Description
This Instant Pot Beef & Barley Soup is a comforting blend of tender beef, hearty vegetables, and pearl barley. It’s easy to prepare and perfect for meal prep.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds (1kg) beef stew meat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces (225g) mushrooms, quartered
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 4–6 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups (1.4 liter) low sodium beef broth/stock
- 1 (14.5oz) (411g) can diced tomatoes
- ¾ cup (140g) pearl barley, rinsed
- 2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons better than bullion beef base (or use 2–4 cubes)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Add stew meat, olive oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Brown the meat on all sides, about 5 minutes, then remove and set aside.
- Add mushrooms and sauté until nicely browned, adding more oil if needed.
- Stir in onion, celery, and carrot. Season with salt and pepper if desired, and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Pour in a bit of beef broth to deglaze the bottom of the pot, scraping up all the browned bits to prevent burning.
- Add the remaining broth, browned meat, tomatoes, barley, potatoes, beef base, bay leaf, and thyme to the pot.
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and turn to the locking position. Set the vent to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- After cooking, let the Instant Pot naturally release pressure for 15 minutes, then carefully switch the vent to release any remaining pressure before removing the lid.
Notes
For extra flavor, sauté the vegetables for longer until fully caramelized.
Feel free to add more vegetables like peas or green beans for added nutrition.
This soup can be frozen in portions for easy meal prep.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 500mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 22g
- Cholesterol: 70mg