slow cooked beef stew with barley
Tender melt in your mouth pieces of beef, little bites of barley, taters and carrots. Finished off with corn and peas. This slow cooked beef stew is the ultimate cozy food.
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Hearty, beefy and full of incredible flavor, this stew is the perfect end to a cold day. The beef is slow cooked in the slow cooker or in the oven and shredded into melt in your mouth pieces. Then mixed with bone broth, lots of veggies and there’s a secret way to get amazing flavor….. maybe it’s not a secrete but I guess you’ll just have to see!
Serve with fresh baked dinner rolls or crusty bread smeared with way to much butter (not such a thing LOL) and you’ll be in cozy food heaven. We have tested this recipe probably 8+ times so hopefully it doesn’t fail you! Anyway… lets get to this because I know you’re hungry!!
what you need to make slow cooked beef stew with barley
ingredient list
- Beef chuck or rump roast (bone-in if you can find one)
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Onion
- Garlic
- Frozen peas and corn
- Fresh or dried thyme
- All purpose flour
- Pearl barley
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Oil (we use avocado)
- Beef bone broth
- Dry red wine
- Water
Extra tips for this recipe
We love bone-in roasts when we can find them. We have personally made with recipe with chuck, rump both with and without bone and 7 bone all with great results.
Yes, just store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. You can prep the roast for the stew and then refrigerate it or put the whole thing in the fridge and prep it when you make the stew. It’s a little harder to prep when cold but totally doable. Its also a great way to remove all the fat from the roast if that’s something you’re interested in. We trim the roast so we don’t have too much fat to deal with though.
how to make slow cooked beef stew with barley
Step by step detailed instructions below or scroll down for a shortened and printable version
for the slow cooked beef
Start by trimming any hard pieces of fat off a 3-4 pound beef chuck roast, then pat dry. Drizzle with oil and rub to coat all sides evenly. Season generously with salt, pepper and thyme if using dried, if using fresh just put some whole sprigs into the slow cooker when you add the vegetables.
Preheat a large frying pan until hot. Sear the roast on medium-high heat about 1-2 minutes per side on all sides or until a little caramelization is happening.
While the roast is searing prep the vegetables that will go into the slow cooker with the roast
- Peel quarter and remove the ends off 1 medium onion
- Cut 2 medium carrots into large chunks
- Peel 2 garlic cloves
Place the roast in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with 3/4 cup dry red wine and scrape all the browned bits off the bottom, cook for a minute or two until the alcohol is evaporated. Pour over the roast then add 1 cup water, the vegetables you prepped and a couple fresh thyme springs (if you didn’t put dried on the roast).
Cover and cook on high for about 6 hours or until the meat is tender and shreds easily (flip the roast 2.5- 3 hours in). You can turn the heat off after it is done and let it set for up to an hour.
Transfer the roast to a plate to rest until cool enough to handle. If you used whole fresh thyme sprigs then remove those and any pieces of cartilage that may have come off the roast, also if you used a bone in roast make sure you get any pieces of bone out. Pour everything else into a blender and puree.
Cut/shred the beef into large bite sized pieces.
to cook the beef in the oven
Follow above directions but place the roast into an oven safe dish. Cover with tin foil and bake at 325°F for about 4 hours or until tender and shreds easily.
Tip: If you use a cast iron or oven safe pan to sear the roast you can use it to cook the roast in the oven also as long as it is big enough to hold everything. Just transfer the roast to a plate after searing while you deglaze the pan and then put it back in.
For the stew
Combine 2 cups water and 1/2 cup pearl barley in a large pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 25-30 minutes or until tender but still a little chewy.
While the barley cooks prep some of the stew ingredients
- Peel and dice 3 medium potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces
- Peel and slice 4 medium carrots 1/4 inch thick
Add 4 cups beef bone broth, the puree from the roast, 2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoon fresh, the potatoes, and carrots. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook covered on a medium boil for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup water, stir until smooth. Add to the stew and stir immediately to incorporate, continue cooking until thickened. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.
Add 1/2 cup frozen peas, 1/2 cup frozen corn and the beef. Gently stir until evenly distributed.
Other comfort food recipes to check out
Slow Cooked Beef Stew with Barley
Ingredients
For the slow cooked beef
- 3-4 pound Beef Chuck or Rump Roast*
- Oil avocado
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Thyme fresh or dried
- ¾ cup Dry red wine
- 1 cup Water
- 1 medium Onion peeled, quartered and the ends removed
- 1 medium Carrot cut into large chunks
- 2 Garlic cloves peeled
For the stew
- 2½ cups Water divided
- ½ cup Pearl barley
- 4 cups Beef bone broth
- 2+ teaspoons Salt
- ¾ teaspoon Fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Dried thyme or 2 fresh
- 3 medium Potatoes peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces about 2 cups
- 4 medium Carrots peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick about 2 cups
- ⅓ cup All purpose flour
- ½ cup Frozen peas
- ½ cup Frozen corn
Instructions
For the Slow Cooked Beef
- This method is for a slow cooker. Pat the roast dry and trim off any hard pieces of fat. Drizzle with oil and rub to coat all sides evenly. Season generously with salt, pepper and thyme if using dried, if using fresh just put some whole sprigs into the slow cooker when you add the vegetables.
- Preheat a large frying pan until hot. Sear the roast about 1-2 minutes per side on all sides or until a little caramelization is happening. Place the roast in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with the wine and scrape all the browned bits off the bottom, cook for a minute or two until the alcohol is evaporated. Pour over the roast. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on high for about 6 hours or until the meat is tender and shreds easily (flip the roast 2.5- 3 hours in). You can turn the heat off after it is done and let it set for up to an hour.
- This method is for the oven.If you want to cook the roast in the oven which takes a little less time. Just follow the above directions but place the roast into an oven safe dish. Cover with tin foil and bake at 325°F for about 4 hours or until tender and shreds easily. (Tip: If you used a cast iron or oven safe pan to sear the roast you can use it to cook the roast in the oven also as long as it is big enough to hold everything. Just transfer the roast to a plate after searing, while you deglaze the pan and then put it back in).
- Transfer the roast to a plate to rest until cool enough to handle. If you used whole fresh thyme sprigs then remove those and any pieces of cartilage that may have come off the roast also if you used a bone in roast make sure you get any pieces of bone out. Pour everything else into a blender and puree.
- Cut/shred the beef into large bite sized pieces.
To make the stew
- Combine 2 cups water and the barley in a large pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 25-30 minutes or until tender but still a little chewy.
- Add the bone broth, the puree from the roast, salt, pepper, thyme, potatoes, and carrots. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook covered on a medium boil for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Combine ½ cup water and the flour in a small dish and stir until smooth. Add to the stew and stir immediately to incorporate, continue cooking until thickened. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Add the peas, corn and beef. stir gently until evenly distributed.
Notes
- *We love using a bone-in roast when ever we can find one.
- Cuts we have used in this recipe include chuck, rump and 7 bone.
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Thanks for reading and as always have fun in the kitchen!