Batch cooking recipes · British recipes
This chicken and leek soup recipe simmers September leeks, tender chicken thighs and butter beans in dry cider for a hearty lunch that freezes well.
Pull a tub of this chunky soup from the freezer on a cool autumn weekday and lunch is only minutes away: sweet, silky leeks, soft beans and shreds of chicken in a sharp, mustardy broth.
Why it’s so good: The thighs poach whole in the pot, so they stay juicy and flavour the broth as they cook, while wholegrain mustard and a splash of apple-sharp cider stop it tasting heavy.
Make it easy: Buy ready-sliced leeks and a bag of prepared kale to cut down the chopping.
Heat the oil in a large casserole or saucepan over a medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes until the leeks are soft and silky but not browned.
Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the cider, turn up the heat and bubble for 3 minutes until reduced by about a third.
Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer, then lower in the chicken thighs whole. Partly cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, with no pink meat and the juices running clear.
Lift the chicken onto a board and shred it with two forks. Fish the thyme stalks and bay leaves out of the pan.
Stir the butter beans and mustard into the broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the kale and cook for 3-4 minutes until wilted and tender.
Return the chicken to the pan and heat until the soup is steaming hot. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the parsley, if using, and ladle into bowls. Leave the rest to cool before portioning for the freezer (see tips).
| Calories | 290kcals |
|---|---|
| Fat | 12g (2.2g saturated) |
| Protein | 26g |
| Carbohydrates | 18g (7g sugars) |
| Fibre | 7g |
| Salt | 1.6g |
Cool the soup, then freeze it in portion-sized containers, leaving a little room at the top for it to expand, and label with the date. The Food Standards Agency suggests eating frozen meat within 2-3 months.
The Food Standards Agency advises defrosting food in the fridge, using it within 24 hours once fully defrosted and reheating it only once, until steaming hot throughout. The beans soak up some of the broth in the freezer, so add a splash of water or stock as it reheats, and stir in fresh parsley at the end.
To leave out the alcohol, swap the cider for the same amount of extra stock and add 1 tbsp cider vinegar with the mustard. Check the labels on the stock, cider and mustard if the soup needs to be gluten-free.
Cavolo nero or savoy cabbage can stand in for the kale, and cannellini beans for the butter beans.
