Dinner

Beef and Pearl Barley Stew for Four

Name: Beef and Pearl Barley Stew for Four
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 500 g Lean beef, trimmed, in 3 cm chunks; 350 g Cooked pearl barley; 250 g Carrot; 200 g Onion; 2 sticks, about 80 g Celery; 900 g Beef stock; 2 tbsp (30 g) Tomato purée; 1 tbsp, about 11 g Olive oil; A few sprigs Fresh thyme; 2 leaves Bay leaf; To taste Salt

Trimmed beef, carrots and pearl barley cooked slowly in stock until the barley swells and thickens the pot. 32 g of protein for 358 kcal a serving.

Calories: 358kcal
Protein: 32g
Fat: 9g
Carbs: 36g

Per serving, makes 4. 25 minutes of work, then two hours in the oven. Published 8 September 2026.

Allergens

Gluten
Celery

Nearly every stock cube and pot lists celery.

Flags follow UK labelling rules and come from the ingredients as listed, not from any particular brand. Check the packet before cooking for somebody with an allergy.

Ingredients

Lean beef, trimmed, in 3 cm chunks500 g
Weighed raw. The same piece weighed after cooking has lost water, so the protein per gram is higher and the total would come out about a quarter over.
Cooked pearl barley350 g
About 115 g dry. Cook it in the stew, the weight here is what it becomes. Cooked weight.
Carrot250 g
In thick chunks so they hold their shape over two hours.
Onion200 g
Celery2 sticks, about 80 g
Beef stock900 g
Made up from a cube or a pot.
Tomato purée2 tbsp (30 g)
Olive oil1 tbsp, about 11 g
Fresh thymeA few sprigs
Bay leaf2 leaves
SaltTo taste

Method

Heat the oven to 160°C. Brown the beef in the oil in a casserole in two batches over a high heat and set aside.
Soften the chopped onion, carrot and celery in the same pot for ten minutes. Stir in the tomato purée for a minute.
Return the beef with the stock, thyme and bay. Bring to a simmer, cover, and put in the oven for an hour and a quarter.
Stir in 115 g of dry pearl barley and return to the oven uncovered for forty-five minutes, until the barley is tender and the liquid has thickened. Season well.

Worth knowing

Makes four. The barley is the carbohydrate, so nothing else is needed on the plate. Bread alongside is the easy way to add 120 kcal without noticing.
Barley keeps drinking liquid as it sits. Leftovers reheated the next day need a splash of water.

Other dinner recipes that share ingredients with this one, or every dinner between 300 and 450 calories a serving.

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Macros are calculated from the weights listed above using standard food composition values, and will shift with your own brands and measuring. Weigh what you can. This is a recipe, not dietary advice. The full health disclaimer is below.