on Oct 09, 2015, Updated May 23, 2023 I love this time of the year. Warm afternoons turn into chilly evenings and it’s the perfect weather to pull out those colorful sweaters and just want to snuggle up on the sofa with some comfort food. And this homestyle barley chicken fall soup fits right in. It’s one of those soups, which just keep simmering on the pot and get slightly better if left alone. So you can go away and watch trashy TV shows, read, paint or do whatever it is that you enjoy this time of the year and come back later to this warm, homestyle goodness. I love how the simmering the soup cooks the barley cooks, and takes on all the wonderful flavors of chicken, carrots and mushrooms. It’s not your usual chicken soup where everything is a mish mash. The barley is creamy but firm, and the veggies have a nice bite to them. Add whatever you have in the fridge and if you are vegetarian, just skip the chicken altogether.
Tips To Make The Best Chicken Barley Soup
This soup is easily customisable to include whatever you have at home. Apart from the onions, mushrooms, carrots, spinach, you can add corn, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, and beans to make it more nutritional. The veggies will also help to add a lot more texture and flavor to the soup. This soup can easily be made vegetarian by simply subbing chicken with lots more veggies of your choice and skipping the bacon entirely. Make sure to adjust the cooking time accordingly as well. You can soak the pearl barley in cold water for about an hour before cooking it. This will help cook it slightly faster and be less chewy. I prefer my barley chewy, so I usually skip this step.
This soup is just the kind of thing that makes you feel that fall is here and winter’s slowly creeping in on us. So if you are ready for a cozy snuggle, and dying to get the sweaters out, go and make this soup first! Let’s welcome fall together.
More Healthy Chicken Soups For The Soul
Chicken Enchilada SoupInstant Pot Thai Chicken CurryHomemade Chicken Manchow SoupCreamy Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup
