This Instant Pot Beef & Barley Stew recipe is a classic stew with super flavorful beef broth that has cooked-all-day flavor in just 30 minutes! It is full of tender beef, vegetables, and perfectly cooked barley. This is a hearty beef and barley soup that will fill you up, which makes it a perfect winter dinner.
Since this Stew is so comforting, filling, and easy it also makes a great dinner to take to a family with a newborn, a new neighbor, a family grieving a loss, or for a meal train.
RELATED: Instant Pot Beef Stew
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Secrets to Really Good Beef & Barley Stew
There are a few secrets that will ensure you have a great Beef & Barley Stew that is full of flavor.
Use a really good beef stock that has a lot of flavor. If you have homemade, great, but if not look for a beef stock instead of broth. A stock generally has more flavor.
Cooking in the Instant Pot allows you to get cooked-all-day flavor in just 20 minutes!
Use a quality Beef Base, like Better Than Bouillon Brand (see below. If you are not familiar with beef base, it comes in a jar and can be found in the soup aisle at the grocery store. It comes in a paste form and has super intense beef flavor. It is like the grown up brother of beef bouillon. I always keep beef base and chicken base in my kitchen!
Let the tomato paste sautรฉ a little to caramelize the flavors a little, but make sure you deglaze the bottom of the pot completely before pressure cooking!
Seasoning the soup properly with salt and pepper always enhances flavors perfectly!
Dinner with the Instant Pot
If there is one thing I can say about the Instant Pot is that it can make dinner prep super fast!!! Beef and Barley Stew is something that would normally take about an hour to prep and cook. But, with the pressure cooker it is done in a flash.
I use the Instant Pot Duo Plus 60 6 quart 9-in-1, I also recommend the Instant Pot 6 quart 7-in-1. I like these two pots because of the size, 6 quarts. This is the perfect size for just about any Instant Pot recipe you will come across.
I’m not sure I will ever use all the functions, like sterilize or yogurt. But, If I want them they are there! The functions I use most are the Soup/Broth, Meat/Stew, Sautรฉ, Pressure Cook, and Bean/Chili.
I will definitely use the slow cooker mode too, but right now I’m obsessed with the quicker cooking recipes using the pressure cooking modes!
More Instant Pot Recipes To Love
Some of my other favorite Instant Pot Recipes are this Instant Pot Beef Stew, Chicken & Rice Soup, Cajun Rice with Chicken & Sausage, and Turkey Meatballs. Or you can check out ALL my Instant Pot recipes here.
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Instant Pot Beef & Barley Stew Recipe + Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 yellow or white onion chopped
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 3 plump garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 ยฝ cups carrots, sliced
- ยฝ teaspoon each- onion powder & garlic powder
- optional 2 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary or thyme
- 1 ยฝ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoon beef base
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ยฝ teaspoon black pepper
- 32 oz beef broth or stock
- 1 ยฝ cup water
- 1 ยฝ lbs beef stew meat - cut into 1 inch chunks (can be anywhere from 1-1 ยฝ lbs)
- 1 cup pearl barley - I use Bob’s Red Mill brand
Instructions
- Add the oil, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic to the Instant Pot on sautรฉ mode. Sautรฉ for 5 minutes.ย1 yellow or white onion chopped, 2 celery stalks, sliced, 3 plump garlic cloves, chopped, 1 ยฝ cups carrots, sliced, 1 tablespoon oil
- Add the onion powder, garlic powder, Worcestershire, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and beef base, stir to combine with the veggies.and optional rosemary or thymeยฝ teaspoon each- onion powder & garlic powder, 1 ยฝ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 2 teaspoon beef base, 1 teaspoon salt, ยฝ teaspoon black pepper, optional 2 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary or thyme
- Pour in the beef stock and water and deglaze the bottom of the pot, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom. This will prevent the burn notice.32 oz beef broth or stock, 1 ยฝ cup water
- Turn off the sautรฉ mode.
- Add in the stew meat and pearl barley. Make sure all the barley is submerged.PRO TIP: if you have a sensitive pot that gives you the burn notice do not stir at this point, just let the barley sit above the meat, but make sure it is all submerged in liquid or at least touching the liquid.1 ยฝ lbs beef stew meat, 1 cup pearl barley
- Close the Instant Pot and set to meat/stew mode (or manual/pressure mode), high pressure, for 25 minutes.
- Do a quick release. Give it a good stir and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes.It will thicken as it cools!
- Serve!
Deb Curtis says
This was delicious. Gathering all ingredients first made the assembly of this recipe an easy process, and the end result pleased my entire family – even the picky eaters. Served with some crusty bread and sliced cucumbers in vinegar rounded out my family’s meal. When making it, I added 1/2 tsp of dried thyme and I used 2 bouillion cubes instead of the beef base – which worked fine. I also enjoyed this stew leftover as an easy to microwave lunch at work the next day!
Melissa Torres says
Thank you for the suggestions – it’s great so it can be delicious each time with what you have on hand. Appreciate you sharing!
Shari Meads says
I’ve made this several times, always with delicious results. I add sliced mushrooms as others before me have suggested, and I use more Worcestershire sauce because I love it. This recipe is without question still a 5/5 without those changes; they are just my personal preferences. Thank you for such a hearty and delicious meal!
Susie Weinrich says
I LOVE Worcestershire too!!! You will probably love the new Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe. It has 3 Tbsp of Worcestershire!
Amelia says
Our family loves this beef stew, and I love that it is so easy to make in the IP. Thanks so much for a great recipe!!
Susie Weinrich says
Yes! It’s one of our faves too. There is an Instant Pot Beef Stew coming out soon that will be similar to this – stay tuned!
Leslie says
I added mushrooms – came out delicious.
Susie Weinrich says
Love the addition of mushrooms, great idea!
Barbara says
My husband purchased Quaker Quick Barley. Can I use it in this recipe? Do I need to make adjustments?
Susie Weinrich says
I think it is the same thing… I think. Pearl barley is barley that has the husk removed so it cooks quicker. I think Quaker calls theirs quick instead of pearl.
Tracy says
Pearl barley & quick barley are not the same thing. Pearl barley takes about 2 1/2 times longer to cook than quick barley.
Dana Davis says
Super easy to make! I used low sodium beef broth to cut back on the salt and added fresh chopped basil instead of parsley because that’s what I had on hand. Easiest instant pot recipe ever!
Susie Weinrich says
I hope you will stick around for some other Instant Pot recipes too.
Angie says
This recipe sounds great and I am planning on making it today. I would like to use farro instead of barley. Do I need to make any adjustments or precook the farro??
Susie Weinrich says
I think you can use farro but your cooking time will be a bit different. I wouldn’t pre-cook the farro because you want the starch to cook into the stew.
Work through step 4, then in step 5 only add the beef. Close the pot and cook for 15 minutes, then release the pressure. Add the farro and then close the
pot back up and cook for another 7 minutes, with a 5 minute natural release.
Give it a good stir and let it cool/thicken for about 5-10 more minutes.
I haven’t tested this, but from what I looked up on farro it should work. Report back!!
Kim R says
Fabulous taste! I did sear my beef in batches before sautรฉing the onions and celery. Also added 5 minutes after testing barley but could be because we were in a hurry and I didnโt allow the long slow release. But the flavor makes it the best recipe and texture I have tried for beef stew. I added mixed veggies, mukimame, sliced mini potatoes and more carrots. Thank you for sharing this.
Ivica says
Mine turned out very watery. Not like the photo. I could have added more barley and maybe some potatoes. Looks more like a sad soup rather than a stew.
Susie Weinrich says
Hmmmm…I wonder what happened?? If anything I have had to add more broth, especially as it cools. Did you happen to use hulled barley instead of pearled barley?
Pearl barley will release more starch during cooking, which thickens it up.
Linda Paul says
I was on the verge of giving away the Instant Pot/pressure cooker that I purchased last summer. I hate it. Was spoiled for too many years by my mother’s 1940s cooker. BUT this recipe may have redeemed the devilish device for me.
I made this yesterday using lamb stock and meat rather than beef. Followed the directions and the stew turned out better than any lamb stew I’ve ever made!
Susie Weinrich says
YEAH!!!! I’m so glad this recipe redeemed the Instant Pot for you. I love that you made the beef and barley with lamb, great idea!
melissa muir says
I didn’t have beef base so just added an extra 1.5 cups of beef broth. It was delicious and very easy. A definite keeper!
Ivory says
Curious if my stew meat is frozen how long should I cook?
Susie Weinrich says
If you increase the time to 45 minutes, with a 10 minute natural release the meat should be good to go. My only concern since I haven’t tested this, is that the carrots, celery and barley might be overcooked at that point.
Another option to save the veggies and barley would be a 2 step process:
Add the beef broth, onion powder, garlic powder, Worcestershire, tomato paste, salt, pepper, beef base, and optional herbs, stir to combine. Add in the frozen stew meat. Set to cook on high pressure, normal heat for 20 minutes. Then do a quick release of pressure.
Add the onions, carrots, celery, and barley. Set the pot to cook for 25 minutes at high pressure, normal heat. Do a quick release of pressure. Give it a good stir, check the beef. Let the stew cool for 5-10 minutes to thicken. Then it should be good to go. (just a note – this has not been tested, but should work great!)
Timothy Ferguson says
I’ve been coming back to this recipe almost twice a year for a couple years now! Turns out amazing every time and my wife and I love it!
Nicole says
This is one of our fall/winter favorites! I love how you have the ingredient amounts with the step by step instructions… makes it so easy!
Katherine says
I usually donโt leave reviews on recipes but this was SO GOOD!! My husband and I both had multiple servings. The recipe is so quick and easy as well. Definitely will be making this again!
Laura says
This was sooo good. I gave some to my 90 year old mom. She loved it so much that it convinced her to finally buy an instant pot!!!!
Lori says
Can I make this in my slow cooker?
Susie Weinrich says
Im sure it is possible, but I don’t know what the timing would be on that?