Beef Barley Vegetable Soup Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Beef Barley Vegetable Soup Recipe
  • READY IN ABOUT 6 hrs

Beef Barley Vegetable Soup

Read Reviews (661)

"Slow cooker, hearty, easy. Serve with a hearty bread, and enjoy." —  

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Original recipe makes 10 servings Change Servings
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Directions

  1. In a slow cooker, cook chuck roast until very tender (usually 4 to 5 hours on High, but can vary with different slow cookers). Add barley and bay leaf during the last hour of cooking. Remove meat, and chop into bite-size pieces. Discard bay leaf. Set beef, broth, and barley aside.
  2. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute carrots, celery, onion, and frozen mixed vegetables until tender. Add water, beef bouillon cubes, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, chopped stewed tomatoes, and beef/barley mixture. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 to 20 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 20 mins
  • COOK 5 hrs 30 mins
  • READY IN 5 hrs 50 mins

Footnotes

  • Editor's Note
  • To make this recipe on the stovetop, cut the beef into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef cubes and cook until browned on all sides, stirring frequently. Remove the meat and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil, and stir in the carrots, celery, and onion. Cook until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the water, bouillon, bay leaf, tomatoes, barley, sugar, and pepper; bring to a simmer. Stir in the beef cubes and simmer, covered, until the beef is tender and the barley is fully cooked, about 2 hours. Add the frozen vegetables in the last half hour of the cooking time.
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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review
Jan 02, 2004

It comes out just as tasty if you put most of the ingredients in the pot (cubed meat, bay leaf, carrots, celery, onion, mixed veg's, beef buillon, stewed tomatoes, black pepper and water) and slow cook it for 10 hrs or so, then add the barley and salt during the last 20 minutes of cooking. MUCH simpler this way and saves time from the original recipe.

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Most Helpful Critical Review
Nov 12, 2006

The was better then I expected--especially since the directions are so poorly written. I added two cans of beef broth to the roast and cooked it on low while I was at work. When I came home I removed the roast from the slow cooker to cool and poured the broth into a large measuring cup to skim the grease. (A chuck roast is really fatty--good flavor, but you gotta drain the grease.) Once the grease is skimmed add water or more beef broth to total the liquid required in the recipe. Also, almost all the frozen mixed veggies in the store have carrots already in them--obviously you don't need to add fresh carrots if they're already in there. I ended up just adding some frozen corn, green beans and peas seperately. This was really meaty, I guess cause normally I add a pound, pound and a half of meat to my soup/stew, and this calls for a three pound pot roast. You could use a smaller roast but my family thought the extra meat was the best part.

— 
Oct 28, 2003

Great recipe! I used stew meat instead of the roast, and used 4 cups canned beef broth (ready- to-serve kind, not condensed kind) instead of the water and bouillon cube. Thanks to a previous reviewer's recommendation, I put all ingredients except barley and salt in crockpot and cooked it on low for 10 hrs., then added the barley and salt during the last 20 minutes. This greatly simplified the recipe! (I had hoped it might be done at 8 hrs., but the veggies were still slightly crunchy, so 10 hrs. is the right length.)

— 
Jan 01, 2006

Excellent and easy. I cooked 2 lbs. of chuck in crockpot for 5 hours the evening before I wanted to serve the soup. (Sprayed crockpot with Pam first.) After cooking, I smashed the beef into shreds (in the crockpot with a spoon.) Then, after sauteeing the vegetables, I put everything in the crockpot (including the uncooked pearl barley) and put the crock in the frig. I skipped the sugar, and used 2 extra cups of beef broth plus a couple generous dashes of Worcestershire Sauce. When I woke up the next day, I turned the crock on low and cooked the soup all day. Everyone loved it! I will make this again and again. After reading a few of the other reviews, I'm wondering if some of the reviewers who complained about mushy barley had inadvertently used instant barley in their soup. Whole pearl long-cooking barley holds up much better than instant barley.

— 
Jul 25, 2004

This is a lovely recipe and here's an EASY way to do it. Buy a couple pounds of stew meat (I cut it up even smaller than the butcher does) and put it in the crockpot the night before and sprinkle some Montreal Steak seasoning on it. The next morning, put four cubes of beef bouillon, sugar, fresh garlic, crushed tomatoes (not stewed), bag of frozen mixed veggies and the four cups of water. (Will probably come to the top of the crockpot.) Cook on low for 10+ hours and in the last hour or so, add the barley. This is a mainstay at our house and even my 14 month old likes it!

— 
Feb 01, 2004

As others have done, I put everything in a crock pot, double the barley, use beef broth instead of water and bullion, and add additional veggies (a package of frozen broccoli crowns, 2-3 potatoes, diced, and 2 cans of chopped green chiles). I also use stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces and brown it with the onion, worcestershire and ground black pepper before adding to the crock pot. The barley doesn't go in until the last hour. Great recipe, a favorite at home and hunting camp. It is even better on the second and third day.

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Mar 07, 2003

I followed another reviewer's advice and put everything in the slow cooker right from the start. I omitted the celery and carrots as the frozen mixed vegies were enough. I used a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes and doubled the broth. It was ready after 8 hours. An absolutely wonderful soup! My kitchen smelled great all day long.

— 
Mar 30, 2003

Margo, your recipe for beef barley soup was great! I added a bit more barley, and cubed some potatoes, and added basil and worchester sauce.The smell was awesome, and its full of veggies, which is good for the kids.Thanks for taking the time to post this great recipe.

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 321 kcal
  • 16%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 22.4 g
  • 7%
  • Cholesterol
  • 62 mg
  • 21%
  • Fat
  • 17.3 g
  • 27%
  • Fiber
  • 5.1 g
  • 20%
  • Protein
  • 20 g
  • 40%
  • Sodium
  • 603 mg
  • 24%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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