Creamy Beef Mushroom Barley Soup in a Slow Cooker

4 Reviews

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 6 hr 10 min
Ready In: 6 hr 25 min

“A wintertime comfort food at its best. I cook for 8 people with big appetites, so halve this recipe for a smaller group. If you like green bean casserole, try adding green beans and some fried onions on top for a tasty twist. Remember, homemade broth has the best flavor, but you can substitute store-bought or chicken or turkey broth.” - by Namaste Mama

Directions

Cook and stir ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain excess grease, and transfer beef to a slow cooker.
Place shiitake mushrooms into a food processor and pulse several times to cut the mushrooms into small pieces.
Stir shiitake mushrooms, beef broth, barley, sweet onion, garlic, black pepper, salt, celery seed, and parsley with the ground beef in the slow cooker.
Cook on Low for 5 hours.
Stir heavy cream and green beans into the soup and cook 1 hour more.

Reviews (4)

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demelin

Mar. 5, 2012

"Only 5 cups of liquid for 16 ounces of barley! After this was in the slow cooker for just a short time the barley had absorbed all of the liquid and the whole mixture was dry! I added 5 cups of wate..." See morer just to cover the mixture and it still turned out having the texture of oatmeal or thick mashed potatoes. There was very little flavor, as well. I was able to improve that with an additional teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of woprcestershire sauce and a teaspoon of dried thyme, but it was just glop and not at all like soup."

Ron

Mar. 7, 2012

"There is something terribly wrong with this soup. When you cook a pound of barley it requires a lot more liquid than 5 cups. I followed the recipe as ordered. When I checked the crockpot four hours..." See more later ALL the broth had been absorbed. I needed to add 5+ cups of water to get close to soup. There was almost no room in the pot for anything else. The ground beef was a good idea."

Chris66

Oct. 9, 2012

"This rating is with my modifications. Thanks to those who rated before, I didn't make the same mistakes. I used twice the amount of broth and only 3\4 cup of barley. I also added more spices, about 1\..." See more4 tsp tarragon leaves, 2 tsp garlic salt and a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash. It was a good idea for a recipe just needed a little help."

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