Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup (Classic Made So Easy!)
🥕🥔 Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup with potatoes, carrots, chewy barley, and big pieces of juicy beef in every bite for a cozy and comforting EASY meal! Pop everything in your slow cooker and let it work its magic. This soup is filling and will keep you satisfied for hours especially when served with some crusty bread to soak up the rich and savory broth!
Easy Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup Recipe
- Beef and barley soup is a classic soup that’s rich, hearty, and packed with tender beef chunks, nutty barley, and a medley of vegetables. Everything simmers in a rich broth that’s layered with flavors.
- The best part is that your slow cooker does the heavy lifting for you, and allows the flavors to really develop over a prolonged cooking period.
- Pearled barley adds a wonderful chewiness that soaks up the savory broth and if you’ve never cooked with it, you’re in a for a nice hearty treat. It’s a grain that doesn’t seem very common anymore (my mom and grandma used to cook with it) so I love using it for a nostalgic feel.
- I love that this is a high protein meal-in-a-bowl with 30 grams of protein per serving. Beef, veggies, grain. ✅
- I have a great ebook combo with my 40 Easy Soups + 30 High Protein Recipes!
Ingredients in Crockpot Beef and Barley Soup
- Beef: I use diced beef chuck roast but you can also use stew meat, bottom round roast, or top round roast.
- Vegetables: White onion or yellow onion, carrots, celery, baby bella mushrooms (if you’re not a fan, simply omit), yellow gold or Yukon gold potatoes (red potatoes are fine, I don’t recommend Russet since they’ll disintegrate more during cooking), and garlic add flavor and bulk up the soup.
- Seasonings and Spices: Salt, pepper, dried thyme, paprika or smoked paprika, bay leaves, and fresh parsley for garnshing.
- Liquids: Tomato paste, reduced sodium beef broth (or regular beef broth), and balsamic vinegar create a rich broth that the soup simmers in.
- Barley: I use pearled barley or sometimes it’s called whole barley or Italian barley. Barley is a nutty, chewy, ancient grain that takes its time to cook through, similar to farro, which is a good sub for barley. You can also experiment with brown rice since it’s heartier than white rice, chewier, and likes time + plenty of liquid to fully cook through. Other grains like quinoa or couscous aren’t great options because they’ll turn to mush during the prolonged cooking time.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make the Best Beef and Barley Soup in a Slow Cooker
- To a large skillet, add the beef and sear with a bit of olive oil over medium-high until the edges are browned. Transfer the beef to the insert of a large slow cooker.
- Using the same skillet, add the onions, carrots, celery mushrooms, seasonings, and saute for about 5 minutes or until veggies begin to soften.
- Add the garlic, tomato paste, and stir to combine and cook for a minute before adding the beef broth and balsamic vinegar.
- Add the potatoes, barley, place the lid on top, and slow cook for about 4-5 hours on high OR about 7-8 hours on low, or until barley and potatoes are tender.
- Taste, make any desired flavor tweaks, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve with homemade sourdough, buttery no-knead dinner rolls, potato rolls, or as desired.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as desired
- 1 ½ pounds beef chuck roast, diced into 1-inch cubes (top round roast, bottom round roast, or stew meat may be substituted)
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 medium white onion, or yellow onion, diced small
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced small
- 2 celery ribs, diced small
- 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced (sliced white mushrooms may be substituted; or simply omit them if you don’t like mushrooms)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, regular paprika may be substitued
- 2- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 5 cups beef broth, (I use regular but reduced sodium may be substituted, noting that you’ll likely want to add salt at the end)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 2 cups baby golden or yellow potatoes, halved or diced into 1-inch pieces (baby red potatoes or other waxy potatoes may be substituted; Russet potatoes or other starchy potatoes not recommended because they’ll disintegrate during the long cooking process)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons freshly minced parsley, optional for garnishing
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To a large skillet, add the oil, beef, evenly season with salt, pepper, and heat over medium-high heat to sear the beef, flipping and turning it every minute or so until the sides are just seared (not fully cooked through), about 5 minutes. Place the seared beef into the insert of a large slow cooker; set aside momentarily.Tip – I recommend searing the beef and not skipping this step because the beef will have more flavor and be more tender and juicy.
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To the same skillet (don’t wipe it out), add the onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, evenly sprinkle with the thyme and paprika, add more oil if necessary, and saute for about 5 minutes, or until veggies are becoming soft. Stir and toss frequently.
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Add the garlic, tomato paste, stir into the veggies, and cook for about 1 minute.
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Transfer the veggie mixture to the slow cooker with the seared beef.
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To the slow cooker, add the broth, balsamic, barley, potatoes, bay leaves, stir to combine, cover, and cook on HIGH for about 4-5 hours OR on LOW for about 7-8 hours, or until the potatoes and beef are soft and tender, and the barley is cooked through (it’ll be chewy but not hard). Stir a couple times during the slow cooking process.
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Cooking Tips – Since all slow cookers vary in their heat output, cooking time will vary. I recommend checking about an hour before the cooking times listed since they’re just estimates because slow cookers do vary so much. If you do cook on low rather than high, you may need to add additional broth or water since liquid will evaporate. At any time during the cooking process on either high or low heat setting, if you think the soup needs more liquid to avoid it from become more like a stew (and so that it stays more soupy), add additional broth/water as desired. Some barley will absorb more liquid that others will, just add more liquid.
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After the soup is done cooking, remove the bay leaves, taste the soup, and as necessary, make any additional flavor adjustments. Flavor Tips – I can almost guarantee that you’re going to need to add salt, at least 1 teaspoon, but it’ll depend on how salty the broth you used was, your overall preference for salt, and how much liquid you had to add or not add. If it tastes at all flat or boring, it likely needs salt, so don’t be shy. I personally like to add additional black pepper, but it’s personal preference. Because there are multiple acidic ingredients (veggies, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar), you may want to add a pinch of sugar – similar to when you’re cooking a tomato sauce and adding a pinch of sugar balances the overall flavor profile.
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Optionally garnish withe fresh parsley, ladle into bowls and serve with homemade sourdough, buttery no-knead dinner rolls, potato rolls, or as desired.
Storage: Extra soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. Reheat gently in the microwave as desired. Barley has a tendency to absorb liquid as it sits so if leftover soup looks a little low on broth, it’s just been absorbed into the barley grains. You can add additional beef broth, to taste, if desired for a more brothy soup.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 452cal, Carbohydrates: 48g, Protein: 30g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 78mg, Sodium: 1298mg, Potassium: 1173mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 5381IU, Vitamin C: 21mg, Calcium: 81mg, Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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