with deeply roasted mushrooms and red wine
You’ve never had Beef Barley Mushroom Soup like this before. Cozy and luxurious. Comforting and decadent. Nurturing and scrumptious. Delicious and delicious. That’s right I said it twice. It’s that delicious.
Tender, succulent chunks of braised beef, chewy little pearls of barley and deeply brown roasted mushrooms swim in a rich, gorgeous broth scented with vegetables, thyme and red wine.
I also throw some kale in so you don’t have to spend any time or energy making a salad alongside. You’re welcome. Spend that time opening the wine or buttering some crusty bread to eat with it.
I want my winter soups to have substance. Give me a big bowl of something that is absolutely packed with flavours and textures and really sticks to my ribs. Also give it to me with big glasses of rich wine and large chunks of buttery bread that will likely stick to other parts of me but that’s totally worth it because it’s so good.
This soup is thick. It’s bordering on stew. That’s how I like it. If you’re not on board with that just thin it out with a little broth.
This soup also keeps well and is the perfect thing to load into the fridge to dip into all week. I knew somewhere deep inside I knew how to meal prep!
Scroll past the recipe if you’re looking for tips, substitutions, questions, etc. and details on how to make this recipe, but if you want to get straight to it, here’s my recipe-ish…
Beef Barley Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 2 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1”-2” pieces
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 3 carrots diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 7 cups beef broth
- 2 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 2 cups chopped kale or spinach optional
For the roasted mushrooms:
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms chopped
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
Make the soup:
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
- Add in the beef, in batches, and brown on all sides. Remove to a plate.
- Add a drizzle of oil if the pot is dry and add in the onion, celery and carrots. Cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the butter and once it’s melted stir in the flour. Mix well.
- Pour in the red wine and stir well. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the beef back into the pot along with the broth, the thyme and the Worcestershire sauce.
- Add in a good pinch each of S&P and stir well.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for about an hour.
- Add in the barley and simmer for another hour.
Roast the mushrooms:
- While it cooks, heat your oven to 450 degrees.
- Toss the chopped mushrooms with the oil and soy sauce and spread on a baking sheet.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and stir in the soup once it is finished cooking.
Finish the soup:
- Stir in the parsley and the kale (if using)
Notes
If the soup is too thick, thin it out with a little more broth.
beef barley mushroom soup Recipe ingredients, tips, substitutions:
Beef – I use regular beef stew meat. Chuck roast is great or short ribs work well. You can even make this soup with ground beef or bison, in a pinch.
Barley – I use pearl barley, so if you only have pot barley you’ll have to adjust the cooking time
Red Wine – if you don’t want to use the wine you can just deglaze the pot with the same amount of beef broth.
Mushrooms – I’m a cremini girl, but regular white button mushrooms work just as well.
Beef Barley Mushroom Soup Recipe Variations:
Sweet Potato Version – add in about 1 1/2 cups cubed sweet potato when you add in the barley.
Herby Version – when you add in the thyme also add 2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary.
Cheesy Version – stir in a cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese at the end when you add the parsley. Stir until the cheese is melted in.
Beef barley mushroom soup Recipe, how to make it…
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add in the beef in batches—no overcrowding, the beef needs space to develop that deep brown crust. Scoop out the beef and set it aside on a plate once it’s all browned.
If the pot now looks a little dry, add in another drizzle of olive oil and then toss in the onion, celery, and carrots. Sauté the veggies until the onion’s softened and then add in the garlic, and let it cook for 1-2 minutes until it’s all fragrant and smells amazing. Next, stir in the butter, let it melt, then sprinkle in the flour and give it a good stir.
Pour in the red wine and stir well to scrape up all the bottom bits—let it cook for a couple minutes to work off the raw flavour. Add the beef back into the pot along with the broth, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce, plus a nice big pinch of S&P. Bring it all to a boil, then lower the temperature to a simmer and let it bubble away or about an hour.
Add in the barley and let it continue to gently simmer for another hour until the barley is cooked and tender.
While the soup is doing its thing we’ll cook the mushrooms. Toss them with a splash of oil and some soy sauce, spread them out on a baking sheet, and roast for 10 minutes, until they’re deep brown and caramelized.
Add the mushrooms to the soup pot, stir in the parsley and kale (if you’re using it – and you should!), taste to see if it needs more S&P and tuck in.
looking for some recipes to serve with your beef barley mushroom soup? try these…
- Serve it with this Chopped Kale and Apple Salad or this Fennel Apple Salad for a delicious fall lunch or dinner.
- Make some homemade bread to serve on the side like this Fluffy Black Pepper Focaccia Genovese with Grapes & Rosemary or make something fun like this 15 minute Garlic Butter & Cheese Stuffed Naan
- Keep it cozy and follow it up with this Upside Down Puff Pastry Apple Tart
- …or this Apple Almond Cake
If you like this Beef Barley Mushroom Soup Recipe let me know what you think in the comments below and please find and follow me on Social Media!
I tried printing this, and for some reason it won’t print.
That’s odd Margaret. Can you tell me what happens when you try?
You deserve all the kudos for this recipe plus your tips! This was INcredible!! Prepared as written and almost speechless at the perfection. SO SO good, a new staple in our home!
Terry! Thank you SO SO much for your comment. I am so grateful and so happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
Excellent recipe! I had beef tenderloin from Costco left over from July, and used that instead of stew beef. Great soft beef once stewed. Also, used fennel instead of celery. Had Swiss chard to use up – so the red/green leaves added great color. The broth is very flavorful – definitely a go-to soup for when the temps drop below freezing
Thanks Ginny, I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. I love the idea of adding fennel! 🙂
I’m a big soup maker…this was phenomenal! Probably the best soup I’ve ever made!!!
Thank you so much Barbara!!
This was so delicious! The only change I’ll make next time is to double the amount of mushrooms, because I couldn’t stop snacking on them before I added them to the pot. I did add the optional kale, and that was great too!
Thanks so much for the comment Karyn! And I hear you about the mushrooms. 😉
Both you and your food photos are beautiful! And I love that you call it a “recipe-ish.” A friend asked me for my cream of mushroom soup recipe, and I gave her what I could, but it is always situational, (like what’s in my fridge and what dietary restrictions must I factor in) isn’t it?
I use dried mushroom to make a broth instead of beef broth and increase the beefy flavor by using tallow instead of OO.
I skipped celery because I didn’t have it on hand, but I did have kale. I cook the kale stem like celery because I want it super tender. I added frozen peas in the step to increase the veg content/ color. And I didn’t roast mushroom because I had dried mushrooms—so I carmelized the heck out of my onions for that flavor/color.
So yeah, I didn’t follow the recipe, but I didn’t even think about kale til I saw you do it!
Hi Debbie, thanks for commenting! It sounds like you cook like I do and I love the variations you made to adapt the recipe so it worked for you. I’ve never used my kale stems but I’m going to now! 🙂
Made this w some alterations! I incorporated Serious Eats tried and true methods & recommendations (which I use for ALL applicable dishes) https://www.seriouseats.com/stew-science-the-best-way-to-brown-beef
I used homemade 1/2 chix 1/2 mushroom stock (again SE). Added some parsnips & leeks.
Just what my husband requested!
Hi Toni, glad you enjoyed it and made it work for you. Thanks for commenting!! 🙂