Pressure Cooker Beef Barley Vegetable Soup

Serves 10 in about 1 hour. A pressure cooker recipe built around chuck roast stew and sprigs thyme.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 lb chuck roast, or stew meat (cut in 1 1/2"-2" bite size chunks)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 med carrots, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb potatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 8 oz cabbage, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves, not ground)
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ⅓ cup pearl barley, rinsed (not instant or quick barley)
• 3 cups beef broth, (or chicken broth) low sodium
• 1 - 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (with juice) or 2 cups of fresh tomatoes, chopped

Method

1. Set the pressure cooker to the Sauté (or browning) mode. When the pot is hot, add the oil.
2. Stir in the beef chunks and spread out in one layer on bottom of pot. Leave it to cook for a couple of minutes to develop a crust.
3. Turn the beef over and brown on other side.
4. Stir in the onion, carrots, and celery. Mix and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
5. Stir in the garlic, stir and cook for just a instant.
6. Tip in the potatoes, cabbage, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, barley, and broth. Stir.
7. Cancel the Sauté setting and then add the tomatoes with juice and do not stir.
8. Set the lid on the pot and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
9. Press the Pressure Cook (or Manual) button and use the +/- button to select 20 minutes. High Pressure (This is a pretty full pot so it will take several minutes to come to pressure).
10. When cooking cycle ends, leave the pot undisturbed for 10 minutes to naturally release some of the pressure. Then do a controlled Quick Release (short bursts) of the remaining pressure.
11. Plate immediately.

More instant pot ideas are in the instant pot collection.