MAIN DISH RECIPES

Chicken Barley Soup

Updated

A homemade chicken soup with carrots, celery, fresh thyme and quick-cooking barley, finished with a few handfuls of baby spinach. On the table in under an hour.

Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Total
50 min
Yield
4 to 6 servings
Illustration of Chicken Barley Soup

This soup from the KitchenSimplicity archive swaps the usual noodles for barley, which gives the broth a gentle chewiness and makes a bowl more filling. Diced chicken breast simmers with carrots, celery, onion and sprigs of thyme, and baby spinach goes in at the very end so it just wilts.

It is a weeknight soup for cool autumn evenings and for the stretch of the year when someone in the house always seems to have a cold. Quick-cooking barley keeps the simmering time short, and the pot reheats well for lunches through the week.

Tips

  • Barley keeps soaking up broth as the soup sits, so leftovers turn thick and stew-like. Add a splash of broth or water when reheating.
  • Regular pearl barley works too: simmer it in the broth for about 30 minutes before adding the chicken, then continue until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Boneless, skinless chicken thighs stay juicier if the soup will be reheated several times.
  • The soup keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For freezing, leave out the spinach and add fresh spinach when reheating.

Chicken Barley Soup

Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Total
50 min
Yield
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 medium carrots, diced
  • 4 celery stalks, diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb / 450 g), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth, homemade or store-bought
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
  • 1 cup (about 180 g) quick-cooking barley
  • 5 oz (140 g) baby spinach, about 5 loosely packed cups

Steps

  1. Warm the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion and cook, stirring now and then, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are just tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
  2. Add the chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the outsides of the chicken turn white, 2 to 3 minutes.
  3. Pour in the broth, add the thyme sprigs and bring the pot to a boil over high heat.
  4. Stir in the barley, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the barley is tender and the chicken is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
  5. Fish out the thyme stems. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time and cook just until it wilts, about 1 minute. Taste, season with more salt and pepper, and serve.

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