Ingredients for Chicken and Cabbage Soup
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 small white cabbage
- 1 handful pearl barley şehriye (barley orzo)
- 1 tea glass cooked corn (about 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
- 1 onion
- 1 kapya pepper (roasted red pepper type)
- 1 carrot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tea glass vegetable oil (about 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 dessert spoon salt (about 2 tsp)
- 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
How to Make Chicken and Cabbage Soup
Place 1 chicken breast in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until done. Lift the chicken out and set aside to cool — keep the broth in the pot, you'll need it for the soup. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it and set aside.
Wash 1 small white cabbage, chop it into small pieces, and set aside in a bowl.
In a separate pot, sauté 1 diced onion and 1 diced kapya pepper (seeds removed) in 1 tea glass (about 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) of vegetable oil over medium heat until softened.
Add 1 grated carrot and sauté for another minute or two. Stir in 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and cook briefly.
Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and stir to coat the vegetables. Add the chopped cabbage, stir to combine, then pour in the reserved chicken broth — enough to just cover the cabbage. Bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add 1 handful of pearl barley şehriye and 1 tea glass (about 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) of cooked corn. Stir in the shredded chicken. Season with 1 dessert spoon (about 2 tsp) of salt, 1 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir occasionally and remove from heat once the cabbage is tender. Serve hot.
Tips
If the cabbage smell bothers you while it cooks, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into the pot. It tones down the odor without affecting the flavor.
Şehriye keeps absorbing liquid as it sits — if you're not serving the soup straight away, add the şehriye only 5 minutes before taking it off the heat and leave it slightly al dente. This keeps it from turning mushy by the next day.
The cooked corn adds a nice pop of texture against the soft cabbage. If you're using frozen corn, thaw it fully before adding.
On the topic of white cabbage — have you tried the Cabbage Stew with Chickpeas?
