recipe reviews for:

Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup

“Kell Ferell of Alamo, North Dakota drives 80 miles round-trip every day for her job, so she needs quick, healthy dishes to fix for her family. 'This is a huge favorite,' she pens. 'If I don't have leftover chicken, I simply boil or poach some chicken breasts. I use the cooking liquid to replace part of the water in the recipe to add even more flavor.'”

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Reviewed: Oct. 29, 2009

this is a really satisfying soup to make, especially if you dont have much time for prep work. besides cutting the onion and garlic, theres not much else work. i decided not to use chicken since i didnt have any on hand but used 5 garlic cloves and added a can of kidney beans to make it a little heartier. its quite good on its own but i took the advice of other reviewers and added a little cheese and broken tortilla chips and its VERY yummy! this is a good easy keeper soup for those winter days approaching.

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hungrymama85

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 6, 2009

I was looking for a soup recipe using barley (for its 'super-food' nutrition). I made the recipe as written except that I used 4 cups of chicken broth and reduced the chili powder to make it more kid-friendly. The entire family happily gobbled it up. It's a great way to use up left-overs from a roasted chicken. Love it! Oh, and I added some carrots.

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Shelly

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Reviewed: Sep. 16, 2009

We had some extra barley in the pantry and used this recipe to use it up. I don't usually like soups, but I really did like this one. It had a nice kick to it, but my little one was still able to eat it!

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milosmom

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Bainbridge, Georgia, USA

Living In: Tallahassee, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: May 4, 2009

This soup was really yummy! It wasn't too spicy but still had some kick. Next time I might try using rice and some crushed tortilla chips.

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Amanda B

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Mar. 3, 2009

This was really good! As another reviewer mentioned- I didn't drain all of the ingredients as directed either, just to add a little bit more flavor. I didn't have pearl barely and didn't want to bother going to the store, and I didn't substitute anything for it either (I think it was fine without it). I added a 4 oz can of diced jalapenos (my husband loves spicy food) and topped it with cheddar cheese!! I also served it with jalapeno flavored tostito chips, yummmm!

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gaf139

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Reviewed: Feb. 22, 2009

This recipe was great. It tasted better the next day (like most soups do!). My changes included soaking dried beans and using the liquid instead of adding the separate water. Also, I omitted the chiles because I didn't have them on hand. Instead I cooked a few slices of bacon with the onions to add a little smokiness to it. Day one it tasted like a modified chili, but day two the flavors melded and it was a true southwest soup!

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MrsDavis114

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Morristown, New Jersey, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 16, 2009

I didn't think this had a lot of flavor because all I could taste was the chili powder--go light on this until you get your taste right or you will be disappointed. Just seemed like it was missing something. ***UPDATE --after writing review I added a vegetable bouillon cube and half of a cilantro flavored one--this seemed to give it a wonderful flavor. Also did as other suggested and topped with cheddar cheese--Yummo. I have upgraded to four stars after making these changes. Thank you.

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CARDINALLOVER

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 30, 2008

Very good soup! I did need to swap kidney beans for black beans and chopped jalapeno's instead of chili's so that I didn't have to go to the grocery store. Made it for dinner for company, everyone enjoyed it, we added tortilla chips instead of crackers and had some velveeta/salsa dip on the side, some mixed that into the soup too.

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baretrees130

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Nov. 30, 2008

Yummy. Used the canned tomatoes with the green chiles and kept all the rest of the quantities the same -- nice warmth combined with the comfort nature of barley. A real winner in the winter.

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DULCINEA54935

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Neillsville, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Sparta, Wisconsin, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 18, 2008

Kell, thanks for a fantastic recipe. I didn't the black beans, OR corn OR green chillies on hand, but was so anxious to try your great recipe I used kidney beans, chopped yellow and green peppers and some fresh ground black pepper. (Oh yeah, I only had a can of diced tomatoes as well!!!) Let's face it, Kell......your recipe is bullet proof! I liked that one person's idea of sprinkling some cheddar on top....some parsley sprigs and/or crushed tortilla chips might be fun, too. Thanks again for the magnificent dinner tonight. (I was a hero in my wife's eyes.)

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PRESIDENT

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Living In: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Jul. 10, 2008

Good hearty soup for cool evenings...I added some hot sauce instead of green chilies, which are hard to find here, otherwise kept the recipe basically the same. Thick and filling!

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Reviewer:

Kimberly

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: High Prairie, Alberta, Canada

Living In: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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Reviewed: Apr. 11, 2007

This stew came together wonderfully! A can of Ro-Tel tomatoes can be subbed for separate cans of tomatoes and green chilis. I served with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top- it was a huge hit!

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Reviewer:

DrkEyedCajn

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Houston, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 19, 2007

This was easy to put together and great for a large gathering! I added a 15 oz can of salsa (I used medium) instead of the diced tomatoes and it added a delicious tang to it.

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A. Powers

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Reviewed: Feb. 14, 2007

This is a great base recipe. I added a few more things to it when I made it. I added chopped carrots and celery and 2 Tbsp of fresh ginger. I added a tsp of dried rosemary, tsp of oregano, a tsp of thyme and 1.5 Tbsp of Tandoori Masala powder(can find in Indian shops or international food aisle in grocery store). I also used a combination of low sodium chicken and beef broths at 1.5 cups each instead of the can of chicken broth and 3 cups of water. I made the soup in the morning and let it sit on the stove throughout the day. When reheating it, I added another 3/4 cup of broth, as the soup thickened over the course of the day. This soup had so much more flavour after letting it sit. My family absolutely LOVED it. I had a request to make this dish everyday.

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chris

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Reviewed: Jan. 22, 2007

I made this the other day and my family loved it. Makes a lot of leftovers too!

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Reviewer:

Joanne

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Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2007

I made this after Thanksgiving with Turkey stock and turkey meat. I kept all the other ingredients the same and it made a fantastic soup. Such a great flavor! This was a welcome change from the normal turkey noodle soup! Thanks Kell!

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Reviewer:

cookinme

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Living In: Washington, Maine, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 8, 2007

Delicious! I made a lot of small changes that worked well for me. Instead of corn I used golden hominy. I used 4 cups of chicken broth and one cup of water, and I didn't drain any of the canned ingredients. I ommitted the tomato sauce as well. I also used quick barley and only simmered for 25-30 minutes. I resisted the urge to add any salt to this, and I'm glad I resisted! I did add some extra chili powder and cumin though, because we like a heavy flavoring. But I think it would be great as written.

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