Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup -- The Kind of Dinner That Makes Single Digits Manageable

Utah in late January is the kind of winter that makes you grateful for a well-stocked freezer in the immediate, physical, not-metaphorical sense. The temperature has been in the single digits by morning and the kids are wearing so many layers to school that they look like particularly mobile bundles of fabric, and the slow cooker has been running every weekday because coming home to a house that smells like dinner is what makes the cold manageable. I have become an advocate for the slow cooker with the fervor of a convert: not always, not for everything, but on the days when the morning is dark and the cold is serious and the afternoon has not yet decided if it is going to cooperate, the slow cooker is the most useful object in this kitchen.

Sunday prep this week was almost entirely slow cooker meals for exactly this reason. Chicken and dumplings, four bags. Pot roast in bags of assembled raw ingredients — the meat cubed, the vegetables diced, the seasonings mixed in a small bag tucked inside, everything ready to dump in the slow cooker and walk away from for eight hours. Beef and barley soup, four bags. Hungarian goulash, which I have made only twice and which the family accepted with enthusiasm the first time and quiet surprise the second time, suggesting I had not diluted their enthusiasm yet. Four more bags.

Noah came home from preschool Friday and told me that his teacher said he has a gift for making people feel included. He reported this information with the pride of someone who is not entirely sure what the sentence means but can tell it is good. I said: she is right. He said: what does included mean? I said: it means making sure everyone is part of what is happening. He thought about this. He said: I can do that. I said: I know you can. He ate his snack. The conversation was complete. His teacher is right. He can do that. He has been doing it since he was born.

Of all the bags I assembled on Sunday, the beef and barley soup is the one I keep coming back to — maybe because it’s the meal that requires the least from me on the days that ask for the most. You dump it in the slow cooker in the dark morning, you bundle the kids into their seventeen layers, and eight hours later the house smells like someone has been cooking all day, which technically someone has, just not you. This is the recipe that earned its place in the rotation by being exactly what a single-digit January evening needs: warm, sturdy, and ready before you are.

Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 6 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

1. Brown the beef. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the cubed beef with salt and pepper and sear in batches until browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes per batch. Transfer to the slow cooker. (If assembling from a freezer bag, skip this step and add the beef directly.)
2. Layer the vegetables. Add the diced onion, garlic, carrots, and celery to the slow cooker on top of the beef.
3. Add the barley and liquids. Pour in the rinsed pearl barley, diced tomatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
4. Season. Add the thyme, smoked paprika, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Give everything one more gentle stir.
5. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours, until the beef is tender and the barley is cooked through and has thickened the broth.
6. Finish and serve. Remove the bay leaves. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh chopped parsley.

Freezer Meal Assembly

To prepare as a freezer bag meal: combine the cubed raw beef, diced onion, garlic, carrots, celery, pearl barley, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and all seasonings in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Label and freeze flat for up to 3 months. On cook day, thaw overnight in the fridge, dump contents into the slow cooker, add the diced tomatoes and beef broth, and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 6g | Sodium: 780mg