Soup is always a good food because it fills you up without weighing you down and is usually filled with lean protein, grains and tons of brothy goodness. Beef & Barley Soup is a classic with earthy flavors and a nuttiness from the grains. It is most often prepared with diced beef round or stew meat which is relatively inexpensive. You could even dice up your leftover roast from a holiday or dinner party and use it in this soup.
Barley is a long cooking grain and stew meat definitely needs a little time to tenderize, so the Instant Pot would be a good place to make this happen. The high pressure steam environment is the perfect place to allow both ingredients to get to know each other and their flavors to come alive.
Mushrooms are a nice addition in this soup because they enhance the broth into a rustic pool of pleasure. Beef and mushrooms are very traditional combination in cooking and when combined with barley create a soup that is rustic and comforting.
The whole recipe is done in 30 minutes and it makes a big batch, so you can feed those lingering relatives or friends that may stop over. I like to serve this soup with French rolls, they’re great for dipping into the silky broth.
Ingredients
1 pound beef round or stew meat
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups beef broth
1/2 cup pearled barley
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup fresh parsley, rough chopped
vegetable oil
salt
pepper
(Serves 6)
To Prepare:
1. Press “Saute” on Instant Pot and add 1 tablespoon oil, heat for 2 minutes. Slice beef inch 1-inch dice and toss with flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoons pepper and onion powder. Add beef to Instant Pot and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes.
2. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook. Scrape up bits from bottom to incorporate into mixture. Add chicken and beef broth and stir to combine.
3. Add barley and add thyme, stir to combine, press Cancel on Instant Pot. Place lid on pot and set to “Manuel” for 30 minutes to cook. Make sure valve on top is pointed to Sealing, not Venting.
4. When cooking is complete, using a towel move nozzle to Venting. Make sure your hand is not over holes or you can get burned. You can wait for Instant Pot to release steam by itself, but it usually takes an additional 10 minutes. Remove lid and add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, stir. Ladle into bowls, top with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
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