An easy and delicious dump-and-go crock pot beef barley soup recipe with tender stew meat, beef broth, vegetables, and plump barley. Use any size slow cooker, from mini crock pots to full-size.
The perfect cold-weather comfort food even beginners can make.
🥣Ingredients
Beef—well-trimmed chuck roast or stew meat
Barley—either pearl or husked barley, but not quick bar
Aromatics—garlic and onion
Vegetables—celery, carrots, and potatoes
Pantry ingredients—vegetable oil, tomato paste, beef broth, salt, and black pepper
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Featured Comment from Josephine:
"I have made this numerous times since I found the recipe in 2019. It is an all-time favorite for every occasion."
This beef barley soup recipe keeps it simple for beginners with stew meat, simple tomatoey beef broth, a few spices, chopped vegetables, and barley.
It requires no attention; no add this or shred that in the middle—just a few minutes of preparation in the morning for an easy dinner in the evening. But options are provided to make it your own and enhance the flavors.
👨🍳How to Make Beef Barley Soup in a Crock Pot
- Use pre-cut beef stew meat or chuck roast trimmed into 1-inch cubes. Brown if you want in oil to add more flavor.
- While the meat is browning, trim and chop the celery, carrots, and potatoes.
- Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker with some barley and stir well.
- Cook for 8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
This is a summary of the steps and ingredients. See the recipe card or the step-by-step photo instructions below for complete instructions.
✔️Tips to Make it Right Every Time
- Browning the beef will create a Maillard reaction that does add a lot of flavors, so I spent 5 minutes browning and then added the garlic to bloom for a minute or two near the end of browning.
- If you don't use a non-stick pan, you might need to add a little broth after moving the beef to deglaze the pan.
- Pearl barley is the most common form of barley available. Pearl barley has the outer husk, and bran layers have been removed. Pearl barley is softer but lacks a bit of nutrition. Either pearl or husked barley works here.
- Other vegetables may be added. Try some frozen green beans, corn, or peas added in the last hour of cooking.
- Other flavors can be added with basil, bay leaves, oregano, and dry thyme.
Other crock pot soups you may like
Check out other excellent crock pot soup recipes, like Cheeseburger Soup, French Onion Soup, Chicken Vegetable Soup, and Vegetable Beef Soup. This recipe is featured in Our Best Soups and the Smaller Crock Pot Recipe Roundup.
↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
This is an easy recipe to cut in half or double.
The full recipe makes about 7-8 cups, which I call four large servings, and fits in a 3 to 4-quart crock pot. I make this for our "for two" household to have one round of leftovers.
To Adjust the size of the recipe in the recipe card
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot; a double recipe requires a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
How to serve Beef Barley Soup
Serve with a fresh salad and bread of some type, like Cornmeal Biscuits, Old Fashioned Cornbread, or Healthy Biscuits.
How to store leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container. Refrigerate for 4 days or freeze for 3 months.
Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat.
❓Barley FAQs
Use ½ cup of pearl barley. It will seem like that would not be much. It will take up a lot of space, about the maximum you want.
Most recipes add the barley at the beginning of cooking. But if you want firmer barley, add it halfway through cooking.
Yes—a quick rinse under running water before cooking will wash away any dust or debris from the milling process.
You may and can add it at the end, but if the barley is cooked in the soup, it thickens and adds more taste. If you want to cook ahead, boil in water for 20-30 minutes.
Hulled barley has had the outer indigestible husk removed but otherwise is unprocessed—it is considered a whole grain.
Pearl barley has had the bran layer removed also. It is not whole grain and is less nutritious. It will appear shinier since it is polished. This is the most common type of barley.
Instant or quick barley has been partly cooked and then dried. Very much like minute rice. It cooks in 10 to 15 minutes and should not be used in this recipe.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Note: The pictures are for a "double" recipe. The recipe card and the discussion are a single recipe.
Use a chuck roast or stew meat.
If using chuck roast, trim and cut about 1 pound into bite-size pieces. Store-bought stew meat will be fine, also.
Optional browning: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef to brown for about 5 minutes. Add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic for the last minute of browning.
Dice 2 ribs of celery, 1 medium potato, 1 ½ carrots, and 1 medium onion. Add to a 3 to 4-quart or larger crock pot.
Add 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ½ cup uncooked rinsed barley. Finally, add 4-5 cups of low-sodium beef broth.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Beef Barley Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 pound chuck roast or stew meat - cubed or use stew meat
- 1-2 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 rib celery
- 2 carrots - medium
- 1 onion - medium
- 1 potato - medium
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt - to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup uncooked barley - rinsed
- 4-5 cups beef broth - low sodium
Instructions
- Start with about 1 pound of chuck roast. Trim and cut into bite-size pieces. Store-bought stew meat will be fine also.
- Optional browning: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef to brown for about 5 minutes. Add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic for the last minute of browning.
- Dice 2 ribs of celery, 1 medium potato, 1 ½ carrots, and one medium onion. Add to a 3 ½ quart or larger crock pot.
- Add 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ½ cup uncooked rinsed barley. Finally, add 4-5 cups beef broth.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- The pictures are double the written instructions.
- You can skip the whole skillet and browning part, add everything to the crock pot, and still have excellent soup.
- The barley was a little heavy. You can decrease by 25% if you want.
- Either pearl or barley with husk may be used.
- Rinse the barley under running water before cooking to remove dust or debris.
- Add a can of diced tomatoes, but use 4 cups of broth.
- A cup of frozen green beans may also be added during the last hour of cooking.
- If you like your barley firmer, add it halfway through cooking and not at the beginning.
- As written, this will fit into a smaller 3 ½ quart crock pot. Use a 6-8 qt crock pot if doubling. A half recipe will work in a 2-quart mini crock pot.
- It is good in the refrigerator for 4 days but will freeze well for 3 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published December 3, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Kasia says
Fabulous. We make this all the time. I was in love with the Beef Barley soup that was a staple in the college cafeteria! I think this might be close, but much better. I am a lover of barley. We add mushrooms sometimes. Love, love, love.
Charlene says
Love Love Love this soup - directions were easy to follow and the soup easy to make! Thank you for all the time you put into this blog - I love your recipes!
JoJo Beans says
I doubled it because we freeze portions for lunches. I started late, can I cook it on high for an hour then put it on low for 5 or 6?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi JoJo,
Welcome to the blog.
That will work probably. What high does on a crock pot is to get to a near boiling temperature faster than low. So an hour on high might cut as much as 3 hours off the cooking time. Determine the end point by the potatoes and carrots being tender.
Dan
Candice says
Prepared as is and it was perfect. Wouldn’t change a single thing. Will definitely be making this a regular dish in our home.
Joy Roma says
BEST. SOUP. EVER. Though I did make a few small changes. The price of chuck was ridiculous, so I used top round instead. I also dredged the meat in flour because I like a little thicker soup, and I eliminated the celery since I didn't have any. I also used equal amounts of bold beef broth and regular. The soup was perfect!
DrDan says
Hi Joy,
Glad that round work well for you.
Dan
Joy Roma says
Can I use Round? Chuck was way too expensive.
DrDan says
Hi Joy,
Welcome to the blog.
I would not use round. It is way too lean to be tender here. You will likely end up with chunks of tough beef. Stew meat should work and is usually cheaper here. Or next week chuck roast will be on sale.
Dan
Joy Roma says
The round came out perfect. Not tough at all. 😉
Toni says
So so good! Everyone loved it! Definitely added to my favorites!
Barbara says
If you want rice or pasta I suggest you cook it in the broth ahead of time, drain the extra broth into the pot,coat the pasta or rice with a small amount of oil to stop it from sticking together. Refrigerate until the soup has about 30 minutes left to cook,heat the rice/pasta in the microwave a minute or two and then add to the soup. That way it does not over cook but still has the flavour of the beef soup. Just remember pasta does not freeze well and you might need to thicken it a little more.
DrDan says
Hi Barbara,
Welcome to the blog.
Thanks so much for the suggestions, I'm sure they will be useful.
Dan
RossC says
The weather is crying out for this soup...
I haven't enjoyed a barley soup in a while... Time to do so...
Rosina Morrone-Reeves says
The photo's of your Beef Barley Soup look wonderful. It is in the photo's that I see you are adding the Beef Broth. The Beef Broth ingredient is missing from your written recipe or am i missing it?
DrDan says
You're right and fixed. I had it in the discussion/instructions but not in the list.
Chris says
This weather has had me in a stew mood lately. We've done it twice in the past week and I could still go for a bowl of yours.
Cheryl Cuddy says
Finally I found a PURE Beef Barley recipe. I don't like chuck roast so I will use something like sirloin..
sam brown says
This is my all time favorite soup!! So glad to see it without green beans ... many thanks to your wife!
DrDan says
My wife laughed and said you're welcome.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Lara says
This looks SO good! I think I have all ingredients on hand to make tomorrow. For the non-barley lover, rice would probably work just as well?
DrDan says
Perhaps the rice. I would need to test. Something like a long grain wild rice which holds up better. The less processed the better I think for the crock pot. My fear with the rice is that it would just become a big pot of rice with some beef. Also once rice overcooks, it is bad.
I think of rice as not very forgiving since it took me awhile to get it right. Crock pots are quite variable so I try to use forgiving ingredients like beans, meat, carrots etc.... OK I will stop rambling.
DrDan says
It is based on the barley with it taking up a lot of the "space." The only thing the comes to mind is green beans or something, but proportions would be off...
I like my vegetable beef soup https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/crock-pot-vegetable-beef-soup/ . The meat and beans take up the "space." You will see the about same amount of meat makes less soup. Maybe add a medium potato and some garlic, and you would almost be there.
It is just soup, so almost anything you do to it will be OK.
Dan
Leslie says
I also love simple soups, recipe sounds good and plan to make this week. However, we don't like barley, do you have any suggestions for a substitute? Thank you, leslie (made crock pot candy, loved by everyone!)
Marie says
I'm a little late to the party, but any short cut pasta such as ditalini or macaroni would make a nice swap out for the barley.