Beef Barley Soup with Prime Rib
Shut out that cold weather and serve up a hearty bowl of this Beef Barley Soup with Prime Rib. Tender bits of prime rib, hearty barley, paired complimentary vegetables for one delicious bowl of soup.
Beef Barley Soup with Prime Rib
Smoked Prime Rib is a staple in our home, especially around the holidays. While we don't box prime rib into just a 'holiday' food, I do find that we always have plenty of prime rib leftover at that time of the year!
Our family is not huge on eating the same leftovers time and time again, so I am always working on ways that I can make my leftovers taste like something new.
This beef barley soup is such a winner! You will love the vegetables loaded with tender bits of prime rib throughout. While it is great for using leftover prime rib, you might find yourself looking forward to the next day soup more than day one prime rib!
Why You'll Love This Dish
- Hearty And Satisfying - Tender prime rib and chewy barley make each spoonful rich and filling.
- Deep, Rich Flavor - The combination of butter‑sautéed vegetables, red wine, thyme, and beef broth builds a full‑bodied taste.
- One‑Pot Simplicity - Everything cooks together in a single Dutch oven for minimal cleanup.
- Comfort Food Classic - Perfect for cold days when you crave warmth, hominess, and a wholesome meal.
Try our Butter-Basted Smoked Prime Rib!
Recipe Shopping List
Wondering if you have to hit the store? Here's the list of items you'll need to make this recipe. For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Butter - For sautéing vegetables and kicking off flavor. Unsalted works too if you control the salt later.
- Celery - Adds subtle aromatic crunch and depth to the broth.
- Carrots - Bring natural sweetness and color to the soup.
- Onion - Provides savory base flavor. Yellow or white both work.
- Garlic - Small but powerful flavor boost; minced or diced works fine.
- Beef Broth - The liquid base; homemade adds extra depth but store‑bought works in a pinch.
- Prime Rib - Chopped; leftover roast is ideal for convenience and flavor.
- Dry Red Wine - Adds complexity and richness to the broth; can substitute a splash of extra broth if needed.
- Ground Thyme - Adds subtle herbal notes that work well with the beef and vegetables.
- Barley - Provides hearty texture and bulk; pearl or hulled both acceptable.
More Traeger Beef Recipes here!
How To Make This Recipe
This is just the overview so you can see what you're actually getting into here. When you are cooking, you'll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté celery, carrots, and onion for about 5-6 minutes, until softened and beginning to brown.
- Add the diced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Pour in the beef broth, then add the chopped prime rib, dry red wine, and ground thyme. Stir to combine.
- Add the barley, bring the soup to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat and cook until the barley is tender (about 45-50 minutes, depending on barley type).
- Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve hot with crusty bread or a fresh green salad.
Recipe FAQ
If you are looking for that no-fuss toss-and-cook type of meal, give this easy barley soup recipe a try. If you don't have any prime rib leftover, feel free to substitute ground beef, leftover steak, or leftover pot roast. I've even used leftover brisket in this soup!
Absolutely!
For best results, allow your soup to cool down and place in a freezer friendly container whether it be a freezer bag or airtight container. You can freeze this soup for up to 3 months.
For quick lunches, freeze in individual serving sizes!
To reheat, just toss it in the fridge the night before, and then put in the slow cooker to warm up or stove top. Grab bowls and serve up a satisfying bowl of soup that tastes just as good as the first time.
There are many options available out there, and I will share some of the top ways to freeze soup.
Sealable Freezer Bags | You can buy these anywhere. Just ladle in the soup, try and remove all the air, and lay flat. This is a great way to use minimal space in your freezer.
Glass Jar or Bowl | Whether you want to freeze for single servings or a big pot, glassware is always nice. Just make sure to leave room for the soup to expand as it freezes.
Plastic Freezer Containers | Plastic containers are an affordable option that works great for keeping your soup safe as you save it back. You can find whatever size you want, toss the soup in, and freeze away until you are ready to serve for safe keeping.
How much soup we have left directly impacts how I store it. If I know there isn't much; I make single servings of the soup. That way on busy days, I can grab a container and heat it up for a quick lunch while the kids are at school.
If I think there is enough for the whole family, I store in a larger container and use it for a fast meal down the line. Label it! You think you remember, but if you are anything like me - you definitely won't.
You can keep your soup in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I gauge what we will eat and the rest I toss in the freezer. I don't like keeping leftovers in the fridge for very long, so around two days we either eat them up or I toss it out.
See our Leftover Roast Beef recipes here!
More Soup Recipes
- Beef Stroganoff Soup Recipe
- Beef Udon Soup
- Creamy Wild Rice Soup
- Smoked Italian Wedding Soup
- Italian Sausage and Cabbage Soup
- Beef Dumpling Soup Recipe
- Smoked Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Italian Sausage and Potato Soup
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Featured Reader Reviews
Made this with our leftover prime rib bones & meat. Best beef barley soup I have ever had/ made!! The flavor is wonderful and it comes together quickly if you have the bone broth made ahead of time. I will be making this again and again! Love, love love!
- Sheri G
Sooo good! I used leftover beef ribs that were dry-rubbed, just put the bones and all into boiling water for about an hour, then followed the recipe. Would make again.
~Dana
This is the most delicious soup I have ever had ! I make soup every week for a group of people and this is amazing ! This is a great base recipe that you can make your own depending on what you like & what you have in your pantry. I added a few different ingredients and it was marvelous.
~Ann
This soup is so worth making !!! my family called it " dangerous " cause they kept going back for more. Gave some to other family members to try and they loved it also . The only thing I added was turnip.
~Julie
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Beef Barley Soup with Prime Rib
Shut out that cold weather and serve up a hearty bowl of this beef barley soup with prime rib. Tender bits of prime rib, hearty barley, paired complimentary vegetables for one delicious bowl of soup.
Ingredients
- ½ stick salted butter
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 clove garlic, diced
- 2 quarts homemade beef broth
- 4 cups chopped prime rib
- ½ cup dry red wine
- ½ teaspoon ground thyme
- 1 cup barley
Instructions
- Place the butter into a large Dutch oven over medium heat, and let melt.
- Add in the celery, carrots, and onion. Let cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened and starting to brown.
- Add in the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
- Add in the beef broth, prime rib, red wine, ground thyme, and barley.
- Simmer over medium heat until the barley is tender. Serve with crusty bread and green salad.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 392Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 702mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 20g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate. If you are tracking these things for medical purposes please consult an outside, trusted source. Thanks!
Curious if you add bones for marrow to help thicken / flavor soup; recipe only calls for leftover meat.
Thank you; can't wait to try...
I would definitely add the bones in if I had them handy. That is one of my favorite ways to flavor soup. When I made this batch, I didn't have any so I didn't include it here, but that's a great idea!
@Nicole Johnson, I am sooooo confused. What do I add the bones to, please? To the broth? Or, in water, then what do I do with the bones and water afterward?
Thanks in advance.
Hey there! The bones are optional and can be thrown in with the soup at any time and then removed before you eat. They just provide additional flavor.
@Nicole Johnson,
Thank you!
@Rob,
You can use a beef marrow, but watch that the soup doesn't get too greasy. Prime rib has a high fat content, as does marrow.
I'd you have bones, When would you add them?
If I have bones, I make my own beef broth with it by simmering them for like 6 hours in a giant pot. If you are just sprucing up boxed beef broth, I'd put that on first for about an hour or so on simmer.
@Nicole Johnson, how much water for 4 rib bones...?????
Just enough to cover them usually suffices.
@Nicole Johnson,
If you brush tomato sauce and roast the bones in a hot oven before making bone broth it tastes amazing. The acid in the tomato sauce also helps extract the collagen and marrow.
Great tip! Thanks!
@Nanci, you can also add apple cider vinegar to do the same 🙂
Would adding leftover Au Jus make it to salty? Thinking about subsituting 1 1/2 cups of cups of the beef broth with Au Jus.
I don't think so, but if it does you can just add some extra water and that'll even it out. I always add my leftover au jus to soups, and it adds a lot of flavor!
Whole family loved it— doubled the wine and garlic, cooked a ribeye sous vide for the beef. Perfect for the winter weather we had last evening. Thanks for a great recipe!
That's awesome, Connie! Sounds WONDERFUL. I bet it was amazing.
Thanks for the recipe...it was great! I took the advice to double the wine and garlic. We also had prime rib we previously sous vide.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Has anyone tried in crock pot? I have a soup shank bone and piece leftover prime rib.
Crock Pot would be great for this. I don't have any advice on times though. Let me know how it goes!
I had leftover prime rib from New Years 2020 and love making soup so I went looking for a good recipe. When I came across this one. What I liked about it is it's simple, hardy, flavorful and delicious. Highly recommend you make it with your leftover prime rib.
Thanks so much, Kyran! That's so kind of you to say. <3
I Made this after Christmas and my family absolutely loved it. I wanted it to make it again but I don’t have any prime rib and was going to use stew beef. Have you made it that way?
Yup! I've made this with brisket, beef roasts, leftover pot roast, and stew meat would be awesome. You'll just have to allow some extra time for the meat to cook and get tender, since it takes a little longer than pre-cooked prime rib. Thanks for stopping by!
This soup came together really quickly and it is so delicious!
That's amazing! So glad to hear it. Thanks for letting us know!
Enjoyed this soup,very tasty and very easy to make.I will certainly be making it again.
Loved this! Only difference I made was I added potatoes. Also I put garlic in first with butter so it was have a roasted garlic flavoring. And reduced the red wine before adding the beef broth. Good flavors going?
Thanks, Brooke! I bet it was awesome with potatoes. One of my kids is allergic though, so we can't make it like that unless we are going to make a separate meal for her. 😀
So good! I added a bit of a flour mixture to thicken it up a bit.
Very good! I used lentils because I did not have barley. Will make many times. Thank you
This was great I added a tsp of white pepper took it up a notch.
I don’t get it—4 1/2 stars? This is a totally blah soup. Lots of work making the broth, simmering the bones, cutting off the meat, preparing the veges. . . For a tasteless soup. I give this 1 star, and I’m throwing away the leftovers.
Yikes. I'm sorry you had that experience. Most people have had great success here, so if you'd like me to help troubleshoot where you went wrong, I'd be happy to. Hundreds of people have made and raved about this soup, so I'm guessing there was a step missed or some kind of misunderstanding regarding the process or ingredients.
@Nicole Johnson, well the first mistake is the reviewer can’t spell the word veggies.
Making this tomorrow and can’t wait to try it! I am sure it will be delicious!
@Carolynn, if you simmer the bones, you wouldn’t need to cut the meat off of the bone because it should just melt right off and the bones should come out completely clean. It’s really not difficult work at all. Bones, pot, water. You could also opt for boxed or canned broth, if putting bones in a pot covered with water is too much work for you. Another option is buying pre-cut veggies if cutting up veggies sends the workload over the top for you. Not sure what you’re doing wrong here but it’s an absolutely delicious soup. Soooo... ??♀️
@Carolynn, this is a winderful soup the flavors are amazing. If your Prime rib lacked flavor unfortunately so will your soup.
Excellent recipe
Thanks so much!
I love this recipe and have made it a number of times over the last year. My husband and I happily eat it for three nights in a row! It is soooo good! By far, prime rib is the best meat to use in this soup, but I found that depending on what kind of other beef I was using, sprinkling additional salt and pepper onto the meat before adding it to the soup was helpful. I also have added sliced mushrooms (1/4 to 1/2 lb) to the soup (sautéed with the carrots, celery and onions). Delicious! Thank you so much for developing this recipe!
This is great feedback. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and let us know! I'm so glad you like the soup. It is one of my favorite bowls of soup of the year!
I made this today I didn’t have enough onions and only 1 quart of beef broth so used French onion soup mix with the other broth the only barely on hand was quick cooking barely and I didn’t have red wine used white wine so I am going to only Simmer for 1/2 hour what you think? Used frozen carrots.
I don't think that the difference in the type of wine would impact the overall cook time, but the quick-cooking barley would! Your best bet would be to just test regularly and remove from the heat when the barley is as tender as you like it. Hope it was awesome!
This is the most delicious soup I have ever had ! I make soup every week for a group of people and this is amazing ! This is a great base recipe that you can make your own depending on what you like & what you have in your pantry. I added a few different ingredients and it was marvelous.
I'm so glad to hear it, Ann! Thanks for letting us know. I'd love to hear about the ingredients that you added!
Made this with my left over Christmas Prime Rib. boiled the ribs and left over bits with the fat crust. cut up my veggies added the spices and threw it all in my instapot. thickened up amazing flavor fantastic. I added a bit of wild rice with the barley.
Ohhhh, I bet wild rice was incredible in this. Great addition, and thank you so much for coming back to share your experiences with us! I hope you had a merry Christmas!
@Nicole Johnson, just wondering if I can use left over gravy in the soup. It’s mostly beef broth and wine
Yup! You sure can!
Can you cook this on a crockpot?
Yup!
Very greasy!!!
If you leave a lot of the fat cap on the leftover prime rib you are using, yes - it might be a little greasy. Just trim that off next time before it goes in the soup. You can also cut down on the butter used to saute the vegetables if you'd like. As with all my recipes, I encourage people to adjust according to their own personal dietary needs and tastes.
This was amazing! Had leftover prime rib and looked for something to do other than hot beef sandwiches and came across this. So very glad I did. Absolutely delicious I have never had anything so delicious. The wine made it so flavourful. The leftover was good too. Thank you. Will be making this often and always be buying a larger than needed roast.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Monica! Thanks for stopping by to let us know!
Can I use Premade beef stock instead of homemade?
Yup!
Listen up .....Make this soup it id soooooooooo Delish .....followed everthing exactly....."A KEEPER" thx so much.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing! (Tell your friends! ;))
What can I substitute for wine? We don’t drink so don’t have wine around. Thanks!
You can omit the wine and it'll still be delicious! A splash of balsamic vinegar can also add some depth to it too, just don't go overboard!
This is a great recipe. Lots of flavor. Easy to make.
Thanks, Rosemary! We're so glad you liked it!
Made this with our leftover prime rib bones & meat. Best beef barley soup I have ever had/ made!! The flavor is wonderful and it comes together quickly if you have the bone broth made ahead of time. I will be making this again and again! Love, love love!
Thank you so much for the kind works, Sheri! I'm going to feature your review up in the blog post!
This is a really a good and easy recipe. Had to add extra liquid and cut the barley and added peas. Delish on a cold and rainy Sunday night!
Fantastic recipe, I really appreciate the simplicity which easily allows for customization to taste.
Great job Nicole, thanks for sharing.
Looking forward to it… tried to determine if simmering should be done covered or not… couldn’t find a comment and recipe didn’t state so I’m assuming not
You can do it either way. Uncovered will allow for more evaporation, so it really depends on how intense you want your stock to be.
I added my left over bones to 8 cups of water/better than bullion with some other seasonings and let simmer for an hour while I chopped/sautéed veggies. I then pulled the bones out and added the veggies, wine, thyme, barley and simmered for an hour. I only tossed in the left over diced prime rib at the end so it would not be over cooked or tough. Oh and I added a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and Johnny’s French dip au jus concentrate to the broth for some extra flavor.
Yum
Sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
This soup looks so YUMMY!!! I can't wait to try it. Can I substitute white rice for the barley, and how much dry rice should I use?
I haven't tried subbing in white rice for barley. Personally, since rice doesn't hold up as well in leftovers of soup, I'd just steam it and serve it with the soup instead of mixing it in. People can put individual scoops of rice into a bowl and then top with the soup. Hope that helps!
Made this tonight with leftover prime rib we had in the freezer. Added a parsnip and fresh thyme sprigs. Cooked in the instant pot for 30 minutes on high pressure. Great recipe to use leftovers!
Oh that sounds incredible! Love the addition of parsnip. Thanks for sharing!
Boiled the remaining ribs. Removed the meat. The remaining liquid was bland and oily. So I wound up making my own stock beef broth, instead of the beef water. I was hoping that the beef water would be more like the chicken broth I get from boiling chicken for soup. But I am still going for it and will see how it turns out.
That's expected from boiling the ribs. You can skim off the fat if you'd like. I also tend to add more beef bouillon, too. Hope your soup turned out excellent!
Every year I make prime rib and get tired of the same leftovers. I had thought about vegetable beef soup before seeing your page. I make sautéed mushrooms with Worcestershire sauce and brandy with our prime rib so I added those to the pot, along with a pack of peas, can of diced tomatoes, thyme sprigs and tons of garlic and a variety of seasonings, Red wine and beef broth. At the very end I added the prime rib so it didn’t get tough and added a little bit of pastina. After throwing everything together I googled to see if this was even something people made - and came across your page. Happy to see a community of prime rib vegetable soup makers!
Oh and I added of course carrots, celery and onions too. Delicious!
As a Chef this is excellent
Found this recipe looking for ideas of how to use my leftover Christmas prime rib. Oh my gosh, this recipe was perfect! So delicious, followed recipe with the addition of fresh turnips. Added a sweet bite to the soup.