Beef & Barley Soup

My husband doesn’t believe that soup is enough sustenance for a meal.

Did I change my husbands mind? I don’t know…his mouth was too full for comment

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 large (or 2 medium) carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs celery, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 pounds chuck meat, cut into chunky (yet bite-size) cubes
• 6 cloves (2 tablespoons) garlic, minced
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons seasoned salt
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound baby or fingerling potatoes, skins-on and quartered/roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot, hit Sauté and Adjust so it’s on the More or High setting. After 3 minutes of the oil heating, add the onion, carrot and celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until it softens just a bit.
2. Add the beef and garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes, until the beef is lightly browned on the edges.
3. Add the broth, barley, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, thyme and black pepper. Use a wooden spoon to give it a good stir, scraping any browned bits up from the bottom of the pot. Top with the potatoes and bay leaves.
4. Secure the lid, move the valve to the sealing position, hit Cancel and then hit Manual or Pressure Cook for 20 minutes. When done, allow a 15-minute natural release (meaning you do nothing for 15 minutes) followed by a quick release.
5. Ladle into bowls and serve with some bread (be it crusty French/Italian or garlic knots)!