Beef Barley Slow Cooker Soup (10 Days of Family Friendly Soups)

This series: I've made a lot of soup in the past few years.  I've come to know what my family will eat and what they won't.  Why don't you put my experience to work for you?!  Hope you find something tasty!  (I think you will!)

10 Days of Family Friendly Soups :: Day 9

This recipe was adapted from this soup here.  I made some changes to the recipe to get some extra veggies in there and to stretch the beef.  And I used my slow cooker.  (bonus!)

Beef Barley Slow Cooker Soup

Ingredients

2 lbs beef chuck roast, cubed

3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thick coins

1 onion, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced

5 - 6 c. beef broth or stock 

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 c. red wine

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. white sugar

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 bay leaf

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. dried parsley

1 small zucchini, sliced into thick rounds and then halved

1/2 c. mixed frozen vegetables

1/2 c. pearl barley

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Put the first 16 ingredients (up to and including the parsley) into a slow cooker. 

Cook on LOW for 6 - 8 hours.

Add zucchini, barley, and frozen vegetables.  Cook for another 1 -2 hours or until beef is cooked through.

Notes

Serve this soup with hearty bread or fresh dinner rolls.
Here's the dinner roll recipe I use.

This soup freezes well.  If it's too thick after defrosting, add water or stock to achieve desired consistency.

Of further note... in the photos, the one immediately below (with the sliced bread) is of the soup the day it was made.  The other photos (with the dinner rolls) are of the soup after it was defrosted two months later.  You can see that the veggies and some meat start to break down in the frozen-defrosted soup - it's just aesthetics - it taste just as great :)

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The Soup Savvy Page at the top.  So please feel free to Pin them now, or come back and visit the soup page another time!  You won't miss out on anything!