Beef Barley Soup

This is seriously so easy...and delicious!  It's even easier if you have a food processor and a slow cooker.  It makes LOTS, but freezes well. 


My old crock pot used to fit the entire recipe, but it has gone to appliance heaven so now I'm using my sister's old one (she wasn't using it so she gave it to me) and it's quite a bit smaller....the whole recipe doesn't fit in it.  You'll have to look at the amount of ingredients and use your smarts to figure out if it will fit or not.


I got this recipe from my mom....I've always loved her Beef Barley Soup.

pour 6 cups of water in your slow cooker

add 6 beef bouillon cubes or omit water and cubes and use beef broth instead...or use this stuff...

add one can of tomato soup

one can diced tomatoes

2 cups shredded carrots

2 cups shredded potatoes

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup barley

Now this is where I have to skip a step.  You are suppose to add another 6 cups of water, but because I don't have room for it, I don't...however, if you do...make sure you add it.  If you don't...you'll have a soggy messy mushy mess.  I explain what I do at the end, but it's not as good as if I were to add it now...and it's more tedious.

add 1 tbsp parsley flakes

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp thyme

Looks like dog food, doesn't it?  I did not like it this way.  I was lazy and just cubed up a chilled left over roast.  I should have shredded it.  I actually normally use ground beef in this recipe, but I had quite a few roasts to use, so I used it. Anyways...add 3 cups cooked roast beef or 2 lbs ground beef, cooked.

Set it on low for the day.  If your crock pot fits all of it in, then you're done!


When I get home from work I pour half the soup into a large pot.  Then I add water to both the pot and the crock pot and I try to let it cook as long as I can to absorb the flavour.  It doesn't have as much flavour as it would if the water cooked in it all day.  Mine always tastes better as leftovers because of this.  If you have room, add that water...it makes a huge consistency and flavour difference.


Here are our leftovers, after we ate our dinner and put some aside for someone.

 

Printable Recipe Here

The printable version tells you how to cook it on your stove top if you don't want to go with the slow cooker version.