Turmeric Chicken Barley Soup
- Chicken bones and leftover meat
- 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
- 1 onion (diced)
- 2 carrots (chopped)
- 3 celery stalks (diced)
- 2 cups fingerling potatoes (cut in half or quartered)
- 1 cup barley
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- In a large stock pot, boil enough water to cover the chicken carcass once submerged. Add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to the water.
- Once water is boiling, add the chicken carcass and boil for 30 minutes, occasionally skimming fat off the top of the water (skip the skimming if you want your soup to be more fatty and satiating)
- While the chicken carcass boils, heat oil in a large dutch oven or pot on medium; add diced onion, celery, carrots, and turmeric and cook until soft, about 10 minutes minutes
- Add potatoes and cook another 10 minutes
- Season with salt and pepper
- Add 6 cups of water from the chicken broth to the vegetables and turn the heat to high
- Add barley and let simmer for 20 minutes, adding more water from chicken broth, as necessary
- While the soup cooks, remove chicken carcass from broth and carefully peel any remaining meat from the bones using a fork and knife or your fingers (be careful, it’s hot!)
- Add all remaining chicken meat to the soup and let simmer for another 15 minutes, adding more broth until it reaches your preferred consistency
- Serve warm with a sprinkle of pepper and parmesan cheese (optional)
If you’ve stumbled across this recipe and didn’t already cook a whole chicken, that’s fine too! You can easily make this soup from scratch by cooking whatever chicken meat you prefer in a pan before adding to the soup. And substitute the homemade chicken bone broth for 32oz pre-packaged bone broth or chicken stock and add 2 cups water.
