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straight on shot of slow cooked beef stew in a white bowl with a piece of bread

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. Serve with fresh baked dinner rolls or crusty bread. Perfect meal for the end of a cold day.
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 6 hrs 30 mins
Total Time 7 hrs
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people
Calories 534 kcal

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

  • 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
  • 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. 
Keyword slow cooked