My family loves this soup. It is so easy it practically makes itself. I start it before I go to work, finish it up when I get home and everyone just gobbles it up. They always ask for seconds. I've found it to be perfect as is and didn't need any changes.

Very filling and healthy, but this makes A TON! I think my hssband was eating this for lunch for well over a week. Next time I will either half the recipe or try to freeze some of it. I used stew meat instead of the roast and just dumped everything in the slow cooker at once. The only drawback is that it has to cook for a LONG time when you do this, but I started it late morning and just put it in the fridge right before going to bed and we ate it the next day. The flavor is always better the second day anyway so it worked out nicely.

My all time favorite soup recipe! I follow the recipe to a "T" and it turns out perfect every time. I love the big beefy flavor and the nice tender barley.

This is a great comfort food. I substituted leeks for the celery for a slightly different taste treat. It was delicious! Serve it with fresh bread made in those wonderful bread machines and you have a meal sure to please.

loved this, fantastic flavour. I took time to brown the meat before slow cooking, and deglazed the vegetables at the same time putting them in the fridge until they were needed later, so worth the effort.

Delicious rich beefy flavor. My family begged me to make this again. Removing the cooked beef and chopping it up (minus fat, etc) is a little time consuming, but the end result was worth the effort.

This soup is really good, I don't add the tomatoes though.

comforting!

Yum! I didn't add the oil or frozen vegetables (just did carrots, celery, onion, canned tomatos). Did add a little basil, oregano, and garlic halfway through too. I also didn't read the directions right and put the barley in at the beginning with everything else - it turned out great anyway! The barley can only soak up so much of the liquid. It was thick and savory. Thank you!

This was really good. I seasoned and seared the beef in a skillet, then put it in the crockpot with all ingredients except the barley on "low" for 10 hrs. The last hour, I added the barley. Very tasty!

This was good! I gave 4 stars as it lacked a lot of flavor. I added more spices, and it was much better. Will make it again. Thanks

Had my father-in-law say it was the best soup he's ever had. He's 74!

I gave this 4 stars because I tweaked it quite a bit. I used stew meat cut into really small cubes and browned them in oil with garlic and onions. I added 1/4 cup red wine and reduced it. I put the meat into a large pot and added diced carrots and celery, 2 tetrapacks of beef broth, 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1/2 tsp thyme, 2 tsp beef buillion (instead of salt) and 3/4 cup pearl barley. I brought it to a boil and covered the pot and simmered for 1 hour. I then added 1/4 cup flour (shaken in 1/2 cup cold water to eliminate lumps) and added it to the soup to thicken it just a bit. I was DELICIOUS and my 3 kids had 2 helpings each!

I love the barley in it

This was great!

Great, hearty soup. Makes a large pot, which is perfect since it's even better the next day!

Awesome recipe! Very good comfort food on a winter day! Only change was added about 1/2 cup or so of lentils, and added a bit of Italian seasoning to taste.