Chicken
Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup
This creamy slow cooker chicken barley soup is made healthier by replacing rice or noodles with barley. It’s easy, uses whole ingredients and is perfect for your crockpot. Pure comfort food! YUM!
- Serves 4 portions
- Prep 15 minutes
- Cook 3 hours
- Total 3 hours
Soups are a staple in my winter diet, because in my opinion a bowl of soup during sweater weather is like the ultimate cozy day feels. I am not talking about those thin, water-y kinds that never seem to fill you up, but the creamy, chunky kinds that are comforting and insanely filling at the same time. For example, this Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup.
This chicken barley soup is hearty, it’s comforting and so delicious! Plus, making it in the slow cooker means most of the process is hands free. If you don’t have a slow cooker though, don’t you worry, you’re not missing out. Here’s how you can make this chicken barley soup on the stovetop.
Chicken Barley Soup Ingredients Overview
This chicken calls for quite a few ingredients that you may have to source, but you can easily find all of them both online and offline.
It’s a really simple recipe, dump and go recipe where where we add most of the ingredients like carrots, celery, mushrooms, chicken, garlic, jalapenos, oregano, basil, barley, chicken stock and salt to the crockpot or slow cooker.
Once it’s cooked, we stir in the milk and flour mixture – this adds body to the soup and makes it thick and creamy.
Lastlly, we add in the spinach before turning off the slow cooker and allow the soup to rest for 10 minutes for serving!
Benefits Of A Slow Cooker
I know you must be thinking, now she’s trying to get us to buy another gadget. But it’s honestly a game changer, guys. Plus, here’s the thing about owning a slow cooker for busy people like us:
- It’s a set it and forget it tool, which lets you watch Netflix while your food is cooking without you having to worry about anything burning
- Or dump all the ingredients and leave for work, and come back to cooked food that might need another one or two final ingredients just to finish things up. I’m talking some serious hunger saving tips here
- It also means the most tender, fall apart meat that takes almost zero effort to achieve. And if you are a non cook and want to impress your friends, this my friend, is going to be your best friend!
Frequently Asked Questions
I know you need time to mull over things a bit. But slow cooker or not, make this creamy, hearty chicken barley soup to welcome winter in. If you don’t have a slow cooker, here’s the alternative recipe for this soup: Homestyle Barley Chicken Fall Soup
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Recipes
Easy Slow Cooker Dal Makhani
Pork & Beef
Slow Cooker Korean Pork Bulgogi with Gochujang
Slow Cooker Recipes
The Best Slow Cooker Chipotle BBQ Pulled Pork
Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Meatballs with Pineapple
Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Lamb Curry
The recipe
Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup
This creamy slow cooker chicken barley soup is made healthier by replacing rice or noodles with barley. It’s easy, uses whole ingredients and is perfect for your crockpot. Pure comfort food! YUM!
- Serves 4 portions
- Prep 15 minutes
- Cook 3 hours
- Total 3 hours
Ingredients
- 1 cup sliced Carrots (thickly sliced)
- 1 cup Celery (diced)
- 1 cup Mushrooms (quartered)
- 2 Chicken Breasts (diced into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic (minced)
- 1 Jalapeno (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- 1 cup Pearl Barley (washed and strained)
- 5 cups Chicken Stock (low sodium)
- 4 tablespoons All Purpose Flour (or Maida)
- 3/4 cup Milk
- 1 1/2 cups Spinach
- Salt to taste
- Fried Bacon for topping
Method
- 1
In a slow cooker or crockpot, add carrots, celery, mushrooms, chicken, garlic, jalapenos, oregano, basil, barley, chicken stock and salt. Stir well, and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
- 2
In a bowl, whisk together flour and milk, and once the soup is cooked, mix in the flour and milk mixture. Cook on high for 20 minutes
- 3
Add spinach to the slow cooker and mix well. Turn off the slow cooker, and let the soup sit for ten minutes. Top with bacon and serve hot!
Notes
Slow cooker: This is a slow cooker recipe. If you don’t have a slow cooker you can make this soup in a crockpot over the stove. Spinach: Spinach does not take long to cook so remember to only add it at the very end. Storage: This soup can be frozen for upto a month but if you are planning to do that, do not add the spinach. It would case the dish to become bitter. Add spinach after defrosting and reheating as per the recipe.
Nutrition
- Calories 497 kcal
- Carbohydrates 63 g
- Protein 40 g
- Fat 9 g
- Saturated Fat 3 g
- Cholesterol 86 mg
- Sodium 637 mg
- Potassium 1241 mg
- Fiber 10 g
- Sugar 10 g
- Vitamin A 6660 IU
- Vitamin C 13 mg
- Calcium 126 mg
- Iron 4 mg
Common questions
1. Do you need to cook barley for before adding it to the soup?
Nope! Since we’re making this in the slow cooker, the barely will have enough time to simmer and cook through right inside the slow cooker. So there is no need to soak or pre-cook the barley for this soup.
2. Does soup taste better in a slow cooker?
When you cook things like soups, curries and stews in the slow cooker, everything gets cooked slowly, on low heat for a long time. This allows all the ingredients to really simmer and the flavours to develop beautifully, thereby making the food taste incredibly rich and flavourful.
3. Should I stir this slow cooker chicken barely soup in between?
This soup is a truly hands-off affair and I really wouldn’t recommend stirring while it’s cooking. That’s because taking the lid off in the middle of the cooking process can lead to loss of heat. This can not only extend the cooking process, but also dumb down the flavors sometimes.
4. How to store this chicken barley soup?
You can easily store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 2-3 days. Simply reheat on the stove or in the microwave when you are ready to serve. If frozen, this chicken barley soup stays good for up to a month. If freezing, do not add any spinach as that can make the soup bitter. Allow the soup to thaw, add spinach and then reheat.
