Sausage Barley Soup

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Ingredients

• 1 pound Italian sausage (If you like it spicy, use half sweet & half hot)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 (48 fluid ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 large carrot, sliced (I use about 1/2 bag of baby carrots sliced at an angle)
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach (I use a bag of fresh baby spinach)
• 1/4-1/3 cup uncooked pearl barley

Preparation

Step 1

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage (I remove casing and crumple or you could slice), onion, and garlic until the sausage is evenly brown. Season with Italian seasoning. Remove from heat, and drain.

In a slow cooker, mix the sausage mixture, chicken broth, carrot, spinach, and barley.
Cover, and cook 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

If using fresh baby spinach, add during the last 15-30 minutes of cooking.

I double the recipe and freeze the leftover soup.