Root and barley soup recipe

This warming winter soup is a real January fixer: healthy, filling and economical, at only £1.33 per serving. 

Root and barley soup is so chunky and rib-sticking, it makes a full meal in itself, especially if you serve it up with a hunk of crusty bread to dip. It's really more like a chicken stew: quintessential bowl food for cold days. We've used bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe - much tastier and cheaper than chicken breasts. Cooking the soup with the bone adds more flavour. But don't worry, you remove the bones during the cooking process. At this point they are cooked and the meat should shred off them easily.

Ingredients

• 1.5 litres chicken stock
• 4 chicken thighs on the bone, skinned, with fat removed
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 small bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary
• 1kg mixed winter veg — we used carrot, turnip, swede, parsnip and celeriac
• 2 sticks celery
• 150g pearl barley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly chopped parsley, to garnish

Method

1. Bring the stock to the boil, then add the chicken thighs, onion and herbs. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 20 mins until the meat is tender.
2. Peel and chop all the winter vegetables and trim and chop the celery. Take the chicken out of the pan with a draining spoon and set it aside.
3. Put all the vegetables in the pan. Bring to the boil, then stir in the barley. Bring back to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 mins or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Meanwhile, take the meat off the thigh bones, shred it and keep it warm. Season the soup and ladle it into bowls. Top with shreds of chicken and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with chunks of bread.

Top tips for making root and barley soup

This soup can be made even more economical by using up whatever old veggies and leftover meat you have to hand. Roast beef, lamb or turkey would all work well.  There is no need to simmer the meat if they are previously cooked leftovers. Simply reduce the simmering time in step 1 to five minutes, before adding the vegetables. Towards the end of the 30 minutes simmering in step 3 add the meat, shredded or cut into strips, so it has time to heat through fully before serving.

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