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Ground Beef Barley Soup

Ground Beef Barley Soup

This comforting Ground Beef Barley Soup is perfect for family dinner and I bet the whole family will love it!
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 270 kcal

Equipment

  • large dutch-oven type pan

Ingredients
  

Ground Beef

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 2 teaspoon olive oil for sautéing
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil for sautéing onions and garlic

Vegetables and Herbs

  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 T minced garlic adjust to taste
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 cup finely chopped carrots
  • 2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme

Broths and Barley

  • 6 cups homemade beef stock or canned beef broth or as needed
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • ½ cup pearl barley

Seasonings

  • 2 T balsamic vinegar more or less to taste
  • salt to taste
  • fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
 

Cooking Instructions

  • Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large dutch-oven type pan; then sauté the ground beef until it’s cooked through and lightly browned.
  • If desired, put the ground beef into a fine mesh strainer and rinse with VERY HOT water to remove the fat. This is optional.
  • Put ground beef back in the pan, push to one side, add 1 tsp. more olive oil (if needed) and sauté the onions and garlic until they are starting to soften.
  • Add the homemade beef stock, vegetable stock, dried parsley, and dried thyme and let soup cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes.
  • While soup simmers finely chop the carrots and celery.
  • After 30 minutes, add chopped vegetables to the soup and simmer for about 30 minutes more.
  • Then add the barley and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
  • When the barley is done but still slightly chewy, turn off heat, stir in the balsamic vinegar, season soup with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve hot.

Notes

If you don't have homemade beef stock, use 3 cans beef broth and a little water to make 6 cups. This soup freezes or reheats well, although the barley soaks up the liquid, so you may want to add water when you reheat it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 270kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 26gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6.4gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 1541mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6g
Keyword barley soup, beef soup, comfort food, family meal, Ground Beef Barley Soup, soup
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