Pickle soup with chicken, pearl barley, and pickled cucumbers

Pickle soup is one of the popular soups that many housewives prepare mainly in the winter period. At the same time, there are quite a few variations of its preparation. One of them is pickle soup with chicken, pearl barley, and pickled cucumbers. The basis of the pickle soup is chicken broth (you can boil broth from any parts of the chicken), which turns out to be aromatic and very rich.

Yield: 8 servings.

Preparation time: 40 minutes.

Calories: 50 kcal per 100 grams of dish.

Ingredients

• onion – 1 pc;
• pearl barley – 70 – 100 g;
• pickled (barrel) cucumbers – 3 pcs;
• potatoes – 2 – 3 pcs;
• chicken thigh – 1 pc;
• vegetable oil – 2 tbsp;
• carrot – 1 pc;
• salt, spices;
• water – 2 – 2.5 l.

Preparation

1. Sort the pearl barley, rinse it several times, then soak it in cold water for a few hours (ideally overnight) so that it swells (this way, the pearl barley will cook faster and become fluffy).

2. Rinse the chicken thigh well, place it in the pot where the pickle soup will be cooked, pour in cold water, and put it on medium heat. When the broth begins to boil, reduce the heat, collect the formed foam, and slightly salt the future soup (the broth should be unsalted, otherwise, when adding pickled cucumbers, the pickle soup may end up oversalted).

3. Boil the thigh from the moment the broth starts boiling for about 15 minutes (if you are using homemade chicken, it may take longer to cook). Remove the cooked chicken meat from the broth, let it cool a bit, then separate the bones, after which return it to the chicken broth.

4. Meanwhile, add the swollen pearl barley to the broth, having rinsed it thoroughly under running water one more time. Boil the pearl barley from the moment it starts to boil for about 7 minutes. During the cooking process, be sure to remove the foam that will rise; otherwise, the soup will not turn out clear.

5. Then add diced potatoes to the pearl barley.

6. While the potatoes are cooking with the pearl barley, prepare the sauté for the pickle soup. For this, in a pan with vegetable oil, sauté the chopped onion and grated (on a coarse grater) carrot.

7. Then add diced pickled (barrel) cucumbers to the vegetables and sauté for another couple of minutes.

8. Add the sautéed vegetables to the broth and boil for about 5 minutes, adding spices (ground pepper, seasoning for pickle soup, etc.).

9. Be sure to taste the ready pickle soup and, if necessary, add salt. Serve the pickle soup with pearl barley and chicken hot.