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Cozy Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup: Easy 40-Minute Recipe

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This cozy Instant Pot beef and barley soup is deeply flavored, soul-warming, and ready in about 40 minutes. With fall-apart tender beef, perfectly chewy barley, and a rich broth, it’s the ultimate comfort food made easy.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1.5 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Optional: fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Prep your ingredients first. Cut the beef chuck into 1-inch cubes. Dice the onion, carrots, and celery into similar-sized pieces. Mince the garlic. Rinse the pearl barley in a fine-mesh strainer.
  2. Turn on the Instant Pot’s sauté function to ‘Normal’ or ‘Medium’ heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and let it heat until it shimmers, about 2 minutes.
  3. Brown the beef in batches. Place half the beef cubes in the pot in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes until deeply browned on one side. Flip and brown the other side for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining beef.
  4. Sauté the aromatics. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery to the pot. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion turns translucent and the vegetables start to soften. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  5. Deglaze the pot. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the beef broth and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon.
  6. Add remaining ingredients. Return the browned beef to the pot along with any accumulated juices. Add the rinsed barley, remaining beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, dried thyme, and bay leaves. Stir until the tomato paste dissolves. Season with a pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper.
  7. Pressure cook. Close the lid and set the valve to ‘Sealing.’ Press ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ and set the timer for 20 minutes at high pressure.
  8. Natural release for 10 minutes. When the timer beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully turn the valve to ‘Venting’ to release any remaining steam.
  9. Finish and serve. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper if needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

Notes

For a gluten-free version, substitute pearl barley with brown rice or quinoa. The soup thickens as it sits; add a splash of broth when reheating. For a richer broth, replace 1 cup of broth with red wine or add a tablespoon of soy sauce.

Nutrition

Keywords: Instant Pot beef and barley soup, easy beef barley soup, pressure cooker soup, cozy soup recipe, 40-minute soup

Find it online: https://piperplate.com/cozy-instant-pot-beef-and-barley-soup-easy-40-minute-recipe/