Prepare for fall and a busy school year by mixing up a pot of this delicious homemade soup, chocked full of vegetables, beef, and barley. It’ll do your body good.
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For the first ten years of my life, I thought that all soup came from a can. Then on an outing with my mom and the Great Aunt Cass, I had Cream of Chicken Soup at a restaurant as a starter. What a fancy meal it was for 10-year old me! The soup was so delicious! I had no idea that Cream of Chicken could be so tasty.
When we returned home, my mom cautioned me that the canned variety would not taste like what I’d had at that little restaurant in Winona, Minnesota. Blech and Oh My Word. No, it didn’t. That was probably the moment when I realized that there was something better than canned soup.
It would be another ten years, however before I realized I could make the good kind of soup myself.
Now, canned soup is off the table forever. I can make my own for just pennies and it tastes worlds better than anything I can buy in a box or can.
One of my favorite combinations is Vegetable, Beef, and Barley. I actually reminds me a lot of one that I did enjoy as a child. My mom would serve it with buttered saltines on the side. Yum!
The difference between now and that long ago childhood meal is that this soup beats the canned variety by a long shot. Full of vegetables and barley, it’s hearty and delicious. Freeze individual portions in freezer-to-microwave containers to pack for lunches, quick snacks, or dinners.
You may think that it’s too early to think about soup season, but I say that any meal that is ready to go in the freezer is perfect no matter what the weather. Plan ahead to make a big batch of this to stock your freezer. Those chilly nights — and early school days — will be here before we know it.
Vegetable, Beef, & Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb chuck steak cubed
- 1 onion (1 cup chopped)
- 2-3 carrots (1 cup chopped)
- 2 rib celery (½ cup chopped)
- ½ cup pearl barley
- 4 cup vegetable broth
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
- ½ green bell pepper (½ cup chopped)
- ½ cup frozen green peas thawed
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Brown the steak cubes on all sides for 5 minutes
- Add the onion, carrot, celery, and barley to the pot. Cook until the onions turn translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in the broth, tomato sauce, chickpeas, bell pepper, peas, herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the barley and vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- MAKE IT AHEAD: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
Nutrition
There are over 200 recipes packed away in my new book, Good Cheap Eats, including this one. You can preorder it now and Amazon (if that’s where you buy it) will guarantee you the lowest pre-release price between now and shipping time. I appreciate your support.
Adrienne
We added a cup of cooked rice at the end in place of the barley to make it gluten free. Huge hit!
DIINAUS
Great to know. Late reply but was wondering if that sub would work with Brown basmati rice. Would lend a nice chewy nuttiness like barley.
Jessica Fisher
Yep. I think that would be fine.
Joy
Just made this soup in my Mother’s new pressure cooker and it turned out perfectly!
Jen Beaman
This is absolutely delicious and just the sort of soup my family loves to eat. I made it this cool , rainy Sunday evening in the Southern Hemisphere and it couldn’t have been better! Thanks for another great recipe, Jessica!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you enjoyed it! I have to remember that my readers down south are having winter, so I can post cold-weather food all year long! 😉
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup
Canned soup is pretty awful. The only thing it has going for it is convenience, but the convenience isn’t worth it. It’s never too early to start thinking about soup season. In fact, I eat it year round, except for the hottest days of summer. Thanks for classic recipe. I have lots of barley that I need to use up. I also just cooked up several batches of chickpeas for my new favorite summer salad I just posted a recipe for on my blog. I was able to freeze several bags of chickpeas for soups and pot pie. Thanks, again, for the recipe. I love all things that freeze well!
Karen
I make a similar soup but use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Then I only brown onion and celery, add already browned (and frozen!) hamburger or ground turkey, barley, beans (never thought of garbanzos!), tomato product and voilà….soup! Delicious!
Jessica Fisher
Yes! Frozen mixed veg is a great short cut!
Stephanie M.
Hi Jessica: Your soup looks so delicious!! I agree with you; soup is a wonderful and filling meal. In our house, it stands on its own. Paired with a nice loaf of warm bread and you’ve got a great dinner. I admit I don’t make soup in the summer unless it’s Gazpacho. The first soup I make when the weather turns cold is on Halloween night. When our girls were little and we all went trick or treating, I always made chicken vegetable noodle soup in the morning. Then when we came home at night from roaming the streets, we had something hot to eat when we were so cold. Now they are all grown up and I’m still insistent on making this chicken soup on Halloween. It’s turned into a tradition and Halloween just wouldn’t be the same without it. I can’t imagine eating anything else on that night! 🙂 From then on until Spring we eat soup every week. The varieties are endess; Bean soup, Potato hot dog soup, Hamburger Vegetable Soup, Beef vegetable soup, chicken rice soup, pea soup, ham chowder, stew, cream of onion soup with home made garlic/oregano croutons and lentil soup These are the soups I make all winter but there is always room to find a new recipe. I can’t think of anything better than a hot bowl of soup on a cold, blustery night.
Jessica Fisher
I don’t think I could wait until Halloween. We’re having a hotter summer than normal, and I’ve still made soup. 🙂