This is one of my all-time favorite soups. I’m taking traditional chicken barley soup and adding skinny and flavorful twists. First up, I’m using turkey instead of chicken - great for turkey leftovers. Next, adding diced sweet potatoes, carrots and celery, which adds a wonderful, naturally rich sweetness to the broth. That plus onions and barley and this full bodied soup has great texture. Each serving has 162 calories and 2 grams of fat.
Ingredients
- 1 (32 oz.) container reduced-sodium chicken broth (I like Swanson’s Organic reduced-sodium)
- 1 (14 oz.) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
- ⅔ cup dried pearl barley
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon from a jar)
- 1¼ cups carrots, sliced
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 1 cup onions, chopped (~1 small onion)
- 2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (~2 sweet potatoes)
- 1½ cups cooked turkey breast (skin removed), diced
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot add chicken broth and barley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a pan, add olive oil, garlic, carrots, celery, onions and sauté until vegetables are soft (~ 5 minutes).
- Add sautéed vegetables to broth. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Add sweet potatoes and season with pepper. Continue to cook uncovered for 20 minutes.
- Stir in cooked turkey and cook 10 minutes longer.
Notes
Makes 8 cups (each serving, 1 cup)
Food Fact
Barley dates back to the Stone Age. The ancient Greeks relied on barley to make bread and athletes attributed much of their strength and physical growth to their barley rich diet.
Healthy Benefit
Pearled barley in high in cholesterol- lowering fiber and is low in fat. A single serving offers 11% of the RDA of iron and has a fair amount of folate and niacin.
Shopping Tip
You can find dried pearl barley in the supermarket aisle with the dried beans.
Substitution Tip
If desired, substitute chicken for the turkey.
Weight Watchers (old points) 3
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 4
Food Fact
Barley dates back to the Stone Age. The ancient Greeks relied on barley to make bread and athletes attributed much of their strength and physical growth to their barley rich diet.
Healthy Benefit
Pearled barley in high in cholesterol- lowering fiber and is low in fat. A single serving offers 11% of the RDA of iron and has a fair amount of folate and niacin.
Shopping Tip
You can find dried pearl barley in the supermarket aisle with the dried beans.
Substitution Tip
If desired, substitute chicken for the turkey.
Weight Watchers (old points) 3
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 4
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 cup serving 162 cal, 2g fat, 10g protein, 26g carbs, 5g fiber, 418mg sodium, 5g sugar |
| FAT FACTS: for 1 regular cup of Turkey, Barley and Sweet Potato Soup 260 cal, 8g fat, 10g protein, 26g carbs, 4.8g fiber, 1074mg sodium, 5g sugar |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1cupCalories: 162kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 10gFat: 2gSodium: 418mgFiber: 5gSugar: 5gPlus Points: 4
this was so good! We used our leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I also used frozen, chopped squash. Because of that I kind of played around with times, the longest time was to cook the barley. Whole recipe took about an hour of cooking. My husband, who doesn’t really eat sweet potatoes, like the soup!
Love all your feedback, Kelly. Thank you! I’m so happy to hear you loved it and even your husband did, too!
All the best,
Nancy