prepared mirepoix, so it’s ready to cook.
Use store-bought shredded potatoes. You can usually find these in the breakfast refrigerated section of your grocery store. Thawed shredded hash browns would also work for this recipe.
Since this recipe is made in the instant pot it’s difficult to suggest substitutes for the pearl barley as the cooking time on these ingedients varies from the beef stew meat.
I like a good salad, maybe a shaved brussels, apple and manchego situation, or a kale crunch salad. Garlic bread is always a welcome side! My no knead focaccia or jalapeno cheddar bread would be delicious dipped in this!
I like to use a dutch oven. Follow directions 1 and 2. Then add everything but the barley and potatoes and let the soup simmer, covered, on low heat for 1 hour. Test the meat for doneness, it should be almost there. Then add the rinsed barley and shredded ptoatoes and continue to simmer the soup, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Honey Lemon Chicken with Green Beans
- Rustic Shepherd’s Pie with Cheesy Mashed Potatoes and Peas
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup
- Mini Moroccan Meatball Soup
- Homemade Minestrone Soup
Comforting Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds stew meat cut into 1¼ inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 10 baby bella mushrooms quartered
- 3 cups mirepoix just a combination of chopped onion, celery, and carrots
- 6-8 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 7 cups low sodium beef broth or vegetable
- 1 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon mushroom powder optional
- ⅔ cup pearl barley rinsed
- ¾ pound russet potato peeled + shredded (using a food processor or grater)
Instructions
- SAUTE: Season the stew meat with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot or in the instant pot over medium-high heat. Add ½ the stew meat and brown on all sides for about 2-3 minutes total. Remove meat to a plate and repeat with the second batch and the second tablespoon of oil. Add the mushroom to the pot and brown the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes or until they start picking up the brown bits left behind by the meat. Remove the mushrooms to the same plate as the stew meat.
- VEGGIES: If needed, add a little more oil to the pot and the mirepoix mix. Cook the veggies for 4-5 minutes or until the onions soften and become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds before adding the tomato paste and letting it brown for an additional 30 seconds.
- INSTANT POT: Add the stew meat, mushrooms, bay leaves, dried thyme, mushroom powder, water, beef broth, and barley to sautéed veggies in the instant pot, cover and hit the manual button (high pressure), and cook for 16 minutes. Allow the pressure to release before removing the lid. Hit the saute setting on the instant pot, covered (use the IP lid and just place it on top, don’t lock.) Add the shredded potatoes allow the soup to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. Season with additional seasonings to taste and thin soup with additional water or stock if it gets too thick. Serve warm with chopped parsley on top and a loaf of crusty bread or crackers.
- SLOW COOKER: to make the soup in the slow cooker, add the softened veggies, stew meat, mushrooms, bay leaves, dried thyme, mushroom powder, water, beef broth, and barley to the slow cooker and allow the soup to cook on the high setting for 3 hours or on the low setting for 6 hours. Add the shredded potatoes to the slow cooker during the last 1 hour of cooking. Season with additional seasonings to taste and thin soup with additional water or stock if it gets too thick. Season with additional seasonings as desired. Serve warm!
Notes
- Sometimes I like to spice things up by adding a little pinch of red pepper flakes along with the dried thyme too but this is purely optional.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Most beautiful beef and barley soup I have ever seen! Will definitely be making this in my IP!!!!
The beauty of the pressure cooker is that the temp get high enough to bloom and Mary spices which is why soups and other foods taste so much better. For this reason there is no need to simmer for taste. The IP does it for you. I have an article that explains the science behind this and will try to locate. Blessings. Joana
Made this today. Its middle of August and 95+ degrees, but no accounting for when this craving hits. It’s delicious and was easy to make. I omitted the potato, but will add it in the future. Thank you for doing the hard work.
When you say in step 5 to pressure cook for 13-15 minutes, do you mean press the “Manuel” button to do it? I’m new to the Instant Pot, so I need lots of details 🙂
Sorry I see someone else had the same question that you already answered!
I’ve made the recipe twice. Everything is delicious except my beautiful grass fed stew meat was undercooked. I’m wondering about the final step. Would 2 hours slow cooking be better or maybe the stew/meat setting?
I’m glad to hear you thought it was delicious! I think if you’ve made it twice (and the meat was undercooked both times) your best bet would be to up the pressure cooking time. Rather than 13-16, maybe more like 18-25 minutes. I don’t know if you’re using an Instant Pot or a different brand of an electric pressure cooker, but I’ve learned that sometimes the cook time varies a bit between brands. Two hours of slow cooking may do the trick too just depends on how undercooked the beef was and how well done you like your barley! Hope that helps!
This stew has amazing flavors!! Even my 2 year old loved this!! Thanks for sharing!!
I made this today and my husband and dogs loved it! I don’t eat beef, but the smell was amazing even for me. I will be trying more of your recipes soon.
Made this this evening and it turned out terrific! I didn’t have beef broth, instead used Campbell’s chicken broth. This recipe is a keeper. This was my first time making beef barley soup. The shredded potato was a nice trick.
Is it possible to add quick-cooking barley?
You probably could but you’ll need to monitor for doneness. I’ve only tested the recipe with the regular stuff so it’s hard for me to say how long it’ll take.
The setting for step number 5 is “manual”?
I just hit the meat/stew button and dialed it down to 15 minutes but I guess manual should work too.
This was the first recipe we tried in our new IP. It turned out wonderful! We added extra beef. We’ll definitely this make again. It cooked so nicely in the IP without getting mushy.
This was my 1st time ever both eating & making Beef & Barley Soup! It turned out FANTASTIC!!! My question for today’s dinner is:
I am literally turning Last Night’s Pot Roast Dinner into tonight’s B & B Soup. I just have to add the Mirepoix & the Barley. Can I PRESSURE COOK these add-ins, and if so, for how long? I am a bit of a Newbie to Pressure Cooking, but my guesstimate would be 8 minutes, then Natural Release? Thanks for any input!! Can’t wait for Dinner!~~~
Hi Linda! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Hmmm, to tell you the truth, i’m also still figuring my way with the pressure cooker. But I do think it would be in the ball park of 8 minutes. If you find the veggies are still a little crunchy, you can always cook them a little further. 🙂
Do you cover in step 6? I have glass lid too
Yes, you’ll need to cover it.
Hi – what a fantastic recipe!! I made this soup for our lunches – it’s going to be a very tasty work week 🙂
Excellent soup especially in the dead of winter with -24 c . The only change I made was the 1 hr wait for the barley , when you have kids it has to be instant , so all I did is added the barley and push soup 5 min and tested it out it was still al dente so I did and other 5 min soup button . It was Perfect !!
Keep the recipes coming
Valérie
I appreciated this recommendation, Valerie, because I also needed a quicker cooking time. (I had already had to increase step one’s time to 25 minutes to ensure my grass fed beef shank would be tender) I used the soup button for 10 minutes and the barley was cooked perfectly.
Great suggestion. I also tried cooking the barley and potatoes on the soup setting for 10 minutes instead of slow cooking for an hour and it tasted great. The whole family loved it. Next time, I am going to try adding the barley and potatoes from the start and use the Meat/Stew setting.
Looking forward to trying this recipe on my instant pot. How long do you keep it on slow cook once you add the barley and potatoes in the instant pot?
See step #6.
I got my Instant Pot before the holidays and have been trying out new recipes. This was my first soup and it was awesome! Very tasty and the family loved it. Loved serving them a healthy meal not full of preservatives and sodium that canned soups have. This is definitely a keeper for the cold winter coming!
Excellent! Very flavorful. I skipped the potato (didn’t want the extra carbs) and accidentally threw in the barley with everything else and it was still fantastic!!
My Instant Pot arrived yesterday and I christened it with this delicious recipe! I made a few, small changes: 1. I cubed the potatoes instead of shredding them. 2. I added the barley and potatoes into the mix right away instead of breaking it up into two parts. 3. I only used the “Meat/Stew” button which had the soup ready in 35 minutes (plus the prep and sautéing time).
The barley was cooked to our liking (not too squishy, not too firm) and the meat was incredibly tender!
This recipe is definitely one of my “go-to” recipes! Thanks for sharing!
I assume after the 35 minutes, you did a full natural release?
I’m new to pressure cookers, so bear with my probably obvious question. What is the reason for not adding the barley and potatoes in with everything else?
I like to add the barley and potatoes in afterwards so I can let the soup simmer and really develop the flavors a bit more and so I can cook the barley to preference. Big on texture here so for me, the barley has to be just done. If you don’t mind it being a little on the softer side, you can certainly add it all in at once! Hope that answers your question Jennifer 🙂
Thanks for the reply! That definitely helps! Hubby is going to be so excited to have this soup this week! 🙂