Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup Recipe (2024)

This Instant Pot beef barley soup is rich, hearty, healthy and so tasty! This wholesome meal is packed with tender chunks of beef, vegetables, and chewy pearl barley! Savor a bowl or two of this homemade beef barley soup during these cozy, chilly winter nights! A satisfied tummy and soul, guaranteed 🙂

I know I’m on a soup spree here. I still have a few more stockpiled to share with you. I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to share this delicious Instant Pot recipe for beef barley soup, and this seemed to be the best time for it!

If you are looking for an easy, healthy, and delicious one-pot meal, you have got to try this simple Instant Pot beef barley soup. This soup is incredibly yummy and perfect to warm you up during the coming weeks.

Besides being tasty, beef and barley soup is also healthy. Barley is an amazing source of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and soluble fiber. We should definitely try to incorporate more of this ancient grain in our day-to-day diet!

Beef barley soup made in the Instant Pot is just as amazing as that made on the stove-top, sans the need to simmer for hours together. You get all the flavors of a classic, traditional beef barley soup in a fraction of the time! Sounds good right? So let’s talk about it in detail.

Let’s talk about the ingredients needed for this soup

I used the following ingredients for my homemade beef and barley soup,

• Meat: I’ve used boneless chuck roast, got the butcher to cut into small pieces. Since this a soup, you don’t really want large pieces of meat. You can also use beef stew meat.
• Barley: Use the pearl barley variety for this soup, make sure it is not the quick-cook kind.
• Mirepoix: A fancy French word for a mix of onions, carrots, and celery to flavor up the base of this soup.
• Garlic
• Seasoning for beef barley soup: I’ve used some dried thyme, oregano, and basil along with salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Alternatively, you may also use Italian seasoning, or throw in 2-3 fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme!
• Tomato paste: We are not fans of tomato pieces in this soup, nor do we like these soup to have a very tomato-ey flavor. You can definitely use diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, etc as per your preference.
• Worcestershire sauce: The savoriness of this sauce enhances and rounds up the flavor of this soup. Definitely try and use it!
• Liquid: I’ve used beef stock and water. You could also substitute the water with more beef stock. Or use chicken stock instead of beef stock.

Some points to consider before making this Instant Pot beef and barley soup

Better if made in advance: This Instant Pot beef barley soup tastes pretty good right after it is prepared but so much better if it is left to sit for a few hours. So get the max flavors from this soup with a little planning. Even if you are unable to plan, you will have super tasty leftovers 😀

The thickness of the soup: Remember to rinse the barley really well to eliminate excess starch. Barley is what contributes to the thickness of the soup. The soup continues to thicken after the heat is off, as the barley continues to soak the liquid making it almost stew-like.

I feel the thickness is a very personal preference. The consistency can be adjusted by thinning down the soup further with additional stock. Other options would be to use less barley, about 1/3 cup to begin with or cook the barley separately and add it to the soup in individual bowls when you intend serving the soup.

Add more vegetables: I’ve stuck to the basic mirepoix for the soup, but you can definitely amp up the veggies. Potatoes, green beans, corn, frozen green peas, baby spinach, etc are all great options. Add the peas and/or spinach in the end if using.

The size of the veggies: 20 minutes is a long cooking time for veggies. Veggies like carrot, and celery fare well under pressure. If using other veggies, make sure to keep them fairly chunky. Add frozen veggies in the end, and warm through.

Wine: Feel free to swap (about 1/2 cup) of the stock with red or white wine for an additional depth of flavor.

Fresh herbs: You can also swap the dried herbs with fresh ones! Add 3-4 sprigs of thyme and a sprig of rosemary. Discard the stems after the cooking cycle is complete.

A few variations to try

• Beef barley soup with ground beef: Brown about a pound to a pound and half of lean ground beef in step 1. Transfer the browned beef to a plate and proceed from step 2 onward.
• Creamy beef barley soup: Stir in 1 cup of heavy cream in the end.
• Leftover roast beef barley soup: If you have leftover roast beef or pot roast, you can use it for this soup. Beef barley soup with leftover beef is just as good. To do this, simply skip the first step of browning the meat. Chop up the leftover beef into small pieces, follow step 2 onwards.
• Gluten-free: Barley is not gluten-free. Substitute barley with 1/2 cup of brown rice or quinoa. Rinse and soak the brown rice for 10-15 minutes before using it. Also, skip the Worcestershire sauce.
• Vegetarian: Skip the meat completely, throw in some other veggies for a vegetable barley soup!

Can you freeze this soup?

Beef and barley soup with mushrooms freezes beautifully. I actually made this soup a few weeks before I moved out of the US. Since my husband had to stay back for a little longer, this stash of food along with the many others I had stocked up on came in really handy for him.

Here’s how you freeze it,

• Once the soup cools down completely, transfer individual serving portions to freezer-safe bags, or containers leaving an inch space between the contents and the lid.
• Remember to label the contents with the name, and date.
• Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer. Then stack them once frozen.
• Freeze up to 3 months
• Thaw in the refrigerator the night before. Reheat in the microwave or transfer to a small pot, and heat on low, stirring occasionally. Add some stock to adjust the consistency.

Sides to serve with this soup

This soup is a wholesome and healthy meal all by itself. Though some crusty bread won’t hurt to mop up all that glorious broth!

A nice green salad would be another great accompaniment to add a fresh element to the meal.

This Instant Pot beef barley soup has a ton of texture, with melt-in-the-mouth chunks of beef, plump, chewy and nutty barley and tender veggies. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and enjoy a big bowl of comfort!

More comforting Instant Pot soup recipes

Chicken noodle soup

Carrot ginger soup

Corn potato chowder with bacon

Broccoli cheddar soup

Minestrone Soup

Creamy tortellini sausage soup

How to make Instant Pot beef barley soup – Step by step instructions

Step 1: Brown 1.5 pounds of meat

Press the ‘SAUTE’ button, set it to “NORMAL’ and wait until it displays ‘HOT’. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, once it heats up, add half the meat in a single layer, leave undisturbed for a minute, flip and brown the other side. Transfer the meat to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batch of meat, adding a tablespoon more of oil if necessary.

Step 2: Saute mushrooms

Add 8 oz of baby bella mushrooms, sliced, saute for 2-3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot as you saute. The mushrooms will release moisture which will help pick up all the brown bits (known as fond) at the bottom of the pot. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and set aside.

Step 3: Saute the mirepoix

Add diced 1 cup each of diced onions, carrots, and celery, cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Step 4: Saute minced garlic

Next, add 1 tablespoon minced garlic, cook, until fragrant, another 30 seconds.

Step 5:Add the tomato paste and seasoning mix

Add 2 tablespoon of tomato paste and seasoning mix (1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, 1 teaspoon kosher salt).

Cook for 2 minutes. At this point, if you still find some browned bits stuck at the bottom of the pot (ideally you shouldn’t), use 1/4 cup of the beef stock to de-glaze the pot in order to avoid any potential ‘BURN’ error. Press ‘CANCEL’ to turn off the saute mode.

Step 6:Add barley, browned meat and sauteed mushrooms

Add 3/4 cup rinsed pearl barley, browned meat along with its juices and sauteed mushrooms to the pot.

Step 7: Add the liquid, Worcestershire sauce and Bay leaves

Next, add 1 quart of beef stock and 2 cups of water.

Add 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, give everything a really good mix.

Throw in the bay leaves.

Step 8: Pressure cook

Close the lid of the Instant Pot with the valve on ‘SEALING’ position. Press the manual or pressure cook button and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes. It will take some time for the pressure to build up, after which the timer will start.

Step 9: Natural pressure release (NPR) for 10 minutes

Once the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then do a quick release following the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the float valve (silver pin) drops, open the lid.

Step 10: Sprinkle freshly chopped parsley

Sprinkle chopped parsley, and mix well. Check for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Discard the bay leaves before serving. Enjoy your very own homemade beef barley soup along with some crusty bread 🙂

Notes

• You can swap about 1/2 cup of the stock with red or white wine.
• Stove-top version: Use a large dutch pot or heavy-bottomed pot, follow the same procedure up to step 7. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours. Stir occasionally in between, adding more liquid if it looks dry.

★ If you try this Instant Pot beef barley mushroom soup recipe, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [emailprotected]. Thanks so much 🙂

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