recipe reviews for:

Beef Barley Lentil Soup

“It's easy for Judy Metzentine to fill her slow cooker and forget about supper...until the kitchen is filled with wonderful aroma, that is! 'I've served this soup often to family and friends on cold nights, along with homemade rolls and a green salad,' she writes from The Dalles, Oregon. For variety, she suggests substituting jicama (a starchy root vegetable found in the produce department of many grocery stores) for the potatoes.”

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Reviewed: Nov. 17, 2009

I cooked this on the stove top for about 45 minutes. Pretty good recipe. Reminds me of the Campbell's beef and barley soup my mother made for me when I was a child. I think the tomatoes are key to the flavor. I omitted the lemon-pepper and it tasted fine without it. I used grass-fed ground beef given all the E. coli problems that have cropped up with factory farmed meat. I wanted to try stew meat, but I was worried it would be too tough since I was only cooking the soup for 45 minutes. I think stew meat needs to cook longer to become tender, but I'm not sure about that. I rarely cook with beef.

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ukicutie

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Reviewed: Nov. 6, 2009

This is okay. It needed alot of salt. I also added extra beef boullion, and some beef stock. I didn't like this enough to make it again.

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ADEVANS

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Rochester, Pennsylvania, USA

Living In: Hampton, Virginia, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 29, 2009

This was just okay. Basically like every other time that I throw a bunch of vegetables and meat into the crockpot. I deviated from the recipe by using stew meat instead of ground beef, and I omitted the potatoes.

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QuakerBaker

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Monticello, Indiana, USA

Living In: Carthage, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 19, 2009

Very good base recipe that can be altered to your family's taste. I used beef broth and cubed stew meat instead of ground beef. Everyone enjoyed! Thanks for sharing.

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Kim

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Reviewed: Oct. 11, 2009

I thought it was kind of bland. I added a couple cans of beef broth & a little red wine on day 2, and I think it helped. Just a little disappointing.

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jenjen

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Reviewed: Sep. 1, 2009

Sadly I've never used lentils or barley before, and if this recipe is anything to go by, I have been missing out! This was a hit with my family, from my husband to my toddler. It was much heartier than I expected, with a great flavor! Thank you Judy! And I had left overs to freeze for another night. Yum! The only thing I did differently was I used fresh tomatoes (didn't have stewed tomatoes on hand). I added them in the beginning, and turned out just fine.

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COURTNEYB228

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Reviewed: May 6, 2009

Mmm-mm good. I used beef stew meat instead. Only used 1/2 c lentils with the barley & this was more than enough for 2 kids, hubby & me. 7 oz of stewed tomatoes gave enough flavor though more would have been ok.

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Michelle C

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Reviewed: Apr. 30, 2009

after reading the reviews of this i decided to use an equal ratio of lentils and barley and i left out the potatoes. i really enjoyed the combination of the lentils with the barley. i added some ital seasoning and garlic because many of the reviewers said it was bland. this made a big batch of soup so would be great for freezing for later. served it with homemade swiss and fennel bread.

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MI$$DREA

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 20, 2009

This is just what I wanted in a beef barley soup. I love the lentils. I didn't have beef granules so I used beef stock. Also I didn't have lemon pepper seasoning so I just used pepper. Next time I will try to make it more spicy I think, maybe just with red pepper flakes.

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KERANI

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Reviewed: Apr. 12, 2009

My husband loves this soup! I made it for the third time last night! I used beef stock instead of boullion and added 2 bay leaves. I subbed small pasta for the barley as I didn't have it on hand. Very hearty, tasty soup!!

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cbjc

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Roswell, Georgia, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 15, 2009

My husband deviated from this slightly -- nearly doubled everything but the meat and onions, and didn't use lemon pepper but used black pepper. We did need to add water when we re-heated the next day, as expected. It'll be a permanent addition to our rotation of soups. Thanks for the recipe.

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Cassaendra

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Reviewed: Mar. 2, 2009

very good, I did make changes - stew meat, garlic, 2 bay leaves and canned french onion soup (mistakingly purchased meant to buy beef stock..) I was out of celery so I used ground celery powder. I think I may add more barley and less lentil next time more like 50/50. I also think it need a lot more salt than called for. thanks so much for the recipe!!

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burner

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Mar. 1, 2009

Wonderful comfort soup... Made just as recipe said. As I was eating it I was thinking about maybe next time using frozen corn. Might be a good addition

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Michele F.

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Feb. 4, 2009

I will cook this again. My family loved it,especially my granddaughter who is two.The diference I added was a half lb. each of gr beef and soup bones. Also used a little more beef bouillon granules for taste and used the quick cooking barley at the end of the recipe. Cooked it in a large stockpot for around 2 hrs and added the barley and 1 can of tomatoesinstead of 2.

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EDDIET47

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Living In: Valdosta, Georgia, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 23, 2009

I did not care for this recipe, maybe it was the Lentil's, I have never cooked with them before, but we ordered take out. hubby would not ever try it. On a good note, very simple to throw together.

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MICHELLE

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Savannah, Georgia, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 9, 2009

Great easy recipe! My only variations were using cubed beef and adding some red wine. I marinated the beef cubes in red wine overnight and they turned out so nice and tender. I also added a few 'splashes' of red wine to the soup which gave it a real nice rich taste. Definitely recommended!!!

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jvdveen

Cooking Level: Beginning

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Reviewed: Dec. 29, 2008

A yummy soup on a cold winter night, but I made some mistakes that I will fix next time. Found out my crock pot is 4 quarts not 5, there wasn't enough room to add 8 cups of water. And even after skimping on the water, there wasn't room later to add two cans of tomatoes, so I had to spoon a little bit of everything else out. And the canned tomatoes I bought should have been diced, not stewed. Stewed are in big chunks, and I want smaller bits of tomatoes throughout the soup. Maybe even three cans of diced tomatoes and less water. I used Morningstar veggie burger crumbles instead of ground beef - I am not a vegetarian, but substitute veggie products for meat when I feel like it. It was fine, but I think I would stick to ground beef in this recipe. I also added garlic and more pepper. Topped with shredded parmesan. I will make it again with a few adjustments - thanks!

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lem&mel

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 23, 2008

This was a healthy and easy soup to make. I added 2 bay leaves and garlic powder because it lacks a little flavor. Next time I'll leave the potatoes out since there's plenty of starch from the lentils and barley. I didn't have time to put it in the slow cooker so I cooked it on the stove top for about 45 minutes. The next time I try it, I'll use stew meat! I think that would be great. Good recipe.

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valleygirl

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Weslaco, Texas, USA

Living In: Austin, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 21, 2008

Really, really good. i sub'd stew meat for the ground beef and used a bouillion cube instead of granules, and just threw in a bag of frozen cherry tomatoes from my summer garden instead of the canned ones. everything else was the same. it did take quite a bit longer with the stew meat (10 hours was just right.) it's very hearty and filling and i loved it with a dollop of sour cream on top and some homemade bread!

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esmama

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Santa Cruz, California, USA

Living In: Sacramento, California, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 9, 2008

I prepared with given ingridents. I used more bouillon and salt & (regular) pepper. It was excellent. Ground beef was very good with it. I also used quick barley and waited to add it until there was about 1.5 hours left. I cooked it on high for about 3 hours. Very very good.

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