Comforting Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)
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A simple beef barley soup made in the instant pot (pressure cooker). The beef is tender, veggies are perfectly cooked, and the barley is al-dente. It’s seriously the simplest, most delicious soup. And it’s healthy too!
Feeling all the fall feels with the coziest, warm beef barley soup.
And yes, technically we’re still a few days away from the actual fall season. But are we really counting? I’m totally already there. Bring on the fuzzy socks, the oversized sweaters, the extra hot pumpkin spice lattes, and large, overflowing bowls of cozy soup and let me enjoy all my fall favorites for the rest of the year. ❤️
This is fall comfort food done right. Because i’m not just talking about any old boring beef barley soup. I’m talk about the kind of soup that hits all the perfect warm and cozy notes with spoonfuls of flavorful broth, tender beef, lots of veggies, and al-dente barley. It’ll stick to your ribs, give your insides a big hug, and leave your belly extra happy.
SERIOUSLY THOUGH.
There isn’t a single thing I don’t love about food like dis. ??????
If I haven’t said it enough, let me say it again for the umpteenth time — fall is my most favoritest season EVER. Mainly because the world turns beautiful hues of reds, oranges and yellow. But also because it’s officially time for everyone to get out there slow cookers for — SOUP SEASON. Which means gimme all the veggies// fiber-full grains// beans// legumes// protein and let me make you a big pot of slow cooked, rustic style soup.
What makes this soup recipe 1000x times better is that we’re making it in the instant pot so really you’re getting a soup that tastes like it’s been slow-simmered all day long without actually cooking it for a million hours. And yes, you sure can cook this recipe all day long if you really want to but do you really want to? My instant pot is seriously my new bff.
During Amazon Prime Day this year they had a deal on the Instant Pot that was just too good for anyone to pass up. It took me 3 whole seconds to decide that yes indeed, I did need another kitchen gadget and to hit the BUY NOW button. Slow cooker, pressure cooker, steamer, yogurt maker all-in-one. What? Do I actually need a yogurt maker? Heck no. Can I say I have one when the zombie apocalypse hits? Oh yeah.
To no ones surprise, the box sat in the laundry room unopened until a week ago when I went it to reorganize a bit. And there, still in it’s original box was the instant pot. And since [re]discovering it i’ve cooked most of our meals in this little gadget.
I’m obsessed.
It all starts with browning the meat — yup, right in the instant pot. Cleaning just a single cooking vessel has never been so satisfying. Though the browning is optional, I highly suggest it as it really makes a better soup. Once the meat is done, we’re going to brown mushrooms too. Because we know that this helps pick up all the little brown bits the meat left behind and it generously gives the mushrooms a little boost in the flavor department. Now add the onions, celery and carrots and let them sweat a bit. Relax, let the instant pot do it’s thing. They’ll pick up all the flavors left behind in the pot from the beef and the mushroom. We’re building flavors here. One ingredient at a time.
And when the veggies have softened a bit, we add the beef, mushroom, a little bit of thyme, and a couple of bay leaves along with the beef broth. If you’ve got a pressure cooker//instant pot, this will take just 15 minutes to soften the stew meat all the way through, if you’re doing this in the slow cooker let it hang out and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for a good 6.
And just before you’re ready to eat, add the shredded potatoes and rinsed pearl barley and let it cook for another hour on the high setting. The smells. ♨️♨️ Tender chunks of beef, warm broth scented with garlic, onions, and thyme. It’ll make the whole house smell like fall.
And before you sit down with a bowl of beef barley soup don’t forget to get out the loaf of crusty bread that you’ve reheated in the oven or better yet make your own because what is soup without bread to dip and sop up all that flavorful beef broth?
And when you’re contemplating whether or not you really need a second bowl, don’t think. Grab the laddle and be generous to yourself.
You deserve it.
PS – Up until recently, I’ve always used diced potatoes in my beef barley soup but the shredded potatoes is a little trick I picked up from The Food Charlatan and it’s seriously the best thing in this soup!
PPS – I highly, highly recommend the instant pot for you/the cook in your life (hello early christmas present!) I’m lovin’ it and am definitely planning on sharing more instant pot recipes in the near future!
Comforting Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)
A simple beef barley soup made in the instant pot (pressure cooker). The beef is tender, veggies are perfectly cooked, and the barley is al-dente. It's seriously the simplest, most delicious soup. And it's healthy too!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds stew meat
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 10 baby bella mushrooms, quartered
- 3 cups mirepoix (just a combination of chopped onion, celery, and carrots)
- 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups low sodium beef broth (or vegetable)
- 1 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 large potato, shredded (using a food processor or grater)
- 2/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed
Instructions
- Season the stew meat with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot or in the instant pot over medium-high heat. Add ½ the stew meat and brown on all sides for about 2-3 minutes total. Remove meat to a plate and repeat with the second batch and the second tablespoon of oil.
- Add the mushroom to the pot and brown the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes or until they start picking up the brown bits left behind by the meat. Remove the mushrooms to the same plate as the stew meat.
- If needed, add a little more oil to the pot and the mirepoix mix. Cook the veggies for 4-5 minutes or until the onions soften and become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
- SLOW COOKER: Add the softened veggies, stew meat, mushrooms, bay leaves, dried thyme, water, and beef broth to the slow cooker and allow the soup to cook on the high setting for 3 hours or on the low setting for 6 hours.
- INSTANT POT: Add the stew meat, mushrooms, bay leaves, dried thyme, water, and beef broth the to sautéed veggies in the instant pot, cover and pressure cook the meat for 13-16 minutes depending on the size of the stew meat. Allow the pressure to release before removing the lid.
- BOTH METHODS: Add the shredded potatoes and the barley and allow the soup to cook on the high setting (for the instant pot you hit the slow cook button) for 1 hour or until the potatoes and barley cook through. Season with additional seasonings to taste. Serve warm with chopped parsley on top and a loaf of crusty bread or crackers.
Notes
- Sometimes I like to spice things up by adding a little pinch of red pepper flakes along with the dried thyme too but this is purely optional.
IS THIS A GOOD CHOICE FOR YOU?
Nutritional content based on 8 servings.
if you like this recipe, you might also like:
Winter Lemon Chicken Barley Soup
instant pot chicken wild rice soup
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84 Comments on “Comforting Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)”
Home sick today and made this soup in my IP. Just what I needed. Thank you!
I am new to the instant pot. Like you, I just got it on Amazon, a Black Friday sale, this past weekend and j am anxious to try your recipe. I have an 8 qt and wonder if your recipe can be safely doubled and pressure cooked? What size is your instant pot?
Glad you decided to hop on the IP bandwagon, Heidi! Hmm.. from what I remember the soup came up about 1/2 way in my 6qt. So you should be able to double it in an 8qt, but unfortunately, I’m not a 100% sure on that one!
This soup was amazing!!! I made it in my instant pot and it is definitely our favorite beef barley soup recipe! Perfect for this cold November night! Thanks for a great recipe!
I made this for supper tonight and it was really good! I was afraid the barley wouldn’t be cooked enough so I made jasmine rice on the stovetop and added it at the end. My husband was disappointed because he really likes the barley but I and my mother in law thought it was fantastic, even with just the rice. I natural pressure released it for about 30 minutes and then quick release. The stew meat was SO tender and good! I did not have low sodium beef broth so I used Harrington Farms boullion base and the broth was really good! (My. mother in law even asked what I used for my broth, and she’s a great cook.) I’m definitely making this again. Next time I’ll do what the other reviewers suggested and cook the barley with everything else so it doesn’t take an extra 45 minutes to an hour at the end.
Folwed others advice and after broning meat, put everything else in (diced the potato) including 4 chopped leaves of kale and pressure cooked 35 mins. Was perfectly done and delicious. .
Absolutely DELICIOUS! Was out of thyme leaves so had to leave that out. I also had some left over fresh corn, and added it after it was finished. Everyone loved it!! Making again in a few weeks for a soup get together.
I’ve been making beef-barley soup for years on the stovetop.My Instant Pot makes it much easier, to say nothing of quicker. I prefer to chop my veggies myself.
I start with as large an onion as is in the pantry and saute it until it starts to caramelize, then add some white wine. When most of the wine has evaporated I add carrots and celery in good amounts.
The meat has been browned in a large chicken fryer to cut down on prep time. When I lock down the lid on my IP, I start the barley on the stovetop – again, to reduce prep time. By the time the IP is done, with a natural release, the barley is just the way I like it. After draining the barley, I add the barley and contents of the IP in a large soup pot with cover. When it has cooled enough to refrigerate, it goes into the fridge overnight. This process really intensifies the flavor when it is reheated and served the next day.. Too much work? We are retired and really enjoy our Instant Pot and our soups. I haven’t used mushrooms much, but your prep method looks pretty good and will try it soon. Thanks,Mike
Made this soup. Used the all in at once, 35 minute pressure cook with a 20 minute natural release. Texture was perfect. After, cooking, I augmented the flavour of the liquid with 2 pods I’d Knorr Homestyle Beef Stock Bouillon. This made an already good soup into one to die for.
I followed Wayne’s suggestion and threw everything in the pot to cook together for 30 minute at High Pressure. I used 10 minute barley and shredded the potato. Let the pressure cooker release naturally for ten minutes or so (because I didn’t hear the timer), then manually released. Came out wonderful – meat was really tender and I had a lot of requests for seconds. Next time I will spice it up more and look for a better beef broth (not thrilled with the one I picked up).
My husband and I like are barley a bit more cooked so I threw the barley in with everything and cooked on manual for 30 minutes…came out perfect 🙂 Thank you for the yummy recipe!
I have made this recipe twice now, both times in a Crock Pot. The first time I used store bought beef stock and the second time store bought beef broth. The stock made it taste so much better. Both were delicious!!! Thank you!
Can I use frozen vegetables and when would I put them in the insta pot?
Depends on the kind of frozen veggies! If you’re looking to add the mirepoix frozen, I’d add it along with the garlic, right before you start pressure cooking (no need to saute). If you’re looking to add other veggies (such as green beans or something) I’d add those in with the potatoes and barley.
I was disappointed that you call this an instant pot recipe, having to use the crockpot feature of it instantly cancels
out the quick and easy reason so many of us like the instant pot. I used Tara Mondays suggestion and I added it all at once. 35 mins on meat /stew and it was delish. Meat was cooked and tender. Barley was just right. Potatoes, which i did in chunks good, only needed a wee bit of salt and pepper. I’m slurping down a bowl as I type. Perfect for a snowed in Sunday.
Thanks for sharing this recipe — it sounds delicious!
Oh wow.! Thank you for posting this beef barley soup. I left out the potatoes and cooked it for 25 minutes, 15 min natural release and it was amazing! The beef was so tender and the flavour delicious. This one is a keeper!
If I only have normal beef broth and not low sodium will this turn out too salty? Any suggestions?
You can use regular beef broth if you’d like. I’d suggest cutting back the broth to 5 cups and upping the water to 2 cups to ensure your soup doesn’t turn out too salty!
This soup is amazing. I don’t mind a more “done” barley so next time I will through it all in at once. Also we added a little more barley as we had instant barley on hand. Great recipe.
I made this last night in my Instant Pot and it was very tasty. I made as is. Short cut I used: shredded frozen hashbrown potatoes in place of the grated real potato. I put them in frozen with the barley and they were perfect. Make it, you won’t be sorry!
Thanks for sharing your tip on the frozen shredded hash browns! Glad to hear you enjoyed the soup! 🙂
Great soup! Like others, I’m interested to see if it turns out differently if I put the barley and potato in when I do the pressure cooking so it all finishes up at the same time and finishes faster. I cut my stew meat into small bites that were more spoon friendly, so I did 13 minutes of pressure and quick release because I was anxious to get the barley and potato in and start the hour of slow cooking. Meat turned out slightly tough, so next time I think I’ll put it all together and cook under pressure for 20-25 minutes with natural release. Thank you for a yummy recipe! I plan to make the skiilet chili with cornbread this weekend while it’s super cold!
Made the soup today in my instant pot. It was easy to follow and to make. The soup turned out great. Everybody liked it and we have some leftovers for this week.
Thank you.
Made this last night and it’s quite delicious. I cooked it on Manual for 25 minutes instead of doing the slow cooker method for an hour (ain’t nobody got time for that!) to cook the potatoes and barley and it came out PERFECT.
I ran across this recipe today and I am going to make it very soon. It looks and sounds delish. I am a soup lover, so no matter what time of year it is… For me it is always SOUP time!!
Is the depressurization before the potatoes and barley natural or quick?
Either works! I’m impatient so I usually do the quick release!
This is an excellent recipe. Thanks for the clear instructions! It’s a keeper!
can this recipe be doubled? And does the meat need to be defrosted first? Thank you! Excited to try
Yes, the recipe can be doubled but it’ll depend on the size of your pressure cooker. If you’ve got the 6 qt. IP, like I do, I don’t think it’ll be able to hold a double batch. And yes, I suggest defrosting the meat beforehand for it to cook and become tender in the time specified. You could probably add frozen meat but I’m uncertain how much it’ll change the cooking time. If you decide to try it with frozen beef, I’d love to hear how it went!
Can you 1.5 or double this recipe in the instant pot? Making it tonight! Looks delicious.
Hi Megan! Yes, I think a 1.5 batch should fit in the instant pot (if you’ve got a 6 qt or larger). I don’t think a 6 quart would be able to hold a double batch though. Hope you enjoy the soup!
This is my favorite soup which I freeze and is my go to lunch. I really do not change anything except I try to use home made stock and I do up the meat.
I just made a big batch of beef stock last week and this was the perfect use for some of it! I used a grass fed beef bone shank and cooked it for 25 minutes before chopping it up and returning it to the pot. Because of the longer cooking time, I waited to add the mirepoix. I added it, the mushrooms, and the barley (skipped the potato because I had none) to the pot and set the soup button to 10 minutes. The beef was tender and the barley was cooked perfectly. Great meal for the first chilly evening of fall!
Hubby and I made this as our 1st recipe in the Instant pot. Not knowing what to expect it took 6 months to get it out of the box!
This was a bit complicated but I have to say it was well worth it! This was fantastic! Thank you for sharing, this will be a regular fall and winter comfort food.
Does this freeze well?
Just made this in my instapot I just bought last week and it is terrific. Very flavourful and yummy. Will be making this again and again.
Most beautiful beef and barley soup I have ever seen! Will definitely be making this in my IP!!!!
The beauty of the pressure cooker is that the temp get high enough to bloom and Mary spices which is why soups and other foods taste so much better. For this reason there is no need to simmer for taste. The IP does it for you. I have an article that explains the science behind this and will try to locate. Blessings. Joana
Made this today. Its middle of August and 95+ degrees, but no accounting for when this craving hits. It’s delicious and was easy to make. I omitted the potato, but will add it in the future. Thank you for doing the hard work.
When you say in step 5 to pressure cook for 13-15 minutes, do you mean press the “Manuel” button to do it? I’m new to the Instant Pot, so I need lots of details 🙂
Sorry I see someone else had the same question that you already answered!
I’ve made the recipe twice. Everything is delicious except my beautiful grass fed stew meat was undercooked. I’m wondering about the final step. Would 2 hours slow cooking be better or maybe the stew/meat setting?
I’m glad to hear you thought it was delicious! I think if you’ve made it twice (and the meat was undercooked both times) your best bet would be to up the pressure cooking time. Rather than 13-16, maybe more like 18-25 minutes. I don’t know if you’re using an Instant Pot or a different brand of an electric pressure cooker, but I’ve learned that sometimes the cook time varies a bit between brands. Two hours of slow cooking may do the trick too just depends on how undercooked the beef was and how well done you like your barley! Hope that helps!
This stew has amazing flavors!! Even my 2 year old loved this!! Thanks for sharing!!
I made this today and my husband and dogs loved it! I don’t eat beef, but the smell was amazing even for me. I will be trying more of your recipes soon.
Made this this evening and it turned out terrific! I didn’t have beef broth, instead used Campbell’s chicken broth. This recipe is a keeper. This was my first time making beef barley soup. The shredded potato was a nice trick.
Is it possible to add quick-cooking barley?
You probably could but you’ll need to monitor for doneness. I’ve only tested the recipe with the regular stuff so it’s hard for me to say how long it’ll take.
The setting for step number 5 is “manual”?
I just hit the meat/stew button and dialed it down to 15 minutes but I guess manual should work too.
This was the first recipe we tried in our new IP. It turned out wonderful! We added extra beef. We’ll definitely this make again. It cooked so nicely in the IP without getting mushy.
This was my 1st time ever both eating & making Beef & Barley Soup! It turned out FANTASTIC!!! My question for today’s dinner is:
I am literally turning Last Night’s Pot Roast Dinner into tonight’s B & B Soup. I just have to add the Mirepoix & the Barley. Can I PRESSURE COOK these add-ins, and if so, for how long? I am a bit of a Newbie to Pressure Cooking, but my guesstimate would be 8 minutes, then Natural Release? Thanks for any input!! Can’t wait for Dinner!~~~
Hi Linda! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Hmmm, to tell you the truth, i’m also still figuring my way with the pressure cooker. But I do think it would be in the ball park of 8 minutes. If you find the veggies are still a little crunchy, you can always cook them a little further. 🙂
Do you cover in step 6? I have glass lid too
Yes, you’ll need to cover it.
Hi – what a fantastic recipe!! I made this soup for our lunches – it’s going to be a very tasty work week 🙂
Excellent soup especially in the dead of winter with -24 c . The only change I made was the 1 hr wait for the barley , when you have kids it has to be instant , so all I did is added the barley and push soup 5 min and tested it out it was still al dente so I did and other 5 min soup button . It was Perfect !!
Keep the recipes coming
Valérie
I appreciated this recommendation, Valerie, because I also needed a quicker cooking time. (I had already had to increase step one’s time to 25 minutes to ensure my grass fed beef shank would be tender) I used the soup button for 10 minutes and the barley was cooked perfectly.
Great suggestion. I also tried cooking the barley and potatoes on the soup setting for 10 minutes instead of slow cooking for an hour and it tasted great. The whole family loved it. Next time, I am going to try adding the barley and potatoes from the start and use the Meat/Stew setting.
Looking forward to trying this recipe on my instant pot. How long do you keep it on slow cook once you add the barley and potatoes in the instant pot?
See step #6.
I got my Instant Pot before the holidays and have been trying out new recipes. This was my first soup and it was awesome! Very tasty and the family loved it. Loved serving them a healthy meal not full of preservatives and sodium that canned soups have. This is definitely a keeper for the cold winter coming!
Excellent! Very flavorful. I skipped the potato (didn’t want the extra carbs) and accidentally threw in the barley with everything else and it was still fantastic!!
My Instant Pot arrived yesterday and I christened it with this delicious recipe! I made a few, small changes: 1. I cubed the potatoes instead of shredding them. 2. I added the barley and potatoes into the mix right away instead of breaking it up into two parts. 3. I only used the “Meat/Stew” button which had the soup ready in 35 minutes (plus the prep and sautéing time).
The barley was cooked to our liking (not too squishy, not too firm) and the meat was incredibly tender!
This recipe is definitely one of my “go-to” recipes! Thanks for sharing!
I assume after the 35 minutes, you did a full natural release?
I’m new to pressure cookers, so bear with my probably obvious question. What is the reason for not adding the barley and potatoes in with everything else?
I like to add the barley and potatoes in afterwards so I can let the soup simmer and really develop the flavors a bit more and so I can cook the barley to preference. Big on texture here so for me, the barley has to be just done. If you don’t mind it being a little on the softer side, you can certainly add it all in at once! Hope that answers your question Jennifer 🙂
Thanks for the reply! That definitely helps! Hubby is going to be so excited to have this soup this week! 🙂