This delicious Beef & Barley Stew consists of stew meat and veggies slowly simmered in beef broth and Guinness until fall apart tender accompanied with nutty barley. A perfect hearty and healthy meal for a cold day!
Tell me, is there really anything better than a piping hot bowl of stew on a cold day? I think not. And this Beef & Barley Stew the perfect, hearty, healthy meal to get you through a long winter.
While this recipe does require some time on the stove, it is pretty simple to throw together and makes a big enough batch to be enjoyed all week. This stew is FANTASTIC on the second and third day and can be frozen and reheated whenever you fancy.
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Equipment
- Large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a lid: I love my Le Creuset Dutch Oven for this recipe.
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Cutting board and knife
Ingredient
- Beef stew meat: I recommend choosing high quality grass fed beef for the best results.
- Salt & pepper
- Olive oil
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Tomato paste
- Guinness or other dark stout: I really recommend using Guinness for this recipe for the most authentic Irish flavor. But you can use another dark stout beer in a pinch.
- Beef broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- Bay leaf
- Pearled barley: I love using Bob's Red Mill's Pearl Barley for this stew.
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Made this Beef & Barley Stew recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Recipe
Beef & Barley Stew
Flavorful beef stew meat and veggies are slowly simmered in beef broth and Guinness until fall apart tender accompanied with slightly nutty barley. A perfect hearty and healthy meal for a cold day!
Equipment
- Large Dutch Oven or other large, heavy pot with lid
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef stew meat, cubed
- salt & pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 4 medium carrots, halved and sliced to about ½ inch thickness
- 4 stalks celery, halved and sliced to about ½ inch thickness
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or ½ tsp dried rosemary)
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 15 oz can of Guinness or other stout beer (you can replace this with 2 extra cups of beef broth is desired, but the Guinness really gives it a nice depth of flavor)
- 6 cups beef broth
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup pearled barley
- 1.5 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- additional salt & pepper to taste
- additional Worcestershire sauce to taste
- fresh thyme leaves (optional) for garnish
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter in a large dutch oven or other heavy bottom pot with lid over medium high heat until hot.
- Generously season both sides of the beef stew meat with salt & pepper. In batches, so as not to overcrowd the beef, sear one side of the meat undisturbed for 1-2 minutes until browned. Flip meat to the other side and sear for an additional 1-2 minutes until browned. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the seared beef (it will not be cooked through at this time) to a plate and set aside.
- Repeat the process until all of the stew meat has been browned. This will probably take about 2-3 batches. Set aside.
- Melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter in the pan with the beef drippings and add in onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Sautee over medium high heat for about 5 minutes until softened.
- Add in thyme, rosemary and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute over medium high heat.
- Stream in the can of Guinness to deglaze the pan. Then pour in 6 cups of beef broth, stirring continuously.
- Add in 3 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, browned beef and one bay leaf and bring to a boil.
- Turn heat down to low then cover and let simmer on low for about 1 - 1.5 hours.
- After 1 to 1.5 hours of cooking, add in 1 cup of pearled barley. Continue cooking on low for another hour or so until the barley is cooked through and the beef is tender.
- Remove from heat and taste to see if the stew needs any additional seasoning. Add any salt, pepper or Worcestershire sauce to preference.
- If desired, garnish with thyme leaves and enjoy!
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingSodium: 1341mgSugar: 7.8gFiber: 4.8gPotassium: 787.8mgCholesterol: 82.6mgCalories: 408kcalMonounsaturated Fat: 2.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gSaturated Fat: 9.1gFat: 22.8gProtein: 27.5gCarbohydrates: 19.4g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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This stew is a keeper,perfect for cold winter days,a real rib sticken meal.
When do you re-add the beef to the broth?
Hi Kellie- Not sure how I missed that! You add the beef back along with the Worcestershire sauce and bay leaf. Sorry about that! Adding to the instructions now!
A great meal for a winter day...love this recipe. Definitely a regular feature on the menu now! Thank you
I completely forgot the celery at the market. I thought I had some in my crisper but alas nope! I did buy turnips and I had celery seed and celery salt. It is currently simmering on my stove; I just added the barley. Even without the celery the broth is wonderful. I cannot wait until the barley is fully cooked!
My whole family loved this recipe, and I have two very picky young eaters. I added butter to each dish and it made the broth velvety smd smooth. Next time I will have the meat sit in the salt longer. My soup pot didn't sear the meat as much as I would like but if I sear the meat in the cast iron skillet then I miss out on the yummy goodness at the bottom of the pot when I add the guiness and broth. I added basil and didn't add the bay leaf- I'm not a fan of bay leaf. We will be making this again.
I just made this and it was delicious. I sprinkled in a little bit more barley than it called for because we like our stews “meaty”. Speaking of which, I also used 2.5 lbs of stew meat — could’ve even done 3lbs. I didn’t have a stout beer so I deglazed with a couple turns of brandy. Turned out awesome! My entire family loved it. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
First time making a stew. Using Moose meat and my house smells AMAZING!!
Moose meat is a great idea! I bet it was delicious!
Loved this recipe I added a little less than 3lbs of beef because I could only find 1.5 lbs packs, also added and extra sprinkle of barley, and a little arrow root to thinken it just a bit. This will definitely be added to my rotation
So happy you liked it!
Lovely recipe. Used beef shin as it's a spectacular cut for stewing. Also layered with suet dumplings towards the end (it's the Brit in me!). Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed! The suet dumplings sound delish!