Hearty Persian Beef Barley Soup (Print version)

Tender beef, barley, beans, lentils, and fresh herbs in aromatic Persian-inspired broth with tangy sour cream.

# What You'll Need:

→ Meats

01 - 1.1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 0.75 inch cubes

→ Grains & Legumes

02 - 0.5 cup pearl barley, rinsed
03 - 0.5 cup dried lentils, rinsed
04 - 0.5 cup dried white beans or cannellini beans, soaked overnight and drained

→ Vegetables

05 - 1 large onion, finely chopped
06 - 2 medium carrots, diced
07 - 2 stalks celery, diced
08 - 2 cloves garlic, minced

→ Herbs & Greens

09 - 0.5 cup fresh parsley, chopped
10 - 0.5 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
11 - 0.25 cup fresh dill, chopped
12 - 0.25 cup fresh chives, chopped
13 - 2 tablespoons dried mint for garnish and fried onions

→ Dairy & Garnishes

14 - 7 oz sour cream or Persian kashk

→ Pantry & Spices

15 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
16 - 1 tablespoon butter for fried onions
17 - 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
18 - 0.5 teaspoon ground black pepper
19 - 1.5 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
20 - 8.5 cups beef or vegetable stock

# Cooking Steps:

01 - In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add beef cubes and brown on all sides for approximately 5 minutes. Remove beef and set aside.
02 - Add remaining olive oil to the pot. Sauté chopped onions until golden, approximately 6 minutes. Stir in garlic, turmeric, black pepper, and salt; cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
03 - Add carrots and celery to the pot and cook for another 3 minutes.
04 - Return beef to the pot. Add barley, lentils, soaked beans, and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
05 - Add chopped parsley, cilantro, dill, and chives to the soup. Simmer uncovered for 10 additional minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
06 - In a small skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add a thinly sliced onion and cook until deeply golden and crisp, approximately 10 minutes. Stir in dried mint and cook for 1 additional minute. Remove from heat.
07 - Ladle the soup into bowls. Swirl 1 to 2 tablespoons of sour cream into each serving and top with mint-fried onions.
08 - Serve hot with crusty bread or Persian flatbread.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It's genuinely filling without feeling heavy, the kind of soup that satisfies you for hours.
  • Fresh herbs make it taste alive and bright, nothing like those sad canned soups gathering dust in pantries.
  • The contrast of creamy sour cream against crispy mint-fried onions is exactly the kind of detail that makes people ask for the recipe.
02 -
  • Don't skip soaking the dried beans overnight; it's not fussy, it's how you ensure they actually cook through instead of staying hard in the middle.
  • Add the fresh herbs at the very end—boiling them for an hour turns them bitter and gray, which defeats the whole point of using them.
  • Taste constantly during the last 20 minutes because salt levels shift dramatically as the soup reduces, and you'll ruin it if you're not paying attention.
03 -
  • Brown the beef properly at the start—don't rush it—because that caramelization is where half the soup's flavor comes from.
  • Make your own stock if you can; it transforms this from good soup into the kind people ask you to bring to every gathering.
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