Vegetable Beef Soup with Barley

I've always loved soup.  I've always thought I could live on nothing but soup!  So naturally when a nasty cold spell hit us a couple of days ago, I had to make soup.  I used to make this recipe when we were first married and hadn't made it in probably 25 years.  For some reason, this was the soup I craved.  I made this recipe up based on a number of others and I've updated it a little to reflect the changes in some of the ingredients.   Barley is one of my favorite ingredients in soup which is one reason why this is so appealing to me.

Soup making has been revolutionized by the Instant Pot which allows one to cook certain ingredients much faster than in the past.  I had a stovetop pressure cooker when I was first married so pressure cooking isn't totally new to me.  Being able to do everything in one pot, however, is!

I actually like this soup better the second day.  As with any soup cooked with beef, the broth can be a little fatty until the fat is skimmed off.  I've always found it easier to refrigerate the soup overnight which allows the fat to solidify on top.  I just remove the solid fat and dispose of it. 

This soup with a nice bread really does make a complete meal!

Vegetable Beef Soup with Barley

printable recipe

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Beef shanks (or 2 lbs. Beef shanks and 1 lb. stew beef)

1- 1 pint, 2-oz. Can tomato juice (or 3 - 5.5 oz cans)

⅓ cup chopped onion

1 cup diced celery

4 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

2 teaspoons Wocestershire Sauce

¼ teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons beef bullion paste or granules

2 bay leaves

6 cups water

1 - 14.5 ounce can tomatoes

1 - 16 ounce bag frozen mixed vegetables

¾ cup barley

Combine meat, tomato juice, onion, seasonings, celery and 6 cups water in soup kettle.  
Cover and simmer 2 hours.  Cut meat from bones in large cubes.  Skim off excess fat.  
Add meat, vegetables, tomatoes, barley and simmer 1 hour.   

Serves at least 8.

Instant Pot Instructions:

Using saute function, lightly brown meat on both sides and remove.  Lightly brown onion
and celery in drippings.  Add everything except the tomatoes, vegetables and barley.  

Using the manual setting, set for 40 minutes high pressure.   When cooking is completed,
allow pressure to drop naturally for 5 minutes then switch to quick release.

Turn pot to saute and add tomatoes,  vegetables and barley.  Allow the soup to boil for
about 5 minutes then switch to slow cook, highest temperature and cook until vegetables
and barley are cooked (about 15 minutes).