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Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup

Hearty slow cooker beef barley soup with tender meat and vegetables in broth.
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This set-and-forget soup yields a rich, complex broth and fall-apart tender beef with almost no active time. It is the ultimate hands-off, comforting meal that simmers quietly in your crockpot, filling your home with a wonderful aroma.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 pounds chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
  • 3 celery stalks, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 ounces cremini or white mushrooms, sliced (optional)
  • 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
  • ¾ cup pearl barley, rinsed
  • 1 cup frozen peas

Instructions

  1. Pat beef cubes dry and toss with salt, pepper, and flour.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef in batches, then transfer to slow cooker.
  3. In the same skillet, cook onion, carrots, and celery for 5-7 minutes until softening. Add garlic and mushrooms (if using) and cook 1 minute more. Scrape into slow cooker.
  4. Add beef broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary to the slow cooker. Stir well.
  5. Stir in the rinsed pearl barley.
  6. Cover and cook on LOW for 7.5 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours, until beef is fork-tender.
  7. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in the frozen peas. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Notes

For a thicker broth, mix 2 tbsp cornstarch with 3 tbsp cold water and stir into the soup during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Barley will absorb more liquid upon storage; add broth or water when reheating.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.stacksipsnack.com/slow-cooker-beef-barley-soup/