This is one of my family’s favorite soups!!! The barley adds an amazing amount of fiber and the squash, carrots, celery, and onions are loaded with vitamins. You can replace the chicken with turkey if desired. One cup has just 142 calories, 1 gram of fat and 5 grams of fiber. It’s so low in fat and calories, you can serve it as a main course soup with 2 hearty cups!
Ingredients
- 1 (48 oz.) container Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (32 oz.) container Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup dried pearl barley, see shopping tips
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1½ cups carrots, sliced
- 1½ cups celery, sliced
- 1½ cups onions, chopped
- 1 (12 oz) bag peeled and chopped butternut squash or 2½ cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1 pound cooked chicken or turkey (boneless, skinless), cubed
Instructions
- In a large pot, add all chicken broth and barley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a nonstick pan add olive oil, garlic, carrots, celery and onions. Sauté until soft (~ 5 minutes).
- Add sautéed vegetables to the broth. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Add butternut squash, thyme, sage and fresh ground pepper. Continue to cook uncovered for 25 minutes. Add the cooked chicken and stir with a rubber spatula so the squash doesn’t get mushy. Cook for 5 minutes more.
- This soup freezes great.
Notes
Makes 12 cups total: 6 (2-cups) main course servings and 12 (1-cup) first-course servings
Food Facts
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 Benefits
Pearled barley is high in cholesterol-lowering fiber and very low in fat. A single serving offers 11% of the RDA of iron and has a fair amount of folate and niacin. This recipe uses a total of 80 ounces of broth or 10 cups. Even though I love the flavor of Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth, if you’re on a low sodium diet, choose a chicken broth that has less sodium. There are many brands to choose from.
Shopping Tips
You can find dried pearl barley in the supermarket aisle with the dried beans.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue
WW SmartPoints 4-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 3
Food Facts
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 Benefits
Pearled barley is high in cholesterol-lowering fiber and very low in fat. A single serving offers 11% of the RDA of iron and has a fair amount of folate and niacin. This recipe uses a total of 80 ounces of broth or 10 cups. Even though I love the flavor of Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth, if you’re on a low sodium diet, choose a chicken broth that has less sodium. There are many brands to choose from.
Shopping Tips
You can find dried pearl barley in the supermarket aisle with the dried beans.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue
WW SmartPoints 4-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 3
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 cup 142 calories, 1g fat, 0.2g sat. fat, 18mg chol, 5g protein, 22g carbs, 5g fiber, 503mg sodium, 2g sugar |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1cupCalories: 142kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 5gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 503mgFiber: 5gSugar: 2gBlue Smart Points: 4Green Smart Points: 4Plus Points: 3
