Traditional Beef and Barley Soup Recipe

Warm-up during those cold winter months with this delicious and easy to make traditional beef and barley soup recipe.

Beef and barley is a fantastic hearty soup jam-packed with meat, root veggies, and barley. It is a derivative of scotch broth which is classically made with lamb, and in some cases is all vegetarian, instead of beef. Beef and barley have been around since the 18th century and essentially was created based on the availability of the product, like many recipes that come from that era.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 8 ounces roughly chopped bacon
• 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, optional
• 2 peeled small diced yellow onions
• 3 thinly sliced leeks
• 4 finely minced garlic cloves
• 3 peeled medium diced carrots
• 3 medium diced celery stalks
• 1 peeled medium diced parsnip
• 1 peeled medium diced turnip
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 cups beef stock
• 2 cups pearl barley
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Serves 12

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Procedures:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add in the bacon and cook until crisp and brown, about 8-10 minutes.
2. Remove the bacon lardons and set aside and add the cubed beef into the pot and turn the heat up slightly to medium-high and cook until the beef is browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
3. Take the beef out and set it to the side.
4. If there is not enough rendered bacon or meat fat in the pot then add in the optional olive oil and over low heat caramelize the onions and leeks for 30-35 minutes or until they are well browned. Stir occasionally.
5. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes before adding back in the beef, bacon, carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips, bay leaves, and beef stock and cook over low to medium heat for 60 minutes or until the vegetables and beef are tender.
6. Pour in the barley, give it a stir, and cook for 30-35 minutes over low to medium heat for 30-35 minutes or until the barley is cooked.
7. Finish with herbs, salt, and pepper, and serve.

Chef Notes:

How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount to a small saucepot and cook over low heat until hot. You can also reheat in the microwave until hot.

Washing the barley is optional, I prefer not to.

If the beef stock is not available you can use chicken stock or even water.

You do not have to use fresh herbs at the end, however, if using dry herbs, add them in when you add in the beef stock.

[nathanlambshead]

Thank you for the video. When I find a cook who knows how to layer and caramelize in sections, I know I it is a video worth watching.

[manifestman]

I love a good beef and barley soup. Brings back memories of soup night in college too.

[combusean]

Brilliant commentary for a novice chef like myself. I don't know why I've never considered that beef stew cubes are too large--you're absolutely right that nobody wants to sit there and chew a low quality cut of meat. Great advice for chopping it up that I will carry over to future recipes. I love your delivery and your videos are a joy to watch. Thank you.

[tiffanymarie]

Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I made it today and this is by far the BEST soup I’ve ever made. I ended up adding an additional 4 cups of chicken broth as well as the 12 cups of beef broth since the barley soaked up so much of the liquid. Thank you!

[luminyam]

I just can't say how much my cooking improved when I started giving onions to caramelize well. What a huge and amazing difference. Wonderful video, thank you.

[dc]

Gosh, Chef!!! You're officially one of my favorite chefs! And I don't give compliments to many chefs :)
Keep on doing your great work, Chef Billy!! I love all the tips that you are sharing with us whilst cooking. It's so enriching!!! THANK YOU!!

[lr]

Tip, add a 1/2 cup or so of Cabernet wine, you’ll love it even more! Even some slight tomato sauce. But obviously this recipe itself looks so delicious!

[angelaisland]

This was amazing! I ate my first rutabaga since I couldn't find parsnip. This will be in my soup rotation! Thank you Chef for another amazing recipe!

[melinaottesen]

Just made this tonight. And boy the house smells great! I used quick cooking barley and reduced time to 10 minutes after adding. It turned out 👌 family is impressed. I may be turning them into soup lovers too! ❤️

[tammyheaton]

this is my favorite soup from my southern grandmother. Thanks for sharing

[nuggettflavor]

Everything's better with BACON in it! I'm a soup person. Can't wait to put this in my rotation. Looks delicious 😋 😍

[Beingmainoneme]

Just created this masterpiece. OMG this soup is

[tmontero]

I liked this video! Points I found helpful in general: use beef you have on hand, use white portion of leeks washing AFTER chopping, brown beef for 4-6 mins then remove from pan, add dry herbs at beginning or fresh herbs closer to the end of cooking, and don't rinse barley. All good tips to know. The soup looked delicious and I am looking forward to making it. I see you didn't add potatoes, so I'll try your recipe without them the first time.

Thank you for your clear and concise presentation. It was pleasing to watch you narrate over the visuals of chopping, browning and cooking. You were 100% focussed on your delivery, not distracted, and omitted superfluous comments not related to your recipe. You have a new subscriber, and again I thank you.

[ruthwalters]

Love this Chef. Looks so good and I do love beef barley soup. Thank you Ruth

[jenjoy]

Saw this recipe on FB the other day. Perfect timing for cold wintery snow days here in the Lower Midwest. Soup is my thing. I used a chuck roast and all other ingredients except I didn’t have a turnip. Also beef bone broth and reg beef broth plus water. It was very rich tasting and oh so comforting. The pièce de résistance was caramelizing the onions and the leeks. Don’t shortcut on that one. Growing up we had veg beef soup with barley but also used canned tomatoes. I might add next time b/c it reminds me of mom’s soup and some tomato flavoring is excellent. She’s been gone almost 40 years.

[AndrewFromTexas]

Looks so good. And I don’t even care if the weather is hot.

[allblackmore]

I made this soup it was so good! So much flavor. I was worried the meat would be tough but cutting the meat in small pieces it was very tender at the end. Thanks Chef😊

[JohnnyWrongo-bl]

Turnips and "swedes" (rutabagas) were very common in Europe going back a long time ago. I don't carer much for turnips but I love ye old rutabagas. I came here because I had decided to make beef, barley, and veggie soup tonight. It is one of those things that many cooks have their own special version of and I love to see what others are doing.
Yours looks Very good. I am going to carmelised the onions next time. I discovered when it was too late, that I only had less than a half of an onion, so this batch had lots and lots of garlic. I usually wash white rice but never wash the pearl barley.

[rl]

Searched "homemade pasta dough" and subscribed. You put a lot of work into these videos. I really do appreciate your hard work.

[PYN]

This was such a great soup/stew. Loved using the bacon fat to caramelize the onions (I forgot the leeks!!! rats!!). The parsnips are gorgeous… so mild but delicious… I used 1 1/2 parsnips…next time I’m using 2!…yum! At 35 min my barley was tender but sticky, left it all going a little longer. Really for me the stars were the parsnips and the rutabaga. Thanks!!