Beef and Mushroom Barley Soup

I am kind of obsessed lately with coming up with soup recipes.  Barley has been my ingredient of choice.  I have made a Beef Barley Soup and a Mushroom Barley Soup, so this one combines both!  Easy to make and using inexpensive ingredients, this soup is easy, delicious and affordable. The recipe can be made in the slow cooker by adding it all to the cooker and cooking for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

2 cups water, boiling
1 cup pearl barley
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1.25 lbs. stew meat, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups beef stock, homemade preferred
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp dried thyme


Here's how:

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.  Add the barley and let it sit while you prepare the rest.

Pearl Barley

Soaking barley

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, add olive oil and heat until hot.

Add the meat and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Meat Browning

 Add the mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes.

Mushrooms added to the meat

Add the onion and saute for 1 minute.

Onions added

Add the carrots and celery and saute for 3 minutes.

Veggies in

Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.

Add 1 cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to get up all the brown bits off.

Add the remaining broth in and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 25 minutes.

Pot is ready to go

Strain the barley and add it to the soup.

Barley added

Simmer 30-40 minutes until the barley is soft and plump.

Looks good enough to eat

Remove the bay leaf.


Serve and enjoy.