One of my favorite hearty, cold weather soups is good old classic Beef Barley.
This version is even better because you can throw everything into a slow cooker and forget about it for 6 hours. After about 4 hours your house will smell amazing, which is one of my favorite things about using slow cookers. This soup is thickened to make for a more filling meal, but if you prefer your soup a little more broth-y, leave out the cornstarch.
This recipe calls for a rump roast, but you could use any cut of beef that you prefer. This soup is especially good for tough cuts of beef as the long cooking time helps to tenderize it. Tomatoes, corn, pearl barley, carrots, rosemary and parsley are added to the soup, but many of the ingredients are interchangeable according to your preference. For example, peas would be a nice addition. If you didn’t have access to fresh rosemary or parsley, dried thyme or oregano(or both!) would be a good option as well. Feel free to change it up!
SLOW COOKER BEEF VEGETABLE BARLEY SOUP
- 2½ lb. Rump Roast, cut into ½" cubes
- 1 28 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
- 12 C. Beef Broth, divided
- 1 lb. Carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
- 2 small Onions, chopped
- 3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, chopped
- 1 C. Corn(fresh or frozen)
- 1 C. Pearl Barley(dry)
- 1 T. Salt
- 1 t. Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ C. Cornstarch
- ¼ C. Fresh Parsley, chopped
- Place the beef, tomatoes, carrots, onions, rosemary, corn, barley, salt, pepper, and 10 C. of the beef broth in a very large slow cooker.
- Turn the heat to high and cook for 6 hours(4-5 for a smaller slow cooker), stirring occasionally.
- 30 minutes before serving, mix together 2 C. of beef broth with the cornstarch(mix the cornstarch with a little bit of broth at a time so that it does not clump) and stir it into the soup. Let the soup cook 30 minutes longer.
- Taste the soup and add more salt or pepper as desired. Stir in the parsley serve.
This looks perfect for a cold day. Pinned!
This looks so yummy and comforting! I love how easy it looks, too.
Kayley your soup is beautiful!! I love the lighting on your photos it’s gorgeous! And I love that we both posted beef barley soup in the same week. It just screams October, right? I love your addition of corn and tomatoes. Yum. I posted this on Instagram yesterday and then went to the #ontheblog hashtag and saw you had posted yours with the same hashtag 9 seconds earlier. Made me laugh!
Thanks Karen! I know! We must have great minds or something. Haha. What are the chances, seriously!
I’m really excited to make your recipe this weekend. If you’re making this as a freezer meal, what do you do with step 3? I was planning on cooking it and freezing it in individual servings.
Hi Amanda! You can cook it exactly as the recipe states and then just cool and freeze it in individual portions. I do it all the time and it works great!