Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup is a hearty, flavorful soup with tender beef and vegetables, plus plump barley. It’s an easy crockpot recipe that’s comfort in a bowl! Watch the video!
This easy Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup recipe is a hearty, flavorful meal that requires little hands-on time. Just sear the beef, dump everything in the slow cooker, and let the slow cooker do all of the work. This comfort meal is sure to take the chill out of your winter-weary bones. And the leftovers are fantastic too!
Why We ❤️ This Beef and Barley Soup Recipe
- Perfectly cozy. This is one of my family’s favorite recipes for those cold days of winter. It warms us up from the inside out!
- Robust, savory flavor. Beef broth, tomato paste, red wine, and Dijon mustard all help infuse every bite of this soup with incredible flavor.
- Stores well. This soup keeps really well in both the fridge and freezer – and the leftovers taste even better!
“Made this last night, thought I would have leftovers for today, my family had multiple bowls and finished the stew!!! My husband said it was the best I ever made, so thank you!”
Lynn
Looking for more cozy and comforting soup recipes? Check out my Irish beef stew, booyah soup, and lasagna soup as well!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This stew gathers its rich flavor from a variety of fresh + pantry ingredients. If you enjoy comfort food, this recipe is a real treat. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for exact measurements.
- Olive oil – Used for sautéing.
- Boneless beef chuck roast – This inexpensive, flavorful cut cooks up super tender in a slow cooker!
- Salt & pepper
- Fresh veggies: mushrooms, carrots, garlic, yellow potatoes, and yellow onion
- Beef broth – I always use a low sodium variety, so I can control the salt.
- Dry red wine – The red wine adds depth to the recipe as a whole, when everything is left to slow cook for hours. And I promise, you won’t be able to detect any kind of wine flavor once the stew is finished cooking. You CAN omit it if needed, but I highly recommend including it!
- Tomato paste – I love what a little bit of tomato paste does for this recipe!
- Dijon mustard – Another ingredient that packs a ton of flavor.
- Dried thyme
- Pearl barley – Also called “pearled barley”, usually found by the rice and grains at the grocery store.
- Bay leaf
- Fresh parsley – For a sprinkling of fresh green flavor when serving.
What Kind of Barley to Use for Soup?
For this beef barley soup recipe, look for “pearl barley” or “pearled barley”. It’s similar in size and texture to brown rice. It has a chewy texture and takes about an hour or so to fully cook.
My recipe instructs you to add it after browning the beef, which will give you a very soft barley because it cooks for 6 hours. If you prefer a firmer, chewier bite to the barley, then add the barley to the slow cooker 1 to 2 hours before the stew is done.
If you want to use quick barley, which only takes about 15 minutes to fully cook (because it has been pre-steamed), then add it to the slow cooker 15 to 30 minutes before the stew is done.
How to Make Beef Barley Soup
This is such an easy beef and barley soup recipe. After browning the beef, all you do is stir in the remaining ingredients, put on the cover, and let the slow cooker do the rest of the work! Scroll down to the recipe card for more detailed instructions.
- Brown the beef: Brown the beef in the, either in olive oil on the stovetop or in the slow cooker if you have that option. the stovetop to brown, and then transfer the browned beef to the slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients: Then add everything else (except the fresh parsley – that’s for sprinkling over individual bowls when serving) and stir well to incorporate.
- Cook: Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Then turn heat to low and cook for 2 hours more, or until beef is absolutely fork tender.
Here are more slow cooker recipes for you!
Tips for the Best Beef Barley Stew
- Use a flavorful cut of beef. An inexpensive cut is best – beef chuck is my preference. It’s full of flavor and the slow cooker will magically transform this otherwise tough cut of meat into irresistible, fork-tender bites of beefy heaven. If you can’t find chuck, top round would be my second choice. Just know that the overall flavor and texture will not be as good as chuck.
- Get a good sear on the beef. This creates enormous flavor. Also be sure to give each piece of beef enough room to get truly browned. If you pile all the beef pieces on top of each other, they’ll just steam instead of brown.
- Cut the veggies somewhat thick. They cook for a long time in the slow cooker. So if you cut them small, they’ll end up mushy. If you prefer smaller pieces of veggies, I would suggest adding them a bit later in the process.
- Don’t skimp on the cook time. The slow cooking process produces a stew with fabulously tender chunks of beef. Don’t cut the cook time short if the beef isn’t absolutely tender.
- But don’t overcook it, either! Yes, it is possible to overcook a beef stew. When it comes to soups and stews, there’s nothing I dislike more than when vegetables are cooked to a mushy mess.
Serving Suggestions
This hearty stew just begs to be sopped up by some warm, crusty bread. Or how about steaming hot popovers? Try my traditional Popovers recipe – or if you have sourdough starter or discard, these heartier Sourdough Popovers are AMAZING!
A fresh side salad would also be good. Dress simple fresh greens with my Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing – our family loves it!
I might also suggest, as my photo depicts, a glass of dry, robust red wine for sipping. So very lovely.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Beef stew recipes always make great leftovers!
- Fridge. This beef and barley soup recipe will keep very well for a few days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Freezer. Beef barley stew freezes perfectly! Use either larger freezer-safe containers or smaller single-serving freezer containers, and then thaw them in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Reheat. Simply reheat single or multiple servings in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop.
More Slow Cooker Soup Recipes
- Slow Cooker Beef and Sweet Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker Chili
- Crockpot Italian Beef Stew
- Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash
- Lasagna Soup (with slow cooker instructions)
Slow Cooker Beef Barley Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast cut into 1″ cubes
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces mushrooms cut into thin slices
- 8 large carrots peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2″ pieces
- 6 large cloves garlic minced
- 4 medium-large yellow potatoes peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 6 cup low sodium beef broth
- 1 cup dry red wine
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¾ cup pearl barley
- 1 bay leaf
- chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Sprinkle beef fairly generously with kosher salt and pepper. If you own a slow cooker with a meat browning function, add the oil to the slow cooker and then brown the beef right in the slow cooker, searing beef on all sides. Otherwise use a large skillet over medium-high heat to heat the oil and then brown the beef. Drain off fat. If using a skillet, transfer beef to slow cooker. You will need a large slow cooker for this recipe, as it makes a big quantity (ours is a 7-qt. size).
- Add mushrooms, carrots, garlic, potatoes, onion, beef broth, wine, tomato paste, mustard, and thyme, and stir well to incorporate. Then stir in barley and add the bay leaf. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Then turn heat to low and cook for 2 hours more, or until beef is tender.
- Serve hot, with fresh parsley sprinkled over the top. A good, crusty bread for dipping is always welcome.
Video
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in 2015. Photographs and some of the text were updated in 2018 and 2021.
Perfect winter warm-up dinner recipe!
I love beef and barley soup so I had to try this stew recipe! It was SO good! Thank you!
Made this for the first time tonight, (after deciding on it last week) my husband invited his mother, his sister and his cousin for dinner … I was slightly scared as I’d never made this before. I didn’t need to worry, it was a massive hit! Seconds were had and left overs for dinner tomorrow night!
Absolutely delicious! Thank you!
YAAAYYYY!!! I love to hear this. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment. I hope you enjoy many more meals of this stew!
Had left overs tonight (froze it for a week) om nom nom!
I adore stew and this looks marvelous! So glad fall is almost here!!
Total comfort with this recipe. Thanks Liz!
Could this look any more delicious?!
Ohhhh, thank you so much!
I made a mistake and added to much beef it didn’t fit in the slow cooker so I put it in a large pot and have it on low , my worry is will it all over cook the veggies and the meat . Do you have a suggestion for me ?
I love slow cooker recipe! Preparing in the morning and everything will be ready for dinner. Thank you for sharing! Gonna try it!
Made this last week and hubby said it was the best thing tasting dish he’s ever had!! Thank you!!!
(I did make it in a regular pot on the stove and did saute all the veggies; worked out perfectly!)
Holy cats! This was soooo good! Made it tonight, thank you so much.
Yay!! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Hi Brenda, I’ve been a fan for several years now, however this is the first recipe of yours that I’ve tried. It’s simmering in my crockpot right now and smells absolutely amazing! Although our temps aren’t “wintery” (high 60’s) during the day compared to Minnesota, I’m bundled up in a fleece jacket, scarf and my favorite warm socks. Looking forward to serving this to my husband and son tonight!
I am SO GLAD to hear this!! Thank you, Marina!
Making this today!! Question: Is there anything different I need to do if making it in a regular pot (not a slowcooker)? Like do I need to sauté the veggies before putting them in the pot? TIA!
Have you thought about adapting this for the instant pot?