Hearty Chicken and Barley Soup with lots of vegetables, a healthy, low calorie, quick and easy soup for those chilly days, although it's light enough to be enjoyed throughout the year. Best made with leftover or rotisserie chicken, this soup is a favourite with kids too, who will love the colourful veggies added to the soup.
When you go outside in the morning and the cold air slaps you hard in the face, you know that the soup and comfort food season is here.
And soups are your best bet when it comes to homemade goodness that keeps you going. One pot of heavenly flavours, super healthy, and super filling, the kind of soup that make you proud of yourself for staying away from junk food.
One trick when it comes to making a good soup is using a lot of colourful veggies. They not only made the soup denser and richer, but they add the most flavour without any nastiness at all.
Barley isn't something I cook with often, but it's so good and wholesome, great in stews, soup and even porridge.
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How to make a chicken and barley soup
For this recipe I used leftover roast chicken, but rotisserie chicken can be used too, or deli chicken. Alternatively, any other leftover meat could do.
- Add the chicken stock to a large pan, chop the vegetables and add them in too.
- Add the barley too and cook for about 15 minutes or until the barley is cooked, then add the frozen spinach and leave to cook for a further 5 minute. Add more chicken broth is necessary.
- Season with salt, pepper, herbs, add the lemon juice and tomato paste, and give it a good stir.
- Add the cooked chicken, freshly chopped parsley, and remove from the heat.
- Serve hot!
Expert tips
I used quick cook barley, which was ready in about 15 minutes or so, but otherwise you can just leave it to cook for longer if it's not as soft as you'd like.
Leftover or rotisserie chicken work best here, saving you time and hassle, but you can also cook the chicken separately in case you don't have ready cooked one.
You can safely freeze any leftover soup, I actually tend to cook a bigger batch of food, and freeze whatever is left, in this way I don't need to worry about having freshly cooked food all the time.
If you are looking for other variations of meat and barley soup, how about my Vegetable Beef Barley Soup recipe? It's so filling and comforting.
More chicken soup recipes
Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken Soup with Vegetables
Leftover Roast Chicken Noodle Soup
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Hearty Chicken and Barley Soup
Ingredients
- ½ cup pearl barley
- 1 onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 swede
- 1 celery
- 1 cup frozer spinach
- 5 cups chicken broth (stock)
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon Italian herbs
- fresh parsley to garnish
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup shredded cooked chicken
Instructions
- Add the chicken stock to a large pan, chop the vegetables and add them in too.
- Add the barley too and cook for about 15 minutes or until the barley is cooked, then add the frozen spinach and leave to cook for a further 5 minute. Add more chicken broth is necessary.
- Season with salt, pepper, herbs, add the lemon juice and tomato paste, and give it a good stir.
- Add the cooked chicken, freshly chopped parsley, and remove from the heat.
- Serve hot!
Notes
- Add more chicken broth (stock) if necessary, depending how thick you like the soup.
- Leftover or rotisserie chicken are the best, but you can cook the chicken separately too and add it to the pan once the vegetables and barley are cooked.
Nutrition
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Sandra says
I just came across your soup recipe and will be making it soon. I was wondering what the ingredient called swede is. Thank you
Daniela Apostol says
Swede is a vegetable, not sure how popular is anywhere else, but in the UK is very common in cooking.