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Slow Cooker Chicken and Barley Soup

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For a healthy but filling meal try out this Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup with some crusty bread. It simmers all day for lots of flavor. This is a forgiving soup that allows you to use cooked chicken or turkey or raw chicken breasts or thighs. 
Recipe for Slow Cooker Healthy Chicken and Barley Soup #crockpot #easydinner

Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup

This is one of those soups that fills you up but doesn’t give you the guilt factor. No creams or flours or butters are used in this recipe (not that there’s anything wrong with that…but sometimes I just want to eat a little lighter). This is one of my favorite soups and it held nicely on warm for a few hours until everybody in my house had cycled through and eaten their dinner. If you’re in a snowstorm like me right try this Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup out for dinner tonight!

Some notes about the ingredients:

Tomatoes–I used a can of petite diced tomatoes for this soup. However if you want it to have more of a tomato-y base instead of chicken broth base then you can use a can of crushed tomatoes. You can see the difference from this version of the soup versus the crushed tomatoes version here.

Barley–I buy pearl barley (or pot barley) in the bulk section of the grocery store. Don’t use the quick cooking kind (par-boiled) for this particular recipe or the barley will be overcooked and mushy.

Chicken/Turkey–we made a turkey on Sunday and had leftovers so that’s what I used this time around. In the past I’ve used this seasoned shredded chicken and I’ve also used raw chicken breasts or thighs. It doesn’t really matter too much.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4-6 hours on low
  • Total Time: 16 minute
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Description

 For a healthy but filling meal try out this Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup with some crusty bread. It simmers all day for lots of flavor. This is a forgiving soup that allows you to use cooked chicken or turkey or raw chicken breasts or thighs.  

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 cup celery, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup pearl barley (not the quick-cooking kind)
  • 1–2 cups shredded chicken (pre-made) OR 1 1/2 pounds uncooked chicken breasts or thighs
  • 3 1/2 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups water and 3 1/2 tsp better than bouillon* chicken base)
  • 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

  1. In a microwave-safe bowl combine the onion, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil, basil, celery and carrots.  Microwave for about 4-5 minutes, stirring every minute.  Transfer to the slow cooker.
  2. Add in the barley, chicken, chicken broth, tomatoes, salt, bay leaf and pepper into the slow cooker.  Stir a bit and cover.
  3. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours, until barley is cooked through.
  4. Remove the chicken (if it was uncooked) and shred or cut into bite size pieces. Stir the chicken back into the pot.
  5. Ladle into bowls and top with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Notes

For this recipe I used my 6 quart oval Kitchenaid slow cooker.* I love this slow cooker (you can see me talking about it in a video here). It cooks low and evenly. I love the medium heat choice because most slow cookers that I’ve seen only have the option of cooking on low or high. If you’re going to buy just one slow cooker, this is the one that I recommend.

(Get the INSTANT POT version of this recipe here)

  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Slow Cooker

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cup serving
  • Calories: 141
  • Sugar: 2 grams
  • Sodium: 657 mg
  • Fat: 5 grams
  • Carbohydrates: 17 grams
  • Protein: 9 grams
 *Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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Comments

  4. Dorothy Collins says

    Cooking quicker version on stovetop. Alas, 3 1/2 c. broth didn’t begin to cover the ingredients. I hate to think what would happen if I had added the barley! Are you sure it is 3 1/2 c. broth?

    Reply

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