The Best Prime Rib Soup
A mouthwatering recipe for the best homemade Prime Rib soup made with leftover Standing Rib Roast. This flavorful beef vegetable soup recipe is made with barley and Pappardelle pasta, but you can easily swap the pasta for potatoes. Either way, it’s incredibly delicious!!
One of my favorite things about making a Standing Rib Roast is having leftovers to repurpose for more tasty meals. Prime Rib is an expensive cut of meat, but it actually goes a long way when you use any extra meat for sandwiches and salads, in addition to whipping up a big pot of this delicious beef barley soup from the Prime Rib bones. It’s worth the investment for all these tasty meals! Not to mention, you can often find them on sale if you watch local grocery store flyers around the holidays.
How To Freeze Leftover Prime Rib Bones
To freeze the ribs from a Standing Rib Roast, allow them to cool to room temperature, then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. Store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Steps For Making Prime Rib Soup
First, place the rib bones in a Dutch oven and add 4 cups of water, 4 cups of beef broth, 1 tbsp beef bouillon, wine, garlic, thyme, barley, and bay leaf. When using frozen rib bones, allow them to defrost overnight in the refrigerator before cooking in the stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours with the lid on. Allow the bone broth to cool, remove the ribs, and shred the meat from the bones. It should be easily falling off the bone, like this…
Discard the bones, add the shredded beef back to the pot, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, skim the fat off the top of the soup and discard. Chop the carrots, celery, and onions and heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the carrots, onion, and celery to the skillet and sauté for 5 minutes on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened.
Add the remaining 2 cups of broth to the soup base and bring to a boil. Then, add the onion, celery, carrots, and frozen vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer the soup for 35 minutes with the lid vented. Add pappardelle, breaking into pieces as you drop the noodles into the soup, (or cubed potatoes), and cook 10-15 minutes more until the noodles are done or the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
Recipe Tip
If you prefer a more stew-like soup texture, cook the pasta in the soup as directed above. The starch in the noodles will thicken the soup and soak up some of the broth. If you prefer a brothier soup, cook the pasta in a separate pot according to package directions for an al dente texture. Drain the cooked noodles and add them to the soup right before serving.
Who’s ready for a warm pot of delicious soup?!
More Delicious Soup Recipes
Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
Slow Cooker Lightened-Up Potato Soup
Prime Rib Soup
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 6 cups beef stock divided
- 1 tbsp beef bouillon
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup barley
- 4 beef ribs cut from a cooked Prime Rib roast
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
- 1/2 large Vidalia onion chopped
- 1 stalk of celery chopped
- 16 oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables
- 4 oz uncooked Pappardelle noodles or 1 large Russet potato peeled and cubed
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Combine in a Dutch oven: water, 4 cups of beef broth, 1 tbsp beef bouillon, wine, garlic, thyme, barley, ribs, and bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours with the lid on.
- Cool to room temperature, remove the beef bones, and shred the meat. Discard the bones and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day: Remove the soup base from the refrigerator and skim all of the solidified fat off the top.
- In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the carrots, onion, and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened.
- Add the remaining 2 cups of broth to the soup base and bring to a boil. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and frozen vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer for 35 minutes, with the lid vented.
- Add pappardelle, breaking into pieces as you drop the noodles into the soup, (or cubed potatoes), and cook 10-15 minutes more until the noodles are done or the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. *see notes
Notes
Nutrition
- Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork - July 8, 2025
- Reese’s PB Overnight Oats - June 23, 2025
- Sweet Potato Kefir Pancakes (Gluten-Free) - June 16, 2025
This soup was easy to make and delicious! I didn’t even add the pasta/potatoes.
Hi Laura! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! Good to know that it’s still delicious without those add-ins! I appreciate the feedback.
How can we cook this if our rib bones were never cooked yet? I have some bones left we cut steaks out of and threw in the freezer raw. I’d like to use the recipe to cook them.
I recommend cooking the raw rib bones first before proceeding with the soup instructions. You can try roasting them (thaw first), but I haven’t tested this out for best time, temp, and cooking method. It works best with cooked beef bones allowing for a much shorter simmer time to infuse flavor and resulting in meat that is falling off the bone.
What step is barely added? Missed it somewhere and now can’t locate.
Hi! The barley goes in the first step. You add it to the dutch oven with the liquids.
Regarding the 6 cups of “beef broth” in the recipe – four in with the ribs at the start on day one and two added the next day – is this “beef broth” that you purchase in a box at a grocery store – recipe is very unclear.
Hi Larry! Yes, this is any brand of your favorite store-bought beef stock.
Just made that note in the recipe. Thank you for catching that John! It’s fine to just leave it out.
You are right, Monica! Thank you for catching that! Making that clarification in the post.