Beef Stoup

No that’s not a typo.

It says stoup. STOUP.

Why? Cause this recipe is not quite a stew and not quite a soup, so stoup is it. Yes it’s a made up word and let me tell ya this, every time I say it Salt n’ Pepa’s Shoop song goes through my head.

Hear I go, hear I go, hear I go again.
Girls what my weakness?

What can I say, that’s just the way my brain works.

We had a really productive weekend and managed to get all our presents wrapped, and all our crafting finally finished (my poor hands really show the wear and tear lemme tell ya).

I like to be finished with all things Christmas by the second weekend in December so I can put the finishing touches on my menu and thoroughly enjoy baking and cooking.

I make a lot of soups and stews during the winter months. I love that most of them are made in one big pot. Anything that warms your bones is good eats in these parts right about now.

This one is a bone warmer for sure.



Beef Barley Stoup
Printable Recipe
2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces
(you can use 2 pounds of stew beef too)
1 tablespoon oil
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 celery stalks, peeled and sliced
2 shallots, chopped (can substitute 1 small onion)
2 tablespoons butter
1 – 8 ounce package of mushrooms, sliced
6 cups, less sodium beef broth
2 bay leaves
¾ cup uncooked pearl barley
salt & pepper to taste
cornstarch & water* (see note)

Heat a Dutch oven to medium high heat. Add the oil. Add the beef to the pan and cook approximately 4 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Don’t overcrowd the pan; you may have to do this in batches.

Remove the browned beef from the pan and set aside. Add the butter to the pan. Add in the carrots, celery and shallots. Cook until just tender (about 6 minutes). Add in the chopped mushrooms and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Add in the beef broth, bay leaves and browned beef. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for about an hour, or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the pearl barely. Cover and simmer another 30 minutes or until pearl barley is tender. Add salt and pepper. Don’t forget to take out the bay leaves!

*If you'd like to make your broth a little thicker, make yourself a slurry. Add a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch to a few tablespoons of cold water and stir until smooth. Add to broth to thicken. If you'd like it even thicker, repeat, but careful, if you make it too thick then ya can't call it stoup!

** I've added frozen peas to this the last few minutes of cooking. No need to de-frost, just throw them in.