Healthy Beef Barley Soup Recipe is a delicious, cozy dinner. Made with only a few ingredients in your instant pot, crockpot or stove top. This easy soup is a healthier version of an old fashioned recipe – truly the best beef barley soup!
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Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
This Healthy Beef Barley Soup recipe is one that you’ll want to make over and over again! Packed with protein, whole grains, and flavor – it’s simple to make and so delicious!
The hearty barley and tender pieces of beef combined with nutrient dense broth and veggies is a match made in heaven! This soup can be made quickly in your instant pot, on the stove, or in your crockpot/slow cooker!
Soup is one of my favorite things to eat during the winter months. From Minestrone to Potato Soup – I love ALL kinds. Not only is it cozy and delicious, but it’s also nourishing for your body. When I make soups I load them up with protein, veggies, and the best broth/whole grains I can find!
Healthy Beef Barley Soup is easier to make than you think! You only need a few ingredients, many of which you probably already have in your pantry/fridge! Here’s what you need to make it…
Beef and Barley Soup Instant Pot Ingredients
To make this healthy beef barley soup you’ll need:
- stew meat (we get ours from ButcherBox check out our ButcherBox prices Review here!)
- olive oil
- salt, pepper, garlic powder
- fresh rosemary
- bay leaves
- beef broth
- pearl barley
- veggies
- tomato paste
- A parmesan cheese rind is optional, but adds flavor!
You’ll also need an instant pot or crockpot. (Or you can make it on the stove) A food processor will also help you with chopping the onions and celery finely.
How to make Vegetable Beef Barley Soup
You can make this beef barley soup in your instant pot, crock pot, or on your stovetop. There are instructions for all of them below.
How to make Healthy Beef Barley Soup on the stove top:
- Brown your meat in a pan per the directions in step one, and add in your veggies to sauté.
- Once veggies are soft, add in your remaining ingredients and bring the soup to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until barley is fully cooked.
How to make Healthy Beef Barley Soup in the Crockpot:
- To make healthy beef barley soup in the slow cooker/crockpot, brown your meat in a pan per the directions in step one.
- Add browned meat and remaining ingredients into the slow cooker.
- Stir until combined and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
How to make Healthy Beef Barley Soup in the instant pot:
- To make healthy beef barley soup in the instant pot– turn instant pot on sauté setting.
- Heat olive oil. Sauté stew meat until slightly brown, approximately 10 minutes.
- When meat is browned, add spices, veggies, broth + barley to the pot (all uncooked). Stir to combine. Set pot to sealing, pressure cook for 10 minutes. Allow the pot to natural release for 15 minutes.
- After it’s done, quick release the remaining pressure. Remove bay leaves + parmesan cheese rind. Stir + enjoy!
Best Beef for Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup
I used beef stew meat in this recipe that I cut up into tiny pieces. (It’s key for it being tender!) I’ve also made this recipe with chuck roast, london broil, and steak tips that I cut up.
You don’t need to use a very expensive cut of meat for this soup, because once the meat is cooked it will get super tender and fall apart!
You can also use leftover roast or meat in this soup. Leftover cooked steak, roast, or even cooked ground beef will work in this recipe. Here’s the Pot Roast recipe we love.
Beef Barley Soup Serving Suggestions
This soup is a complete meal in itself but it’s delicious served with:
- crackers or bread
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Garlic
- Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad
Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup FAQ
You don’t have to cook barley before putting it in soup. You can cook barley directly in soup or cook it separately and add to soup.
Yes, you can overcook barley in soup. Don’t boil it for more than an hour or it can become very soft and slightly overcooked.
No, you don’t need to soak the barley before putting it in soup. You can cook it directly from dry.
Yes, barley soup is healthy for you! It’s packed with fiber, protein and veggies!
There are about 150 calories in 1 cup of homemade beef barley vegetable soup.
Easy Beef Barley Soup Storage
This beef barley soup will last for 5 days in the refrigerator.
Freezing this soup: You can freeze this soup for up to 3 months. I love Souper Cubes for freezing soup. Code CLEANEATINGCOUPLE works to save $$!
Defrost the soup by taking it out of the refrigerator 24 hours before serving, or by heating in a microwave. We have a whole post on the best way to freeze soup!
Reheating this soup: You can reheat this soup in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot) Substitutions and Variations
There are a lot of substitutions for this healthy beef barley soup. Feel free to customize it.
Meat: You can use chicken breasts in this recipe. Add them whole regardless of your method of cooking. Once the soup is cooked, shred chicken + return back to the soup.
Oil: You can use avocado oil or coconut oil in this recipe.
Stock/Broth: You can use chicken stock/broth or veggie broth in this recipe and it will work fine.
Vegan/Vegetarian: You can omit meat and use a vegetable broth to make this vegan/vegetarian. I would add double the vegetables.
Fresh Rosemary: If you don’t have fresh rosemary, use 1/2 the amount of dried rosemary.
Low Carb: You can try omitting barley from this soup and instead adding raw cauliflower rice in before serving. I haven’t tried this.
Gluten Free: Barley is not gluten free. If you’d like to make this gluten free it may work with rice or quinoa. I’d reduce your cooking time by 4-5 minutes. I have not tried this so I can’t guarantee if it will work.
Other healthy soup recipes:
We love soup SO much that we actually have a free healthy soup ebook! We also have a post filled with the best Healthy Soup Recipes!
Looking for other healthy crockpot recipes? Check out these Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes!
Easy Beef Barley Soup Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef stew meat cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 cups carrots sliced in small pieces
- 1 cup celery finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 quarts beef broth
- 1 cup pearl barley uncooked
- 1 parmesan cheese rind (optional)
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Turn instant pot on sauté setting. Heat olive oil. Sauté stew meat until slightly brown, approximately 10 minutes
- When meat is browned, add spices, veggies, tomato paste, broth, barley and parmesan cheese rind to the pot (all uncooked). Stir to combine
- Set pot to sealing, pressure cook for 10 minutes. Allow the pot to natural release for 15 minutes. After it's done, quick release remaining pressure.
- Remove bay leaves + parmesan cheese rind. Stir + enjoy!
Crockpot Instructions
- Optional, but recommended: In a pot, heat olive oil. Sauté meat until slightly brown, approximately 10 minutes.
- Add browned meat and all remaining ingredients into the slow cooker. Stir until combined and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours.
- Remove bay leaves + parmesan cheese rind. Stir + enjoy!
Stovetop Instructions
- In a pot, heat olive oil. Sauté meat until slightly brown, approximately 10 minutes.
- When meat is browned, add veggies and sauté for an additional 5 minutes
- Add spices, tomato paste, broth, barley and parmesan cheese rind to the pot (all uncooked). Stir to combine.
- Turn the pot on high and bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook on medium heat for 20-25 minutes until.
- Remove bay leaves + parmesan cheese rind. Stir + enjoy!
Joanie says
This soup is so yummy. It was chilly last night and I was wanting something easy – this was perfect.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you like it, Joanie! It’s one of my favs during the fall/winter!
Sophie says
The whole family loved it! Great simple flavors. Keep up the amazing cooking!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy to hear this, Sophie! Thank you!
Leslie J Brunson says
Beef Barley is one of my favorite soups..I use 2 beef shanks for the soup. I f tey are small I will add some stew beef..
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks, Leslie!! Hope you try this recipe – it’s delicious!
Patricia says
I love love love your recipes! I get your emails and pretty much make everything you post!! Thank you!!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Patricia! That makes me so happy to hear!
Marie says
The soup was amazing!! Thanks for posting
The Clean Eating Couple says
Glad you liked it, Marie! It’s one of our favorites too!
Diane Selzam says
I made this last Sunday and it was delicious! I left out the bay leaves (husband hates them) This soup will be on repeat for me! Easy to make, clean ingredients and reheats well!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Diane! Thanks for leaving a review!
Vicky O says
We made this in the crockpot and it came out so incredibly flavorful! We didn’t have a Parmesan cheese rind but we did have grated Parmesan, so I sprinkled some on the top just before eating and it was so good! We’ll definitely make this one again.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it Vicky! Love the addition of the parm on top!
Katy says
I made this in the crock pot, and my family of four really enjoyed it. I used the parmesan cheese rind and the fresh rosemary, and they both really add to the flavor. Beef chuck happened to be on sale at our local Whole Foods, so this was economical and healthy. This goes great with crusty baguette. We have plenty of leftovers for lunches. Thank you for the recipe, and congratulations on your wedding.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much, Katy 🙂
Elissa Carrick says
This soup was amazing! The flavor is so good. It is a super hearty meal and perfect for the cold winter months.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Elissa! Thank you so much!
Cebi says
So glad you included the chicken substitution idea!! I just used your amazing tip for shredding chicken in the mixer and now I know what to make with it! Also I made sauce on Sunday and have to tomato paste in my fridge and now I will use the frozen tomato paste idea !!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hope you love it, Cebi! Thanks!!
Stacie Switek says
I made this soup last week and received rave reviews (also nobody believed how healthy it was because it tastes so great). My SO is particularly picky and it’s his new favorite – that’s saying something. This will be on repeat for the foreseeable future. Thank you for sharing it.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Stacie! Thank you so much!
Rose says
Excellent!!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you!
David O. says
Hi
We’re trying the instant pot version of your soup tonight and I was going to include the parmesan rind but the only mention of it is when one removes it along with the bay leaves.
I’m assuming that it goes in with the rest of the ingredients before pressure cooking.
Since we’ve not put it in the cooking process I’m going to add it to the pot after I’ve released pressure and see what happens.
As of this post it’s still cooking
The Clean Eating Couple says
The parmesan cheese rind gets added before you cook and you remove it like you would a bay leaf. Hope you liked the soup!
Marie Mentzer says
Great recipe!
So many others call for frozen vegetables.
Never!
I do like to add a portion of Rotel to give it a bit of a kick.
Even better the 2nd day.
Karen says
The sodium is really high.
The Clean Eating Couple says
221 mg for 1.5 cups isn’t really high. Use salt free broth, omit the salt in the recipe, and look for salt free tomatoes if you’re watching your sodium Intake
Lynne says
Delicious, warm cozy and so satisfying!! Will make this again ( and again)!!
Chris says
I made this soup tonight. It is fantastic and I will make it again.
Noelle says
I forgot to add in the tomato paste and it was still delicious. My husband whom doesn’t normally like soup said it was delicious and that I should make it again. Thanks!