We had a delicious Prime Rib roast for Christmas this year and I stored the ribs and some of the leftover meat in the refrigerator. Yesterday I let the ribs cook on low and slow with veggies for over 5-6 hrs and strained the broth. And finally today, I used the broth, barley, more veggies and cubed left over meat to make this comforting Beef Barley Stew with Leeks.
We tend to indulge a little on Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) then Christmas, then my son’s birthday. Finally today and tomorrow we can go back to some comforting, nourishing and recuperating food to then continue with few more days of indulging for the New Year’s festivities.
So when I say this Beef Barley soup was super welcome today, it’s really an understatement.
Prime Rib leftovers?
I used the rib bones and some leftover prime rib meat to make this soup. It was convenient for me because that’s what I had leftover after Christmas. But I bet you and me are not sitting with much prime rib leftover in our refrigerator on any regular winter night.
So if you’re looking to make this soup when you don’t have prime rib leftovers, I suggest you look into this alternatives:
- chuck roast – cube the meat.
- beef shanks – cook them in slow cooker and make beef broth, dice or cube the meat surrounding the shanks to add to soup later.
- any beef cut with some bone in it – these tend to be cheeper and you can make the broth yourself.
- Finally, beef for stew cuts are great for the soup and you can purchase beef bone or use any you might have frozen yourself from previous meals.
Let’s Cook Soup:))
Please see recipe card below for more details in ingredient quantities, but if you’re looking for a high level process here’s a quick list you can use to visualize the order.
- Boil leftover ribs with carrots, celery, onion and bay leaves. Once water boils, lower heat to low, cover pot and let cook for about 5-6 hours. Turn heat off and let the broth cool, strain and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days (if needed to store for longer then freeze in a freeze safe container).
- Chop or dice celery, carrots, leeks and mince garlic.
- Saute leeks, carrots, celery and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add cubed beef and saute for an extra minute or two. Add broth and seasonings. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes.
- Add barley and more hot water as needed. Add seasonings to taste and cook soup until barley has softened and soup has thickened. Adjust salt and seasonings to taste and serve with warm bread:).
Beef Barley Stew with Leeks
Equipment
- 1 Large Soup Pot
- 1 Wooden spoon
Ingredients
Bone Broth
- leftover prime rib bones
- 1 red onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 carrots
- 3 bay leaves
Soup Ingredients
- 2 cups cubed leftover meat
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 leek
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery ribs
- 1 tbsp marjoram
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1.5 cups barley
- water
- fresh parsley
- salt/pepper to taste
- 1 can diced tomatoes about 14 ozs
Instructions
Make bone broth out of prime rib bones
- I used leftover prime rib bones but you can use beef shanks or any other beef cut with some bone in it.
- Add bones, onion, carrots, celery and cover up with water. Add bay leaves in too. Set to boil, lower heat and cover pot. Let cook on low heat for about 5-6 hours.
- Once cool, strain the broth and refrigerate till next day if needed to make the soup. Usually I get about 6 cups of broth.
Making Beef Barley Soup
- Get a large soup pot (or Dutch Oven). Add 2 tbsps of olive oil and set to medium heat. Add diced celery, carrots and leeks. Saute until soft.
- I cut the leftover meat in cubes, bite size. I had about 2 cups of beef leftover but you can use more or less as long as you have some leftover. Add beef cubes over veggies and using a wooden spoon stir to cook veggies and beef together.
- Add barley, marjoram, thyme and salt & pepper. (about 1 tbsp sea salt and 0.5 tbsp black pepper but add salt pepper to your taste).
- Pour broth over and 2 extra cups of water. So in total you need 8 cups of liquid since we stored 6 cups of broth previously.
- Add diced tomatoes and continue stirring. Keep heat on medium and lower to medium low once soup boils.
- Let cook for about half an hour. Taste that barley is soft and seasoning is on point. Let cook few extra minutes if needed and adjust for salt and seasonings. Let soup cool a bit, then serve with sourdough bread!! Garnish with fresh parsley as you serve and enjoy:)
Notes
- Leftovers of this soup are even better the next day. Serve with warm bread and enjoy:).
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please pin one of the pictures from this article to your boards in Pinterest so you can easily retrieve the recipe later on. If you have any questions on substitutions or methods of cooking this soup, please let me know in comments. I would love to hear from you for any other variations of this soup!
Thank you for reading my blog, it means a lot to me and my family!
Other Soup Recipes
Here are some other hearty soup recipes you might be interested in:
- Bolivian Picana soup (Christmas Soup)
- Lentils and Ham Soup
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Stelline Soup with Chicken
- Black Eyed Peas Soup
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