Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup
A hearty slow cooker beef barley soup will stick to your bones and keep you full all winter long. It’s packed full of vegetables, barley and beef.
It’s been raining for two straight days here. This does not make me happy. I have always wanted to be one of those people who don’t mind the rain, but sadly, I am not. I now know I could never hack living in Washington. I would probably shrivel up and die. I need sunlight. It’s only December 7th and I already miss the sunlight of summer. Blerg.
So, what’s better than soup for when you are feeling down? Nothing, in my opinion. Especially when it’s a thick and hearty stick to your bones type of soup. Luckily this slow cooker beef barley soup is just that!
Plus side, it’s also made in the slow cooker. So when you’re in a sloth like state, because it’s grey and rainy, you only need to exert a small amount of energy to throw everything in the cooker. Then it’s back to being lazy! It’s the best.
Enjoy!!!
Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup
A hearty slow cooker beef barley soup will stick to your bones and keep you full all winter long. It's packed full of vegetables, barley and beef.
Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 10 hours
Ingredients:
- 2-1/2 pound chuck roast, cut into bite size pieces*
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 6 carrots, chopped
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 48 ounces beef stock, more if needed
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves pulled off stem
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
Source: Adapted from Framed Cooks
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a large 6 quart slow cooker, give a quick stir and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Every few hours I like to give mine a stir and check the liquid level. If it looks as though there is not enough liquid you can add more stock or water.
* I like to freeze my roast for about 20 minutes before cubing. It makes cutting the meat a bit easier.
I do not enjoy beef….except in beef soup! SO good! This looks amazing. Thick and delicious
The rain is seriously getting to me also. If I don’t get sunlight…I start melting. True story.
Yum to the soup!
I’m all about soup right now!! Gonna try this asap 🙂 thank you for the idea
This sounds so warm and comforting. I hate the rain and winter too! Good thing I moved to the desert… but even here it’s getting cold at night and is dark super early so I’m totally craving this kind of soup!
This looks excellent! Could go for a big bowl of it right now! I’m pinning and stumbling this guy!
This definitely looks perfect for the dreary weather we’ve been having! Barley in soups is fantastic and so healthy too!
I was in when I saw your first picture, but I was reaaally in when I it was created in the slow cooker. It makes life so much easier 🙂
Yum! I am all for dinner that I can throw into the slow cooker these days… This one looks phenomenal!
This looks awesome! I could totally eat a bowl of this right now. What would you think of putting the whole roast in the crockpot with the other ingredients, then once it was done, just shredding the meat into the soup. Would that work? Change the outcome at all? It seems easier than cutting up the raw meat, but your soup looks so good I don’t want to change it too much 🙂
I made this recipe and it was delicious! Great recipe! So easy! I’ll be making this again!
HIGH for 8-10 hours? Not Low?
nutmegnanny replied: — January 6th, 2014 @ 9:17 pm
Hi Laura! Sorry about that! When I re-typed the recipe I must have made that mistake. I changed the directions 🙂
No apologies needed! Glad I checked. Making this today – looks great and is one of the only soups my husband will eat.
Can i substitute dried thyme instead of fresh?? And if so,
How much will i need??
Thank you!!
nutmegnanny replied: — February 3rd, 2014 @ 10:33 am
Hi Tiffany! Dried thyme will work just fine. I would add 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme in place of the fresh. If you’re not a fan of thyme you could always drop it down to 1/4 teaspoon. Hope this helps!
I made this today and it turned out great! I didn’t have enough beef stock so I had to sub chicken stock for some of the liquid, I wound up using 32oz beef and 24oz chicken and it was delicious and a perfect consistency. I also added a sprig of fresh rosemary. I will try it again using all beef stock, but either way it was great!
I could only find Qucker’s “Quick” pearled barley in my grocery store, does the fact that it is Quick cooking barley make any difference to this recipe in the slow cooker?
nutmegnanny replied: — January 11th, 2017 @ 9:28 pm
Hi Stephen! I apologize for taking so long to get back to you. I have never used quick barley but I’m assuming it cooks much faster than normal pearled barley. I worry it could cook up too fast and turn mushy. If you give it a try and it works out let me know!