An old recipe of my Nana's that I have adapted for the electric pressure cooker (or stove top). Full of hearty vegetables, beef, and barley. A one-pot meal!
Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté (or browning) mode. When the pot is hot, add the oil.
Add the beef chunks and spread out in one layer on bottom of pot. Let cook for a couple of minutes to develop a crust.
Turn the beef over and brown on other side.
Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Add the garlic, stir and cook for just a minute.
Add the potatoes, cabbage, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, barley, and broth. Stir.
Cancel the Sauté setting and then add the tomatoes with juice and do not stir.
Place the lid on the pot and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
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).
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. When the pin in the lid drops, open the lid and very carefully stir the soup. Discard bay leaves. Taste and adjust salt if needed.
Serve immediately.
If you are Gluten-Free, leave out the barley.
This soup has a long cook time (because of the meat), so the veggies will be soft. Cutting the vegetables in larger pieces will help with them not being quite as soft.