Beef and Barley Soup

I have reversed the amount of water and beef stock. Lots more flavor, we love it! It's a go-to winter recipe.

Why is this listed in gluten-free? My husband was just diagnosed with celiac disease and I was counting on this website, which I use daily, to help find recipes. If you are going to take the step of listing a "gluten-free" category, please make sure your information is accurate. I am so disappointed in myrecipes.com - this makes me feel that the information provided throughout is not as reliable as I thought.

This is a delicious, easy & substantial soup which is perfect for this cold February day. The only change I made was to add chopped celery along with the leeks and carrots; it's really yummy!

I'm not a big meat eater, but my husband is a meat & potatoes Irish guy, so this soup is a nice compromise for us. I use one pound of beef & substitute a pound of baby bella mushrooms for the second pound. I just chunk them up big & toss them in with the rest of the veggies. I follow the rest of the recipe as written. It's a great fall/winter dinner with a glass of red wine & some good crusty bread.

I made this soup for my wife because she was always talking about beef and barley soup. I was unsure of this though due to a bad experience with the same soup when I was younger. I am very happy that I tried this again, I absolutely loved this soup and so did my wife. Great recipe CL!

Really yummy soup! Made it with the rosemary focaccia, perfect combo.

This recipe has the potential to be a very good recipe but is lacking the flavor to make me want to make it again.

Haven't made this, but it was in the special "gluten free diet" section and barley IS NOT EVER gluten free. So if you're looking for a good recipe for yourself or a friend on a gf diet, don't make this!

Very good. Very filling, very flavorful. A great full meal for very low calories/fat. I added frozen green beans and peas too.

This was outstanding! At the suggestion of previous reviewer, I used 2-32 oz. containers of beef broth. I also ended up allowing the soup to simmer an additional 2 hours and it thickened nicely. Making it again today and I'm going to add mushrooms this time. Great for a cold fall day!

YUM!! This is our favorite fall meal!

I shopped for these ingredients on the first chilly morning of fall, before it turned warm again, but no matter. It's just delicious, even on a warm day. Heeding the advice of others, I tried skipping the water altogether and used two 32 oz. boxes of Kitchen Basics Beef Stock, forgoing almost two cups of liquid. Because I’m watching the sodium, one was “less sodium” and the other “No salt added”. Also, I added only half the salt called for in the recipe but almost twice the pepper. I figured the diners could add salt as needed. I simmered this with an open pot to allow for evaporation. This yielded about nine cups (or 8 generous one+cup servings) of a very delicious stew-like soup. I didn’t think it lacked any salt, the extra pepper gave it a little kick and the broth was rich and thick, like a nice consummé. Pared with a crusty, hearty grain bread and a glass a red wine, it makes a fine dinner. We’ll be seeing this again, regardless of the weather.

Tasted like chunks of beef floating in water. Not enough herbs or spices for my taste. It definitely needs more of something, but I'm not sure what.

At first, I was a little taken aback at the thin texture of the broth. I'd expected the barley to do a little more to thicken it. Then I realized that this was Beef and Barley SOUP not STEW. Other than that, this was a very flavorful soup and hearty too. I took part of the salt and pepper that was to be added all at once in the recipe to lightly season the stew meat before cooking it. I thought that would be an important step to insure the meat was flavorful. It's a very simple, no nonsense soup that does a lot of the work itself -- simmering while you do other stuff. Very handy recipe.

This recipe was delicious! My husband and kids loved it too. I served it with french bread and it was a great meal on a chilly night. The only things I did differently was I did 1 cup chopped onion and one cup chopped leek (instead of all leek). I also reduced the water to 4 cups and added one more can of broth instead. Really yummy and even better the next day! I will absolutely make it again!

As with other reviewers I halved the water and doubled the broth. Other than that I prepared as written. This is one of my family's favorite meals. I've made this at least 3 times this winter and will keep this on regular rotation. Hearty enough for an evening meal.

This is a very hearty soup! I wouldn't call it a soup, it was more like a stew with barley. It was pretty good though I felt that it could have a little more flavor. I would definetly add more carrots for extra veggies. I am not the biggest soup fan but it is a good, filling meal especially on a cold day.

Used more beef broth and added some extra veggies that I had laying around. Canned mushrooms and baby zucchini worked great. Needed a little more salt but other than that I would not change a thing! My family cannot get enough of this hearty soup. Definately one of our favorite winter meals. We are still fighting over the leftovers.

As other reviewers suggested, I used more beef broth. I used 3 cans LS,FF broth and made up the remaining needed liquid with water. At the end I added frozen petite peas for color. Served with crusty bread and it was fabulous! Will make again for sure!

Excellent soup. Wonderful flavor, will make again soon. Followed recipe as written.