Beef Barley Soup in Instant Pot

Hearty Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup with tender chunks of beef, carrots, and pearl barley cooked in a savory broth and ready in under an hour. Low-calorie, comforting and packed with nutrition!

Love healthy beef recipes? Try Instant Pot beef stew, Instant Pot corned beef and cabbage or Instant Pot pot roast recipe.

Table of contents

• Why Make Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup?
• Ingredients for Beef Barley Soup Instant Pot
• How to Make Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup
• Optional Add-In's and Variations
• Tips for Best Results
• FAQs
• How to Serve Beef and Barley Stew?
• How to Store Beef and Barley Soup Instant Pot?
• More Instant Pot Soup Recipes

Instant Pot beef barley soup is full of delicious wholesome ingredients sure to satisfy the hungriest of crowds. It's a rustic soup loaded with chunks of juicy fall apart beef, tender carrots, and pearls of barley and then rounded out by a perfectly seasoned broth.

This pressure cooker soup recipe is budget friendly, brimming with bold flavour, and has pleasing textures just like chicken wild rice soup and stuffed pepper soup. This homestyle stew is easy to make and the perfect comfort food on a wintry day!

Why Make Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup?

• Tender beef: Pressure cooker beef and barley stew practically melts in your mouth!
• Cooked all day flavor: But ready in just under an hour – magic of the Instant Pot.
• Healthy: Whole grain, fiber rich barley and vegetables make this the perfect healthy comforting soup.
• Simple ingredients: Nothing complicated here, a few pantry staples and a handful of fresh ingredients come together for a delicious hearty stew!
• Freeze friendly: Make a big batch now then save some for lunch or dinner later.

Ingredients for Beef Barley Soup Instant Pot

Ingredients for this pressure cooker beef and barley stew recipe couldn't be easier!

• Stewing beef: I usually cut store-bought stew meat into even smaller 1-inch cubes, it cooks faster and becomes even more fall apart tender.
• Garlic and onion: Minced garlic and finely chopped onion add aromatic savory taste.
• Carrots and celery: Both are diced and are common soup ingredients that add a lot of flavor.

The combination of diced onion, carrot and celery is also called mirepoix and is a French flavor base used to sweeten and add depth of flavor to dishes!

• Beef broth: Low sodium or for even more of a nutrient loaded soup use bone broth.
• Oil: Whatever you have on hand for frying the beef. Olive oil is a great option.
• Barley: Uncooked, rinsed and drained, hulled or pearl barley.

I grew up in Ukraine eating beef and barley soup. Beef was expensive, so this soup was a treat. Grandma used pearl barley, which you can use as well. I always strive to find hulled barley when grocery shopping as it's more nutritious.

• Dried herbs: Dried thyme and bay leaf add another layer of flavor.
• Salt and pepper: Added to taste, amount depends whether your broth is low sodium or not.
• Fresh parsley: Added right before serving for a burst of fresh flavor.

How to Make Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup

• Prep:Start by pressing the Saute button on your Instant Pot. Wait until it says Hot before you do anything else. You'll notice that the Instant Pot isn't meant for giving the meat a perfect sear and that's OK.
• Brown beef: Once it says Hot, add half of the oil and half of the beef cubes. Cook until brown. When your first batch is brown, transfer to a plate and do the same with the second batch. You want to do this in batches because adding all of the meat in at once won't give all sides an equal opportunity to sear. Add in the thyme and press Cancel.

If there is a lot of browned bits from the beef, add a splash of your broth and loosen them at the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the dreaded Burn.

• Add ingredients: Add the first batch of meat back into the pot along with broth, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, barley, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
• Pressure cook: Close the lid, move your pressure vent to the Sealing position, and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 10 minutes. When pot has reached its full pressure the cooking time starts to count down.
• Pressure release: Once Instant Pot beeps, allow it to naturally release for 15 minutes. This is to avoid a world of splatter that comes with quick releasing a pot full of liquid. Then, turn the valve to Venting to release the remaining pressure. You can also let it do a Natural Release on its own, but keep in mind that will just extend the time you're waiting to eat!
• Add parsley and serve: Open the lid, toss in your chopped parsley and give it a stir. Serve your pressure cooker beef and barley stew hot!

Keep warm: If you've made a pot of Instant Pot beef barley soup but no one is home to eat it yet, keep it on the warm setting until you're ready to serve.

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Optional Add-In's and Variations

• Tomato paste: Just a small amount for added taste.
• Diced tomatoes: Adds a pop of color and taste.
• Mushrooms: Sear some sliced mushrooms with beef.
• Diced potato: I would only add this if you are not planning to freeze leftovers of your stew.
• Worcestershire sauce: One tablespoon for added 'beefy' taste.
• Seasonings: Instead of thyme, use dried oregano, rosemary or basil.
• Parmesan cheese rind: Adds another layer of savory flavor.
• Broth: While beef broth is preferred, you can use chicken or vegetable broth.
• Vegan/vegetarian: Omit the meat, double your vegetables and use veggie broth. You could also add extra vegetables such as green beans, corn, frozen peas (added after) etc.
• Chicken barley soup: Use whole chicken breasts, cook soup, remove chicken, shred and add them back in.
• Low carb: You might be able to skip the barley and use cauliflower rice. Stir in after soup is done. I have not tried this, but should work.
• Peas: Stir in frozen peas after cooking is done.

Fresh garlic added at the end is always a welcome and favorite addition.

Tips for Best Results

• Instant Pot doesn't brown well: I have tested Saute in 3 different sizes and models and neither does really brown the meat. Which makes sense because walls of the pot are so high. So, do not spend a lot of time waiting for perfectly seared meat. Five minutes per each half of beef is good enough for flavor.
• 3 heat settings for Saute: Many people do not know but you can select how hot Saute gets. Press Saute, then press Adjust to select between Less, Normal and More. For hottest setting we want More.
• Skip salt with regular broth: If you use regular beef broth or base from a jar, skip salt completely and adjust after to taste. Chances are you will not have to add any. Beef contains sodium as well.
• 3 quart Instant Pot: Cut ingredients in half and keep same cooking time.
• 6, 8 or 10 quart Instant Pot: Use recipe as written. I bet you could double it in 10 quart.
• Pearl vs. hulled barley: Pearl barley is essentially like white flour. Whereas, hulled barley is minimally processed, removing only the inedible outer shell. It is a whole grain.

FAQs

Is Instant Pot beef and barley soup gluten free?

Barley is not gluten free, you may be able to use rice or quinoa and reduce cooking time by a few minutes, but I have not tested it this way. I recommend making quinoa stew with beef instead.

Can you use frozen beef for pressure cooker beef and barley stew?

This should work as long as your meat is cubed already. Skip sautéing and add additional 10 minutes to cooking time. Note that this has not been tested, so that time is estimated.

Can you skip sauteing the stew beef?

Yes, but it does add additional flavor.

What other beef can I use in this beef barley soup Instant Pot?

You can use 1 lb of ground beef, saute, add other recipe ingredients and proceed with cooking.

Can I make beef and barley soup Instant Pot in slow cooker?

Saute meat and veggies and then slow cook all ingredients together for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Pearl barley will be mushier, hulled barley chewier.

Does barley get soggy in soup?

Pearl barley will be mushier, hulled barley will have a chewy texture.

How do you thicken beef barley soup?

If you find your soup too brothy, make a roux to thicken it with water and cornstarch. Stir into pot after cooking, close lid for a few minutes and then stir before serving.

How to Serve Beef and Barley Stew?

For a winter hearty meal that equates to a down home comfort meal serve with crusty bread or even homemade cornbread! Here are some more options to make a complete meal:

• Soup and salad combo: Massaged kale salad, arugula beet salad or spinach salad.
• Soup and sandwich: Grilled cheese or healthy tuna melt.
• Serve with appetizers: Charcuterie board, garlic olive dip or healthy spinach artichoke dip.

How to Store Beef and Barley Soup Instant Pot?

Store: Did you know you can transfer your inner Instant Pot right to the fridge? There are plenty of accessories available for the Instant Pot and a fitting silicone lid is one of them. Just one less thing to wash! But you can always use an airtight container as well. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Cool the soup completely. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Reheat: Once you're ready to reheat, whether from the fridge or from frozen, reheat on the stovetop. Cover and keep on low heat.

More Instant Pot Soup Recipes

COOKING MODE Prevent your screen from going dark

• 2 lbs beef stew meat 1 inch cubes
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 large carrots diced
• 2 large celery stalks diced
• 1 tbsp oil for frying
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 cup hulled or pearl barley uncooked, rinsed & drained
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 6 cups beef broth low sodium
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped

• On Instant Pot, press Saute and wait until display says Hot.

• Add half oil and half beef cubes, cook until browned. For more seared meat, drain liquid from the pot sometime in the middle. Transfer browned beef to the plate and repeat with remaining beef and oil, also now is a good time to add thyme. I save liquid to add to soup later. Press Cancel.

• Add broth, half of browned beef back, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, barley, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

• Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 10 minutes.

• After allow pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes to avoid splattering. Then turn valve to Venting to release remaining pressure. Or you can let pressure subside on its own which will take about 40 minutes depending on the size of your Instant Pot – Natural Release.

• Open, add parsley and stir soup. Serve hot.

Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container or inner Instant Pot pot with a fitting glass lid for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw on a stovetop covered on low.

• Stewing beef: I usually cut store-bought stew meat even into smaller 1-inch cubes.
• Instant Pot doesn't brown well: I have tested Saute in 3 different sizes and models and neither does really brown the meat. 5 minutes per each half of beef is good enough for flavor.
• 3 heat settings for Saute: Many people do not know but you can select how hot Saute gets. Press Saute, then press Adjust to select between Less, Normal and More. For hottest setting we want More.
• 3 quart Instant Pot: Cut ingredients in half and keep same cooking time.
• 6, 8 or 10 quart Instant Pot: Use recipe as written. I bet you could double it in 10 quart.
• Pearl vs. hulled barley: Pearl barley is essentially like white flour. Where as, hulled barley is minimally processed, removing only the inedible outer shell. It is a whole grain.

See recipe post for more tips and FAQs.

Calories: 283 kcal | Carbohydrates: 21 g | Protein: 32 g | Fat: 8 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Cholesterol: 70 mg | Sodium: 562 mg | Fiber: 5 g | Sugar: 2 g

Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes without permission. Nutritional info is approximate.

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Source: https://ifoodreal.com/instant-pot-beef-barley-soup/

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