Published January 8, 2021.This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Warm-up during those cold winter months with this delicious and easy to make traditional beef and barley soup recipe.
I am a soup person, in fact, I call it my first love. Starting in the fall, and all the way through spring, I am constantly making soups. If you share the same passion for soup, then definitely check out my Mulligatawny or Minestrone.
Beef and Barley Soup
Beef and barley is a fantastic hearty soup jam-packed with meat, root veggies, and barley. It is a derivative of scotch broth which is classically made with lamb, and in some cases is all vegetarian, instead of beef. Beef and barley have been around since the 18th century and essentially was created based on the availability of a product, like many recipes that come from that era.
Like my recipe, it can become a kitchen sink soup since we have the availability of just about every single vegetable around, and year-round.
Classic Ingredients
Like most recipes from the 15th century through the 19th century, an abundance of ingredients was often hard to come by, so you plainly used what you had on hand. To me, these have produced the most delicious recipes throughout the history of our world, that’s why they are still made today.
This recipe in its simplest classic form contains:
- Beef
- Pork Belly
- Barley
- Onions
- Leeks
- Carrots
- Water
- Herbs
How to Make It
Follow these instructions to make this delicious beef and barley soup from scratch:
Cook the chopped bacon until crisp and brown, and set aside.
Next, add in the cubed beef and cook until lightly browned and cooked throughout, and then also, set aside.
Pour in a bit of olive oil if there is not enough rendered meat fat in the pot and completely caramelize the onions and leeks until well browned about 30-35 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes and then add in the cooked beef, bacon, prepared root vegetables, bay leaves, and beef stock and cook on low heat for 60 minutes or until the beef and vegetables are tender.
Add in the barley and cook for 30-35 minutes or until the barley is cooked and tender.
Finish the soup with fresh herbs, salt, and pepper, and serve!
Variations
While I believe most classic recipes are excellent in their natural state, opportunities sometimes become available without altering the flavor at all. When it comes to a soup like this that only uses root vegetables, then using my school of thought, I believe it would be ok to add in a few more of these tubular veggies.
Here are a few more ingredients you could add to your soup, including the few I added:
- Parsnip
- Turnip
- Potatoes
- Celeriac
- Rutabaga
- Daikon
- Taro
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: Soup always tastes better with time. It can be eaten as soon as it’s done or 2-3 days ahead of time.
How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount to a small saucepot and cook over low heat until hot. You can also reheat in the microwave until hot. The barley will absorb more liquid when storing so you will need to add more liquid to help thin it out when reheating.
chef notes + tips
- Washing the barley is optional, I prefer not to.
- If the beef stock is not available you can use chicken stock or even water.
- You do not have to use fresh herbs at the end, however, if using dry herbs, add them in when you add in the beef stock.
More Soup Recipes
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Ribolita
- Chicken and Wild Rice
- Wedding Soup
- Pozole
Be sure to follow me onFacebook,YouTube,Instagram,andPinterest,and if you’ve had a chance to make this then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below!
Video
Save
Traditional Beef and Barley Soup Recipe
5 from 49 votes
Warm-up during those cold winter months with this delicious and easy to make traditional beef and barley soup recipe.
Servings: 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours hours
Ingredients
- 8 ounces roughly chopped bacon
- 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, optional
- 2 peeled small diced yellow onions
- 3 thinly sliced leeks
- 4 finely minced garlic cloves
- 3 peeled medium diced carrots
- 3 medium diced celery stalks
- 1 peeled medium diced parsnip
- 1 peeled medium diced turnip
- 2 bay leaves
- 12 cups beef stock
- 2 cups pearl barley
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large pot over medium heat, add in the bacon and cook until crisp and brown, about 8-10 minutes.
Remove the bacon lardons and set aside and add the cubed beef into the pot and turn the heat up slightly to medium-high and cook until the beef is browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Take the beef out and set it to the side.
If there is not enough rendered bacon or meat fat in the pot then add in the optional olive oil and over low heat caramelize the onions and leeks for 30-35 minutes or until they are well browned. Stir occasionally.
Add in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes before adding back in the beef, bacon, carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips, bay leaves, and beef stock and cook over low to medium heat for 60 minutes or until the vegetables and beef are tender.
Pour in the barley, give it a stir, and cook for 30-35 minutes over low to medium heat for 30-35 minutes or until the barley is cooked.
Finish with herbs, salt, and pepper, and serve.
Notes
Chef Notes:
- How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
- How to Reheat: Add the desired amount to a small saucepot and cook over low heat until hot. You can also reheat in the microwave until hot. The barley will absorb more liquid when storing so you will need to add more liquid to help thin it out when reheating.
- Washing the barley is optional, I prefer not to.
- If the beef stock is not available you can use chicken stock or even water.
- You do not have to use fresh herbs at the end, however, if using dry herbs, add them in when you add in the beef stock.
Nutrition
Calories: 397kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 28gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 671mgPotassium: 1031mgFiber: 7gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 3076IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 82mgIron: 4mg
Course: Soup
Cuisine: irish, scottish
Author: Chef Billy Parisi
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84 comments
- Diane Morgan
LOVE this soup!!!
- Reply
- Cindy
Absolutely the best! Delicious and hearty meal .
- Reply
- Heather Malkus
Took a while, before I could make this soup for my husband, pearl bailey was waiting game, my husband loved it.
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- Kim Roberts
The Best. Love it…
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- Debi
YUM!! Lots of chopping and sauteeing but worth it. Tons of flavor with the fresh herbs and root veggies. A new winter favorite. Family of nine loved it! Thanks for posting.
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thanks for giving it a shot!!
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- Jason Anderson
So much flavor!!!
Very delicious- Reply
many thanks!
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- Chantale
I did it this morning and it’s awesom, you bring us to another world,
thank you chef
Excuse my french- Reply
excellent!
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- Ginger
This was delicious! I made it exactly as written. Just be aware, it’s a lot of chopping! I’m a huge fan of Billy’ s recipes.
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- Wellesley
Made this tonight and everyone enjoyed it will definitely try it again, thanks
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- Patty Castañeda
Billy’s beef and barley soup is out of this world! So much flavor, yum!
- Susan Murphy
This was truly a labor of love!! I actually started with making your homemade beef stock with all the prime ribs bones from Christmas and some marrow bones. It was amazing!! Day two, I made the beef and barley soup and probably because of the homemade stock, it was so”beefy” in flavor, much more so than using store bought stock. It was delicious and so worth all the steps!!!
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- Jennifer Savage Thomas
Can I use farro instead ? If so are there any additional instructions that I should know about?
- Reply
Try it
- Reply
- sue 😍
Yum recipe ChefBilly thank you 🤩 😋😁😍
- Reply
- sue😁
Thank you ChefBilly delicious love this 😍😁😋🤩
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- B
Question what size is cut up beef? Small cubes or 1. -2 inch cubes.How do I make sure meat is tender?
- Reply
1/2 inch as stated in the recipe and video. It becomes tender as you cook it.
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- Lois Heichberger
I make this soup, and have done so as a variation to my vegetable beef soup, so much better. Love the addition of turnip and parsnips, especially. So much good and special flavor from these. I also saute in 2 tbsp of tomato paste for richness, esp if beef is quite lean.
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- Jean Kester
I made this recipe and it’s fabulous. I think very same or similar to what my Scottish grandma used to make! I followed it exactly and cannot wait to serve to my daughters who loved their great grandma. She came over from Scotland in 1919. She was a treasure ❤️. Thank you!!
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- Nancy Johnson
Very good, my family loved it even the teenagers ate it, they are picky eaters usually. I will make more of your recipes for family dinners.
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- Mike
The best version I’ve ever made even though I forgot to add the herbs at the end. And of course I love how the recipes come with a video so I can see how to do things I’m not very familiar with, and what things should look like at various stages.
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- Brenda Reed
This soup is delicious and easy! I kept true to the recipe and I’m glad I did. I almost swapped out the turnip and parsnip for russet potatoes.. I’m glad I didn’t. Thank you Chef Billy!!
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my pleasure!
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- Kaye
We LOVE this recipe so I make it quite often! Thanks!!!
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- Eleni Benetatos
Made this for dinner last night my family loved the soup! Thank you Chef Billy!
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- Jack M.
I served this Beef and Barley to my family who all agreed that this is the best Beef and Barley soup ever and I had to agree with them. Personally, I think the key to this soup is your recipe for beef bone stock. Wow is that was the best beef stock ever!
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- Chef Billy Parisi
Appreciate you trying this!
- Reply
- mwr
delicious and easy to make! Moving this one into The Family Recipe Book.
- Reply
- Chef Billy Parisi
Thank you for trying this!
- Reply
- Christine Dwyer
I left out the turnip and parsnip. Was delicious anyway.
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- Chef Billy Parisi
Glad it worked out, thanks for trying this!
- Reply
- Andy Wawrzyniak
Love your recipes, added celery root & parsnips delicious
- Reply
- Chef Billy Parisi
Thank you!
- Reply
- Mary
Best beef barley soup ever! It is in my regular fall/winter rotation since last year.
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- Chef Billy Parisi
That’s great!
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- Lorraine
I will make this again and again !!
Don’t like root vegetables so added mushrooms and potatoes cut really small. 2 cups barley was too much soaked up all my broth . I will back off to 1 cup next time . This is extremely yummy . Love your recipes!!!!- Reply
- Chef Billy Parisi
appreciate you trying this!
- Reply
- Andi Palmer
Easy to follow and I enjoyed every last bit. My family wanted more and more. Thank you Chef Parisi.
- Reply
- Chef Billy Parisi
you’re welcome
- Reply
- Rosi
This soup is delicious, especially on cold rainy days.😋
- Reply
so good!!
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- Renee Ryan
There are so many favorite recipes, but I just love the fact that chef adapts to what readers have possibly available. That’s what I do when I’m making any recipe but the ideas he has are really phenomenal
- Reply
thank you so kindly!!
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- Merle
Love your recipes
❤️😍👍- Reply
many thanks!
- Reply
- Theresa Beringer
So easy to make I love the way he teaches us prep and easy
- Reply
yes indeed!
- Reply
- Cheryl Knottingham
Absolutely delishis! Your recipes are so easy to follow and I always learn something new!
- Reply
many thanks!
- Reply
- James
Love beef barley soup but your version is the best yet! Thanks so much!
- Reply
so good!!
- Reply
- Wendy
Absolutely love your recipe. I’ve made it and the family loved it. Thank you Billy! Regards, from Wendy sunny South Africa 🇿🇦 (Cape Town)
- Reply
amazing!
- Reply
- Fatima Yussuff
The recipes are amazing
- Reply
- Kim
I made this for dinner tonight.. wow delicious. I didn’t have parsnip or turnip But .. I used golden beets. Thank for always being amazing…I love everything you share .. 🥰
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- Patty
This is amazing! The beef was so tender and great mix of vegetables. I followed the recipe to a T. Thanks for making me a better home cook.
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- Myra Butler
This is a wonderful stew with great flavor! It freezes well and is perfect for cold winter days. I love to pair it with a rustic homemade bread or cornbread. Thanks, chef Parisi!
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thanks for giving it a shot!!
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- Scott T.
Love this version of beef and barley soup! Great flavor in this recipe! Will definitely make it again.
- Reply
so good!!
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- Tom
This is the best Beef and Barley soup I’ve ever had and I made it! The recipe is easy to follow. The mix of vegetables was great and had so much more flavor than the potatoes I’ve used in other recipes. If you haven’t yet made it you don’t know what you are missing.
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many thanks!
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- Ron Penkala
Love this soup and this recipe
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Appreciate you trying it!
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- Linda
Thank you!!! Made this recipe, turned out perfect, everyone loved it. And thank you for all your great recipes and cooking tips, I now enjoy cooking, your recipes are easy to follow, 😀
- Reply
Love that!
- Reply
- Kendra Oshust
This is the best soup! The sweetness from carmelizing the onions makes it so good!!
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- Tom
I’d never made a Beef Barley soup that didn’t contain potatoes before. While my previous recipe was OK this recipe is delicious. I love the vegetable combination. Definately in my recipe rotation. I’ve made it several times already. My young granddaughters love it.
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- Betsy
Yes and by far the Best, Always thought mine was real good. However this one with the turnips, parsnips carrots celery leeks and herbs and bacon is just Soosoo much better. Really,, Thank you as my family loves this ( except daughter does not like barley and i thought well maybe i’ll try using something else instead of barley. one of these times, she is 60 yrs old and never did like barley.) the more for us. Just a hearty wonderful soup…
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- Scott Vout
Chef Billy, I think I would give you a good run for soup being my favourite dish. Went to our second annual all soup dinner party last weekend. I made this one. Big hit. Thanks for the great recipe. Got to work on those onion cutting skills as well. Still have all my fingers and no tears. 🙂
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- Lorraine
Thanks for so many great recipes! I’m using 3 of your soup recipes for my daughter’s wedding, will give you the credit:) Question: can I make the beef barley soup ahead of time and when reheating for the wedding at the barley?
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Cool the barley separate and then add it to when rehearing it.
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- Sue
Excellent. Have tried many recipes to try and replicate my mom’s, with no luck. This recipe was better than hers.
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- Pat
Made this last night. Loved the soup. Our house smelt so good, even when we got up the next morning you could smell the soup…
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- Linda
Loved the recipe. I caramelized the onions and did it ‘proper’ like you suggested. The only thing I added was a cup of a nice red wine and a nob of butter. Yum. Great soup! Thanks for the recipes.
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- tony mc allister
I’ve seen a lot of recipes from Germany, England, where they use celery root what are your thoughts on substituting it for celery stalks. I’ve never used it before but recently saw a recipe for a German Potato Soup in which they raved about the additional flavor the celeriac root gave to the soup.
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You definitely could, love celery root.
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- Tak Sorci
Do you have a recipe for cassoulet?
- Reply
https://www.billyparisi.com/chicken-cassoulet-recipe-chicken-sausage/
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- Rehab
Thank you for sharing!
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- Susan Liller
I didn’t have any celery but I used a little vegetable broth along with the beef both that had celery in it. This is the best beef soup I have ever made. Good enough to share with neighbors! (Being safe – leaving it on their porches) Thanks for making this so easy and informative.
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