🌾 Chuckwagon Monday – January 26🍲 Hearty Beef & Barley Camp Stew

🍲 Hearty Beef & Barley Camp Stew

A true trail classic — filling, affordable, and built to give steady strength for the week ahead.

Serves: 6–8Cook Time: 50–60 minutes

This stew is thick, earthy, and deeply satisfying — exactly the kind of meal chuckwagon cooks relied on to keep everyone fueled through long winter days.

🥩 Ingredients

• 1½ lbs beef stew meat or chuck roast, cubed

• 2 tbsp bacon grease or butter

• 1 small onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 carrots, sliced

• 2 celery stalks, chopped

• ¾ cup pearl barley, rinsed

• 5–6 cups beef broth

• 1 tsp thyme

• ½ tsp black pepper

• ½ tsp salt (to taste)

• Optional: splash of Worcestershire sauce

🍳 Instructions

1. Brown the BeefHeat bacon grease in a Dutch oven. Brown beef on all sides. Remove and set aside.

2. Build the Base In the same pot, sauté onion and garlic until fragrant.

3. Add Vegetables & Barley Stir in carrots, celery, and barley. Cook 2–3 minutes.

4. Create the Stew Return beef to the pot. Add broth, thyme, salt, and pepper.

5. Simmer Slow Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat, and simmer 45–50 minutes, stirring occasionally, until barley is tender and stew thickens.

6. Serve Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread or biscuits.

🤠 Chuckwagon Tip

Barley was a trail staple because it stretched meat and kept folks full longer — mash a few vegetables into the broth near the end for extra thickness