If you have been searching for a hearty, nutritious meal that also tastes incredible, this beef and barley stew just might be what you need! This stew is full of fall-apart tender beef, barley, root vegetables, and kale. The beef broth is flavored with various herbs and absorbs flavors from all the ingredients, tying the stew together. A special ingredient in this beef and barley stew is kale. Kale can be quite hardy and tough when fresh, but when slow-cooked, like in this recipe, it becomes extremely soft and tender.
What makes this beef and barley stew even better is the fact that it can be prepared ahead of time and cooked in a slow cooker. You can prepare the ingredients quickly in the morning or the night before and keep them refrigerated overnight. Then, in the morning, load up the slow cooker and turn it on. That is all you have to do, to have a delicious beef and barley stew waiting for you at the end of the day.
Scroll down to see how you can make this slow-cooker beef and barley stew at home!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Beef, chuck roast
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Potatoes, Yukon gold
- 3 Carrots
- 1 cup Pearl onions, frozen
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 3 cups Kale
- 1 1/2 cup Barley
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 tsp Thyme
- 2 sprigs Rosmary
- 1/4 cup Tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 48oz Beef broth
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup Flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Instructions
First, cut the chuck roast beef into 1.5-inch cubes. Then, preheat a skillet on high and add olive oil. To the skillet, add the cubed beef. Sprinkle with salt. Sear the beef on all sides for 1 minute each to brown the beef and lock in the moisture. If you are tight on time, this step isn’t strictly necessary, but it will result in more flavorful beef.
Next, prepare the root vegetables by cutting the potatoes and peeled carrots into 1-inch cubes. Also, wash and cut the kale into 1-inch strips. Once the vegetables are prepared, add all the beef and barley stew ingredients into the slow cooker. <– is this redundant with the next sentence??
To the slow cooker, add the seared beef, potatoes, carrots, kale, barley, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, garlic cloves, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. Lastly, pour the beef broth and water. The slow cooker will seem very full initially because of the volume of the fresh kale, but the volume will become much smaller as the kale cooks down.
Place the lid on and turn the slow cooker on high. Cook for 8 hours and the beef and barley stew with kale will be ready! Ladle the stew into a bowl and garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
If you like this recipe, you might also like Homemade from Scratch Chicken Noodle Soup or Slow-Cooker Korean Short Ribs. Lastly, subscribe via email or follow on Instagram to receive updates on all my latest recipes!
Slow-Cooker Beef and Barley Stew with Kale
Equipment
- 8 qt Slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Beef chuck roast
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Potatoes Yukon gold
- 3 Carrots
- 1 cup Pearl onions frozen
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 3 cups Kale
- 1½ cup Barley
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 tsp Thyme
- 2 sprigs Rosemary
- ¼ cup Tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- 48 oz Beef broth
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ cup Flat-leaf parsley garnish
Instructions
- Cut the chuck roast beef into 1.5-inch cubes. Then, preheat a skillet on high and add olive oil. Add the cubed beef to the skillet and sprinkle with salt. Sear the beef on all sides for 1 minute each to brown the beef and lock in the moisture. While not strictly mandatory, searing will result in more flavorful beef.
- Prepare the root vegetables by cutting the potatoes and peeled carrots into 1-inch cubes. Also, wash and cut the kale into 1-inch strips.
- To the slow cooker, add the seared beef, potatoes, carrots, kale, barley, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, garlic cloves, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. Lastly, pour the beef broth and water. Place the lid on and cook on high for 8 hours.
