Chicken, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Lemony Chicken, Barley and Shiitake Mushroom Soup

5 from 3 votes

Chicken, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Everything you need to know about storing, using, and rehydrating dried mushrooms - plus a recipe for a hearty cold-weather soup featuring dried mushrooms, chicken, and barley. Substantial, comforting, and perfect for a cold weekday night.

Prep Time25

Cook Time1 20

Total Time1 45

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Servings: Servings

Author: Katie Workman

Ingredients

2 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms (or other mushrooms)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 leeks (white and light green parts only, washed and coarsely chopped)
2 carrots (peeled and chopped)
Kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper (to taste)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (trimmed and cut into ¼-inch pieces)
½ cup pearl barley
6 to 8 cups less-sodium chicken broth
Zest of two lemons (divided)
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
Whole fresh oregano leaves (to garnish, optional)

Instructions

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl, bring 1 cup of water to a boil, then pour it over the dried mushrooms and let them soak for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the liquid, give them a squeeze to remove excess liquid, then chop them. Pour the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer and reserve. Meanwhile, trim the fresh mushrooms, removing the stems of the shiitakes completely, wipe them with a damp paper towel to remove any dirt, and coarsely chop them.
While the mushrooms finish soaking, in a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the leeks, carrots, and chopped fresh mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 8 minutes until the vegetables are starting to become tender, and any liquid the mushrooms have released evaporates. Let the mushrooms sauté until they start to brown slightly. Add the chicken and barley, and sauté until the chicken is starting to take on some color, and everything is well combined with the oil and vegetables.
Add 6 cups of the broth, the reserved mushroom soaking liquid, and the chopped soaked dried mushrooms, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer the soup for 30 minutes. Then add oregano and half of the lemon zest, and continue to simmer for about another 30 minutes, until the barley is cooked and tender. Add up to 2 more cups of broth as needed/desired as the soup finishes cooking if it seems too thick. Serve hot, with a sprinkle of lemon zest and some oregano leaves over each serving if desired.

Notes

Instead of dried shiitake mushrooms, you can pick another type of dried mushroom if you prefer, like morels or chanterelle.
You can sub in other fresh mushrooms here for the shiitakes as well. All fresh shiitake mushrooms make for a richer mushroom soup, all button mushrooms will result in a lighter soup, and you can use whatever mushrooms you like.

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