Topic · Clear Soups Mastery
Vegetable and Beef Barley
Beef Barley – A Hearty Broth Soup
For this beef barley soup recipe, we braise beef chuck until it is fork tender, then the barley and vegetables are cooked and finally, the ingredients are combined and seasoned to finish the soup.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pound beef stew meat, (cut into ¼ inch size)
- 1 inch sliced beef shank
- 1 large onion, (chopped)
- 3 stalks celery, (chopped)
- 2 medium carrots, (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic, (chopped)
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 pound tomatoes, (cut into ¼ inch pieces)
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 1/4 cup corn kernels, (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- salt and pepper, (to taste)
Heat the oil and butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add the stew meat and sauté until beef is dark brown for about 8 minutes. Transfer beef to a plate. Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic to the pot. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes. Add the water, beef broth, tomatoes with juices, bay leaves, thyme and basil. Add the beef shank and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until beef is almost tender for about 1 hour.
Add the barley and corn kernel and simmer until the beef is tender for about 30 minutes longer. Add the peas and seasoning to taste.
You could also make this soup using beef short ribs the same way as this recipe for beef noodle soup. What's important, though, is to cook the barley separately. The beef needs to braise for quite a while and the barley would become too soggy if cooked for that long.
