German Beef Barley Soup Recipe – Oma's Gerstensuppe mit Rindfleisch (2024)

Make this beef barley soup recipe, Gerstensuppe mit Rindfleisch, when you need some real stick-to-your-ribs kind of German comfort food. Easy to change up and use what you have in your fridge.

Once you learned how to make soup and how to cook barley, this is a super comfort food recipe to make. Barley, akaGraupenin German, is a very healthy grain to incorporate into your diet.

Barley is similar in taste and texture to brown rice. A really great alternative. This is one of those beef soup recipes that is SO delicious!

What's the difference between pot barley and pearl barley?

In German, that would be, what's the difference between Gersten and Graupen?

Although both pot barley and pearl barley look and taste similar, once they are cooked, the differences are obvious. Actually, in cooking them, the first difference is the cooking time required.

The pot barley will take about twice as long as the pearl barley, 50 minutes compared to 25 minutes. If you soak the pot barley first, it will cook quicker, but you lose some of the chewiness.

The pot barley is less processed than the pearl one, so it is more nutritious, making it the perfect choice for cooking when time isn't of the essence.

This grain has a delicious, subtle, and slightly nutty flavor similar to brown rice and really can be substituted in most dishes calling for brown rice.

A bit of this and a bit of that ...

• Want a different soup? Add a can of diced tomatoes. Adjust seasoning as needed.
• You can use any cut of beef for this. Trim the excess fat and remove anycartilage.
• If you wish, you can add 1 cup of frozen peas at the end. Stir until the heat of the soup thaws the peas and serve.
• It's best when you brown the meat first, but even that step can be eliminated if you're in a hurry.However, browning the meat does add a great flavor to the broth.

Hummus?

Yep. Hummus. Sylvie, my daughter-in-law, shares that hummus is delicious in thisto add extra zing. Her easy hummus recipeis so quick to make and it's becoming wildly popular in Germany. Try it. I think you'll like it too!

Oma Says:

Put the kettle on to boil when you first start making the soup. That way, when it's time to add the water, you can add boiling hot water. Makes it faster for the resulting soup to come to simmering point.

Ready to make this beef barley soup?

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