Beef & Barley Stew

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This simple beef and barley stew can be put in the slow cooker in the morning before work and left to cook all day long.

If you’ve researched slow cooker recipes, you’ve probably found that many of them only need to cook for 4 – 5 hours or they risk being overcooked. This recipe for Beef and Barley Stew isn’t one of them. You can put this stew on in the morning and let it cook for 12 hours and you will still come home to a delicious meal.

This stew recipe uses common ingredients you are likely to already have on hand in your pantry and your refrigerator. However, this recipe is very flexible. If you don’t have all the ingredients, you are welcome to substitute or leave something out. My family isn’t a huge celery fan so we often leave it out.

The spaghetti sauce in the recipe is a great way to use up leftover spaghetti sauce. However, if you don’t have any on hand or don’t want to open a new jar, a can of tomato sauce will work also I would add in a teaspoon or so of Italian seasoning to add a a bit more flavor to the stew.

I’m also not a huge fan of stew meat. Many times it comes in large pieces of random sizes. It will work just fine for this recipe, though it isn’t my preference. I typically cut up a roast or sirloin steak to use as my beef cubes.

We also like smaller cubes so that we get a taste of beef in bite. But if you like bigger pieces of beef, by all means, cut the beef into the size you prefer. With such a long cook time, it will most certainly be cooked through.

Beef & Barley Stew

You will find a printable copy of this recipe at the bottom of the post.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup carrots, sliced
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into 3/4 to 1″ inch cubes
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes, (14.5 oz)
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup pearl or quick-cooking barley
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
• salt, to taste
• Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top, optional

Instructions:

1. Place chopped carrots, onions, bell peppers, and celery in slow cooker. Add beef cubes.
2. Add all remaining ingredients, except Parmesan cheese.
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
4. Serve stew with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.

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