Recipe: Hearty Beef Barley Soup
Recipe: Hearty Beef Barley Soup By Carolyn Vachani, MSN, RN, AOCN, November 18, 2009
This is a hearty, meal in a bowl. Using low sodium broth keeps the salt content down and all the vegetables make it chock full of goodness!
Ingredients
1lb. stew beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced or sliced
2 carrots, diced or sliced
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped or through a garlic press
8 oz. mushrooms (button or baby bella work well)
14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
4 cups (32 ounces) low-sodium beef stock
2 cups water
¾ cup pearled barley
1 tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp salt
1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
1-2 Tbs. cooking oil (I use canola)
Instructions
In a skillet, brown beef pieces and drain fat. Set beef aside.
In a large soup pot, heat 1-2 Tbs canola oil, add diced onion, carrots and celery season with salt and pepper and cook on medium-high heat until vegetables soften, 5-6 minutes.
Add garlic and mushrooms. Cook another 3-4 minutes.
Add tomatoes (with can's juices), stock, water, barley, spices and return beef to pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour uncovered, stirring occasionally. Taste it and add salt if needed. Remove bay leaf and serve hot with a crusty bread for sopping up the yummy juices.
Some tips
- Buy your veggies already sliced or diced to cut down on prep time.
- Recipe makes about 10 cups.
- Salt & pepper are not included in nutritional analysis. You may need to add more for taste at the end.
Nutrition Facts
Per 8 ounce serving
- Calories: 207
- Total Fat 12 g (saturated 4g, Trans fat 0g)
- Cholesterol 43 mg
- Sodium 204 mg
- Total carbohydrates 10 g
- Dietary fiber 2 g
- Sugars 2 g
- Protein 16 g
- Vitamin A (39% RDA), Vitamin C (11%), Calcium (4%) and Iron (12%)