Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 8 cups Cold water
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 large Yellow onion, diced
- 4 large Carrots, chopped
- 3 stalks Celery, chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 cup Hulled or pearl barley, rinsed
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
- 2 Bay leaves
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
Make a Quick Chicken Broth
Place the chicken thighs and bay leaves in a large stockpot and cover with 8 cups of cold water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low, cover, and let it simmer for ~30-40 minutes.
Skim off any foam that rises to the surface during the first few minutes of simmering.
This is just denatured protein and removing it results in a clearer broth.
Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl or another clean pot.
Sauté the Vegetables
In the same stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for ~10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened.
Stir in the minced garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
Simmer the Soup with Barley
Pour the strained chicken broth back into the pot with the vegetables. Add the rinsed barley, increase the heat to high, and bring the soup to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer, cover, and cook for at least 45 minutes for hulled barley, or ~25 minutes for pearl barley.
Hulled barley has the outer bran layer intact, so it takes longer to cook but has a chewier texture. Pearl barley is more processed and cooks faster.
While the soup simmers, shred the cooled chicken, discarding the bones and skin.
Finish the Soup
In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the shredded chicken back to the pot.
Stir in the fresh lemon juice just before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
The lemon juice brightens up all the flavors in the soup.
Hearty Chicken Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 8 cups Cold water
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 large Yellow onion diced
- 4 large Carrots chopped
- 3 stalks Celery chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 cup Hulled or pearl barley rinsed
- 1/2 Lemon juiced
- 2 Bay leaves
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt to taste
- Black pepper freshly ground, to taste
Instructions
- Place chicken thighs and bay leaves in stockpot with 8 cups cold water. Bring to boil, reduce to low, cover and simmer 30-40 minutes.
- Remove chicken, let cool. Strain broth through fine-mesh sieve.
- Heat olive oil in same pot over medium heat. Sauté onion, carrots, and celery 10 minutes until soft.
- Add garlic, cook 1 minute.
- Return strained broth to pot. Add barley, bring to boil, reduce to medium-low.
- Cover and simmer 45 minutes.
- Shred chicken, discarding bones and skin.
- Add shredded chicken during final 10 minutes of cooking.
- Stir in lemon juice, season with salt and pepper.
