Best Ever Beef Barley Soup

We love beef barley soup.  My boys say it has steak so that means it's worth eating.  I have looked long and hard for a beef soup that I love.  I am pretty fussy about it, actually.  I don't love a tomato base for it and I don't love the huge chunks you usually find in a beef stew.  This is the combination of a couple of recipes I have tried and it is so good! The meat and veggies are super tender and the flavor of the soup base is just amazing.

Beef Barley Soup

1.5 lb stew meat cut into 1/2" pieces

2 c cubed potatoes

1/2 c chopped onion

1 c sliced carrots

2 t minced garlic

2 T tomato paste

2 t Better than Bouillon beef base

2 t Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/2 t thyme

2 T beef bouillon or 6 beef bouillon cubes

2/3 c barley

Place all in crock pot with 6 cups of water and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Notes:

I cut the stew meat into tiny pieces using kitchen scissors.  It is a personal preference of mine.  

While I don't prefer a tomato base, the small amount of tomato paste in this recipe adds to it.

Splurge and buy the Better than Bouillon beef base.  It is expensive.  It. Is. Worth. It.

Many beef barley soup recipes call for celery.  By all means, add it.  I don't like celery.  :)

This recipe freezes well.  Put all the ingredients but potatoes and barley in a bag and freeze. Add potatoes, barley and 6 c water to it in the crock pot to reheat from frozen.