Mom’s Italian Beef Barley Soup

I add celery, carrots, garlic, and thyme. But this is a good base to jump off from

Made as written, except added celery. Very good!

I’ve made it three times now. The first time was as written. The second time I added 3 carrots and 3 celeries, sliced. The third time, and this was the best, I ditched the chuck and used some tri-tip steak that was on sale. Superb! On the third version, I also threw in some fried garlic bits and some thyme. On numbers two and three I cooked the barley separately and froze one cup portions. That worked really well since the first version’s barley expanded to two or three times the originally cooked size, soaking up a lot of the yummy broth. The carrots and celery help without detracting from the original.

I love this recipe!!!! I added diced carrots to it for color!!! Great recipe!!

Made it in my 3.5-quart crock pot and had plenty of room. It was very easy to make! I cut the beef cubes into bite-sized pieces before adding them to the pot and did not brown them. Only thing I changed was omitting the onion due to dietary restrictions. The barley did not absorb all of the broth like some reviewers said. Mine didn’t turn out as pretty looking as some of the pictures, but we liked it. Didn’t think that there was enough barley. Next time I will double the amount of barley and add some red wine and a can of diced tomatoes.

It was really great here in cold snowy northern Ohio.

Made this with ground venison and quick barley and it was delicious! My daughter who is a super picky eater had 3 helpings!!

I bought a whole chuck steak and cut it up into about half inch pieces by hand. I followed the recipe exactly as written and it came out fabulous! The meat did not dry out after being cooked for 5 hours. I believe that the next time I will chop up and add a whole onion because I used a half of a sweet onion, and it was delicious and made my house smell really good while cooking in the crockpot!

This was incredibly easy and so delicious! I read reviews and made small changes, I used 1 container of low sodium beef broth and added 4 cups of water and 2 bouillon cubes. I also added 2 carrots & 2 celery cut up small oh and garlic. I’ve never made Beef Barley soup and my family LOVED IT!!!! ABSOLUTELY delicious!

Delicious recipe!! Added 2 carrots sliced!Hearty!! A definite keeper!!!

Turned out to be a casserole not a soup. Needed more flavor. Will make again with more seasonings. Used reduced sodium broth.

Put it together before work and came home to a delicious meal. The whole family loved it. Fantastic!!

I added some additional vegetables in it and it was still delicious. A big hit.

I used Swanson low sodium beef broth instead of bullion cubes and water. And added a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes. Nice thick soup – great flavor!

Best beef stew ever! This is the only way I will make beef stew again. Easy, affordable, great compliments. Ordinary I do not change recipes trying first time, however I did have some carrots that needed to be used , so I put them in as well. Throwing away all my other recipes for beef stew. This is the only one I need.

I made this 062019. I used a quart of beef bone broth with one cup water plus the bouillon cubes. I was afraid it would be salty but it was not. I did add pepper but NO salt. I used chuck roast which was a bear to cut up removing as many large gristle and fat areas as possible. (Grand daughter is fussy!) I did use the slow cooker which made the meat tender as can be. First I braised the meat and onions (this slow cooker has this function) then I cooked it on high for 2-3 hrs. It was done and creamy as could be. Salt and pepper can be added at the table and I figured the bouillon had salt in it. It was tasty, filling and well received! I did forget to offer the cheese but served with salad and small croissants. I’ll make it again for sure. PS I did toss in baby carrots (we are a veggie family); it added color and bit of taste. Maybe try a touch of garlic next time. (I just noticed the chunks of tomato in the photo with the recipe… I used sauce only as recipe calls for and it was good)

This is a really great recipe! It is delicious and very easy to make! Why eat canned soup when you can make this delicious and easy soup!!! I used a 1/2 can of tomato paste instead( they are very small cans) I rather not have or see chunks of tomato in the soup. I also used beef with a bone in it and I also put a beef roast in it as well.

I used low sodium Beef broth instead of the bullion and water. I also added a few generous dashes of Worcester sauce. I added carrots, celery and baby bella mushrooms. I browned the beef in garlic, salt, pepper and some olive oil before putting it into the slow cooker. Thickened up nicely and tastes GREAT!!!

I, as others, used this as a start. I did use beef broth instead of bouillon, added thyme and omitted the tomato. I added a bag of Fiesta vegetables and made it in the slow cooker and it was very good. Can’t wait until tomorrow and see if everyone is right about it being better on day two.

Absolutely Delicious!! I doubled the batch so simmered on the stove. The only substitute was using store bought beef stock.

Very very good. I added red wine as someone suggested and some balsamic vinegar and I think it really made the soup. I also stirred in some kale for the last 30 minutes or so. Added barley gradually. I cooked on low for 10 hours because I started with nearly frozen meat.