Kick in the cozy season with this Homestyle Barley Chicken fall soup that is an ideal companion for when you want to laze around. Chicken and mushrooms, when put together, can never disappoint and this recipe is here to show you that! If the feeling of comfort had a face, it would look like a bowl of this soup that tastes best when left alone to simmer for a while.
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.
Quick Walk Through: Barley Chicken Fall Soup
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.
FAQs
Absolutely! To make this soup in the Instant Pot, start by cooking the veggies on the sauté function, followed by adding the rest of the ingredients and . Pressure cook for about 20 minutes on high heat and allow the pressure to release naturally.
I have used pearl barley which I have for this recipe. This type of barley is processed and the outer layer has been removed. This is what makes it cook a lot faster and taste less chewy. If you don't have access to pearl barley, you can use other grains like quinoa or brown rice.
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.
Homestyle Barley Chicken Fall Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Chicken Breast Full
- ¾ cup Barley Pearl
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 teaspoon Garlic finely chopped
- 1 Green Chili finely chopped
- 2 Onions finely chopped
- 6 - 7 cups Water or Chicken Stock
- 1 ½ cups Mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup Carrots chopped
- ¾ cup Spinach chopped
- ¾ cup Milk
- 2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Pepper
- Salt to taste
- Bacon Fried and Cream for topping
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into tiny bite sized pieces and keep aside.
- In a deep pot, add butter, garlic, green chilli and onions. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes, add chicken, barley and 4 cups water. Let this simmer for 35-40 minutes till the barley is almost cooked.
- Add mushrooms, carrots, salt, pepper and the remaining water or stock. Cook this for 20 minutes till the vegetables are cooked through. Mix together milk and flour till there are no lumps and add this mixture to the soup. Bring it to quick boil while stirring continuously and add spinach. Add a little more stock or water if you'd like to thin out the soup. Simmer for five minutes and turn off the heat.
- Let the soup sit for 15 minutes before serving. Top with fried bacon bits and a dollop of cream.
Notes
- If you are vegetarian, just skip the bacon and chicken altogether. You may have to adjust the timings and water
- Adjust the amount of stock based on the consistency you like
- Leftovers keep for a few days in the fridge and taste just as good the next day
Michelle says
soup is amazing!!!! but you have a green chili in the ingredients list but not in the directions... just an FYI 🙂
Richa says
I'm sorry about that. I've fixed it. It should be added along with the onions and garlic
Richa Gupta says
Hey Dixya, thanks for stopping by! This soup is just thing for this warm weather. In fact we are having it again for dinner tomorrow. Can you please share a link to the southasian blog you are referring to, from where you ended up visiting my blog? Much thanks!
dixya @ food, pleasure, and health says
i just found your blog via southasian blog and love your space. this soup looks delicious!!!!
sudishbhat says
Auntyji, Indonesians supermarkets don't sell cream. 😀
Richa Gupta says
Dixya, thank you! I hope to see you here more often 🙂
Richa Gupta says
Sudish just buy cream from the market, it's basically malai which is lightly whisked. Yes you can substitute with beef. If Barley is not available then try rice or pasta, but they won't need as long to cook, so keep checking to see if they are cooked. Follow the other instructions as is.
sudishbhat says
Oye smart cookie! How to make cream at home? And may I replace chicken with beef? And whats pearl barley?? 😀
sudishbhat says
Oye smart cookie
dixya @ food, pleasure, and health says
i just found your blog via southasian blog and love your space. this soup looks delicious!!!!