There’s something truly comforting about a bowl of hearty Beef Barley Soup. It’s a classic for a reason, but I wanted to create a version that’s packed with even more flavor. This recipe features tender beef simmered with smoky bacon in a rich, flavorful broth, then combined with pearled barley for a satisfyingly chewy texture. The addition of aromatic vegetables, smoked paprika, and umami-loaded tomato paste boosts this soup’s flavor to crazy-good levels. It’s perfect for a chilly winter evening or a cozy weekend meal. I hope it becomes your next family favorite!
Beef Barley Soup is what winter meals were made for
And I’m here for it. Compared to the past few years, this winter has been a challenge here in the Ohio Valley. At least, it is when you’re a summer girl trying to cheerfully smile through it all from December through March, pretending you’re having a <em>great time</em> shoveling snow. Lol.
Winter is only tolerable because of soup, says this SoupAddict. And recipes like Beef Barley Soup top the list on those snowy weekends when you feel like doing nothing but closing the curtains against the world and hovering over the stove.
Beef Barley Soup is —
- Deeply Flavorful: The combination of seared beef, smoky bacon, tomato paste, smoked paprika, and aromatic vegetables creates a complex and delicious flavor profile.
- Hearty and Satisfying: Pearled barley adds a delightfully chewy texture and makes this soup incredibly filling.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: This soup tastes even better the next day, making it perfect for meal prepping.
- Budget-Friendly: Beef chuck is a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, and the soup stretches to feed a crowd.
- Freezer-Friendly: Perfect for batch cooking and storing for later.
If you’re craving more super-hardy beef or barley soups, I got your back! You might enjoy my Mushroom Barley Soup, Braised Vegetable and Beef Soup, Mock Turtle Soup, or Austrian Hungarian Goulash.
Main Ingredients and Substitutions
Beef and bacon — Beef chuck is always my preferred cut of meat for longer-cooking beef soups. If you’re comfortable working with beef short ribs and their bones, it’s a lovely substitute, with a little bit of extra work.
Bacon is used here more as a flavoring than a texture addition. The bacon cooks down almost completely, rendering its fats into the soup. It’s not a crispy component here. So, I usually buy whatever’s on sale, regardless of its thickness. Thick-cut bacon would be a good choice if you’re looking to crisp up some or all of it, and hold it back for the end. In that case, I would cook the bacon first and remove it from the pot. Then brown the beef in the bacon fat, and continue with the recipe.
Pearled barley — Pearled barley is almost always my preferred form of barley (learn more about the types of barley here). It has an amazing texture and a reasonable cooking time.
Aromatic vegetables — I start with the usual soup suspects of onions, celery, carrots, and garlic, to form the flavorful base. And then I add some parsnips for extra veggie goodness and a firm, potato-like texture (that won’t fall apart during a long cook).
Mushrooms highlight the “beefiness” of this soup with their deep and savory flavor. I call for cremini mushrooms in the recipe, but white button mushrooms or a large portabello mushroom cap would work, too.
I almost always have dried porcini mushrooms on hand – they keep really well in an airtight container – and their flavor is just out of this world. No extra tasks to do there: crumbled, the mushrooms will dehydrate as they cook in the soup, releasing their essence into the broth. There’s really nothing like a porcini mushroom, so if you can’t find them in your area, just leave them out.
Seasonings — Umami-rich tomato paste and smoky paprika, plus lots of salt and pepper for the beef, complement and enhance the smoky flavors of the bacon, and ensure a deep savoriness to the soup broth.
A handy tomato paste tip: To save money, buy the cheaper cans (instead of the expensive tubes). Once you’ve measured out what you’ll use for this soup, take large rectangle of cling wrap and spread flat on a table. Spoon one- or two-tablespoon mounds (whichever measure you use most often) in a line on the long edge of the piece of cling wrap, leaving a few inches in between each mound and at either end of the wrap.
Carefully fold/roll up the tomato paste mounds in their long line, so you have a nice roll of mounds. Twist the cling wrap several times between each mound, kind of like a candy wrapper.
Place the entire roll with the twists in the freezer, and let the tomato paste freeze solid. From there, you can either separate the tomato paste mounds by cutting through the centers of the twists, or place the entire roll in a zipper storage bag. Keep in the freezer; the paste thaws quickly at room temperature.
How to Make Beef Barley Soup
Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to get the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and printable, detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through of making the soup.
Prep notes
Here are some helpful guidelines for prepping the recipe ingredients. Anything that simply needs to be measured out of a container – such as dried herbs and liquids – are not addressed here. Note that you can absolutely measure out all ingredients into separate bowls or containers ahead of time. It’s a classic organizational technique called mise en place — French for “everything in its place” — that helps the cooking workflow run smoothly.
- Cut the beef into 1″ chunks and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Chop the bacon into 1/2″ pieces.
- Peel the dry outer skin off the onion and chop into small dice.
- Scrub and peel the outer layer of the carrot, then chop into small dice, discarding the top.
- Scrub and peel the outer layer of the parsnip, then chop into small dice, discarding the top.
- Clean and chop the celery ribs into small dice.
- Remove 3 cloves of garlic from the bulb. Peel off the hard outer layer and mince the clove (or use a garlic press).
- Clean the fresh mushroom caps using a wet paper towel to brush off the dirt, discard any dried or shriveled stems, and cut into small pieces. If using, break the dried porcini mushroom slices into small pieces using your fingers.
Step 1: Brown the beef
In a large soup, brown the beef and bacon together until the beef is seared on all sides and bacon is cooked through. Transfer to a bowl, leaving behind the rendered fats.
Step 2: Saute the aromatic vegetables
Add the veggies and mushrooms to the pot and saute until the onions have softened.
Step 3: Add the seasonings
Spoon in the garlic, tomato paste, and paprika and mix well. The vegetables should become very fragrant. Remove a portion of the vegetables to a bowl and set aside. We’re using some of the vegetables to flavor the soup during the cook, and will re-add the reserved vegetables near the end, so that they retain their texture and full flavor.
Step 4: Build the soup and place in the oven
Return the beef and bacon to the pot. Pour in the broth, and add the herbs and pearled barley. Give everything a good stir, affix the lid on the pot, and place in the preheated oven to cook.
Step 5: Check, stir, and serve!
Halfway through the oven time, give everything a good stir, making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, and return to the oven, covered with the lid.
At the end of cooking time, check the pearled barley for doneness: it should be plump and firm but tender to the bite. If it needs more time, return to the oven for 15 minutes. Taste a chunk of the beef. It should be meltingly tender. Remove and discard the bay leaves and woody thyme stems and serve!
Storing
Beef Barley Soup tastes even better the longer it sits, giving the soup time to let the flavors fully develop. You can make the soup ahead, but do note that the barley will continue to absorb the liquids in the soup, drifting the whole thing towards a stew. When reheating, add a 1/4 cup of beef broth at a time, stirring well and giving it time to fully incorporate, until the soup has returned to your preferred consistency.
Barley stands up to freezing better than rice, so make extra soup and freeze, with more broth on hand at reheating time.
I hope you’ll get a chance to try my Beef Barley Soup before the cold weather skedaddles outta here. I love the oven braise because it makes it just about hands-off and fills your home with the amazing aromas of a hearty winter beefy soup.
Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (plus extra as needed)
- 2 strips bacon cut into 1″ pieces
- 1 1/2 pounds beef chunk , cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper or steak seasoning
- 1 medium onion , diced
- 3 ribs celery , diced
- 2 medium carrots , diced
- 1 large parsnip , diced
- 4 ounces cremini mushrooms , chopped
- 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 5 cups beef broth
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
- 2/3 cup pearled barley
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (see notes below for stove top preparation). Before the oven gets hot, adjust the oven racks so that your soup pot will sit centered within the oven (e.g., sometimes I have to remove the upper rack so the lidded pot will fit, with the second rack on the 2nd from bottom notch).
- In a large 5 to 6 quarter soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium. When the surface of the oil shimmers, add a portion of the beef and bacon, to cover the bottom of the pot in a single layer. You’ll have to work in batches. Brown the beef on all sides, letting the bacon fat render into the pot. When the beef has seared edges, transfer everything to a bowl, and repeat with the next batch. (Time-saving tip: I also use a large skillet on another burner, which is roomy enough to hold the remaining beef, and can brown everything simultaneously. It’s an extra pan to wash, but it saves so much prep time.)
- There will be some beef drippings and bacon fat in the pot, but if it’s not sufficiently covering the surface of the pot, pour in a little more oil.
- Add the onions, celery, carrots, parsnips, and mushrooms. Stir well and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove about two-thirds of the cooked vegetables to a separate bowl and set aside. The vegetables left in the pot will flavor the soup, while the reserved vegetables will be added later, so they don’t soften to mush.
- Spoon the tomato paste, smoked paprika, and garlic into the soup pot, and stir well. The garlic should quickly become fragrant.
- Return the beef and bacon to the soup pot, along with any juices from their bowl.
- Pour in 4 cups of beef broth, and lay in the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. (Reserve the remaining broth.)
- Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven. Start the timer: from here, the soup will cook for about 90 minutes.
- At the 45 minute mark, remove the pot from the oven and stir in the barley and Worcestershire sauce. If the thyme sprigs are bare of leaves and are sticking out, in your way, you can go ahead and remove them.
- Replace the lid, and return the pot to the oven for the last half of the cook.
- Check the soup after 30 minutes. If the pearled barley is fresh (in the sense of not old and stale), it could be finished cooking in 30 minutes. Barley is done when it’s got some puff to it and is slightly sturdier than brown rice. More likely, it will need 45 minutes (possibly 60 minutes if on the older side).
- If any point, the soup is getting too chunky and stewy for your liking, add part or all of the remaining broth. Replace the lid and return the soup to the oven.
- Add the reserved vegetables in the final 15 minutes of cooking.
- Test a piece of the beef: it should be very tender and easy to chew.
- Fish out the bay leaves and thyme stems (the leaves have probably fallen off into the soup – this is good. Just discard the woody stems.) Give everything a good stir and taste. Add salt as desired.