Slow Cooker Recipes
Beef Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds stew meat (nicely marbled beef chunks)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 10 cups water, divided
- 3 heaping tablespoons beef base
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 onions, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large potato, peeled and shredded
- 3 or 4 large carrots peeled and shredded, about 2 cups
- 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
Instructions
- Salt and pepper the beef.
- In a large stockpot heat the oil over medium heat. (If you are using an Instant Pot® as a slow cooker, heat the oil in the Instant Pot®.)
- When it is very hot, add about 1/3 of the meat. Brown for about 1 to 2 minutes, then turn to brown the other side. Remove to a plate when it is browned on all sides Repeat with remaining meat in 2 more batches.
- When all the meat is browned, add all the meat back to the pot with 10 cups of water. Add 3 heaping tablespoons beef stock concentrate.
- Remove the browned meat to a large slow cooker. Add 2 cups of the water to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir up all the browned bits. Add this and the remaining 8 cups of water to the slow cooker.
- Add the beef base, celery, onions and garlic to the slow cooker and stir.
- Cook on LOW for about 6 hours.
- Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for another hour.
- Add the barley and simmer for another hour or so, until tender.
Attribution
Photo credit: kurmanstaff on Visualhunt