This Instant Pot Beef and Barley is SO good that William’s Sonoma asked me to come in and make it for an in-store demo! The whole store smelled like savory beef stew and people lined up to have a few bites. The store was a buzz about how good this soup is, and I think I sold a few Instant Pots that day because people wanted to be able to make the recipe at home!
You will not be disappointed when you dig into a big bowl of this Beef and Barley. It is a blast of slightly thickened savory broth mixed with tender pieces of beef, carrots and onions, and the hearty barley takes it over the top! It is truly the perfect winter stew.
As of today the recipe has over 140 Five Star Reviews, here is one you can bet on:
“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!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Shari
RELATED: Instant Pot Beef Stew
Jump to:
- Dinner with the Instant Pot
- Secrets To Really Good Instant Pot Barley Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Barley Ingredients
- How To make Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
- Serving
- Storing
- More Instant Pot Recipes To Love
- Did you make this recipe?
- Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)
- More Recipes you will love
- Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
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, Sauté, 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!
Secrets To Really Good Instant Pot Barley Soup
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 sauté 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!
Instant Pot Beef Barley Ingredients
Onion, Celery, Carrots
Garlic
Stew Meat
Worcestershire Sauce
Tomato Paste
Beef Broth
Pearl Barley
How To make Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
Step 1
Add the chopped celery, onion, carrot and garlic to the instant pot to saute.
Step 2
Add the seasonings, Worcestershire, tomato paste and beef base.
Step 3
Now pour in the water and beef broth, scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Turn off saute mode. Add the barley.
Step 4
Add in the stew meat.
Step 4
Close the pot and let it cook for 25 mins. Then do a quick release.
Step 4
Let the stew cool and thicken for about 10 minutes before serving.
Serving
Serve hot bowls of Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup just as is… you don’t really need any side dishes since it has the protein, starch and veggies in the mix.
But if you want to bulk up the meal you can always serve warm crusty bread on the side as well as a side salad.
Storing
Keep leftover Beef and Barley Soup in the fridge in a covered container for up to 4 days. The barley will soak up some of the liquid while it cools, so you will want to add some beef broth or water to the soup when reheating.
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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Did you make this recipe?
I would love to hear your review, especially if you have tips and tricks to add! Pop down to the comment section and connect with me
Beef Barley Soup (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 yellow or white onion chopped
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 3 plump garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 ½ cups carrots, sliced
- ½ teaspoon each- onion powder & garlic powder
- optional 2 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary or thyme
- 1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoon beef base
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 32 oz beef broth or stock
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 ½ lbs beef stew meat - cut into 1 inch chunks (can be anywhere from 1-1 ½ 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 sauté mode. Sauté for 5 minutes.1 yellow or white onion chopped, 2 celery stalks, sliced, 3 plump garlic cloves, chopped, 1 ½ 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 thyme½ teaspoon each- onion powder & garlic powder, 1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 2 teaspoon beef base, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ 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 ½ cup water
- Turn off the sauté 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 ½ 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!
Todd Bultynck says
Awesome!!!!
Sherry Berbit says
this recipe is great !! I had to use farro, as I didn’t have barley. also used ketchup vs tomato paste, and it still was just fantastic. I have made it several times, once as a gift and it was a huge hit. best soup I have made in maybe forever!
Opal says
We love this stew I make it every week for my husbands lunches. I like the thyme better than the rosemary. Thank you SO much!
Cat Lemmons says
My family was crazy about this beef barley stew, they couldn’t get enough, a real winner
Nicole says
Made this last night with venison. My husband and I enjoyed this recipe, thank you!
Dave says
So good. This was the best version of Beef Barley soup I’ve ever had. Followed the recipe exactly. No suggested modifications.
Carolyn says
I made this the other day as a soup and we’re eating it for breakfast and loving it! It’s the best-flavored barley soup/stew I’ve made. You’re absolutely right about the tomato paste. It makes a huge difference. Worchester sauce… same thing.
Things I did differently for your recipe were to saute in an iron skillet and then deglaze and put into the I.P. I love my InstantPot, but not for sauteeing. I did stir the tomato paste into the skillet when the onions/carrots etc were just about done and let that brown a bit, too, to push up the flavor. I also added a pinch of cayenne. I just about doubled the broth as I wanted a soup more than a stew.
Otherwise, it was just as directed, and the soup is great. I do have to add a little water reheating, but that’s always the case with barley.
This is an excellent recipe. Thank you so much!
Diane says
I am making tonight, noticed you don’t sauté the beef, If I do would that change the cooking time by much?
Thanks!!
Susie Weinrich says
No, the cooking time is a mix of the beef and the barley needing to be cooked. Let me know how it turns out!
Sue says
Very tasty! I will reduce the barley next time as there wasn’t much broth left. My family loved this!
Kurt Blodgett says
*please don’t share this with my mother*
This is the best damn beef barley stew I have ever had in my 53 years! It was easy to make, tastes phenomenal, and it hits the spot on a cold winter night! Wow! What a great testament to what Mom’s Dinner is all about! Next: https://momsdinner.net/4-ingredient-bread/ as an accompaniment at a future meal.
Susie Weinrich says
What high praise, thank you so much!!! I am so glad you loved the stew. Easy recipes with lots of flavor is what we are all about!
Alex says
The prep time on this is a little under estimated on the prep time. 10 minutes is closer to the time needed to bring the meal up to high pressure, plus th N the time to cut and measure all the ingredients.
Vic says
Hi,
would be great if you could add the metric measures as here in Europe we use g/kg and ml/l …. and the conversion is sometimes difficult as US cups and UK cups are also different
Dana says
This was the best beef stew recipe I’ve tried! Thank you 😊
Elizabeth says
So good! The flavor brings me back to my childhood! My mother would cook stew with the same flavor profile. This recipe is a keeper and so easy to make! Love it!
Seprenna says
I made this yesterday and it was soooooooo good im having the leftovers today with bread and butter
Lilly says
I added 2 cups of potatoes and about 2 cups extra broth…..we loved it and im making it again tonight with the leftover prime rib from the holidays 😊