Cock-A-Leekie Soup

Name: Cock-A-Leekie Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 350 g leeks; 2 tbsp. olive oil; 425 g skinless chicken thighs; 3 rashers streaky bacon, chopped; 1 L hot chicken stock; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 c. pearl barley; 15 stoned dried prunes, chopped; large handful of parsley

This Scottish soup dates back to the 16th century and is often served as a starter on Burns or St Andrew’s Night.

By The GH Kitchen TeamUpdated: 10 January 2024

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ALLEKO

Cock-A-Leekie soup is a traditional Scottish soup consisting of chicken and leeks and usually thickened with rice or pearl barley. It also typically contains an unusual ingredient: dried prunes.

The prunes give a nice sweetness to the soup against the peppered chicken and earthy grain.

Serve with a dram of Scotch whisky if you're celebrating this Burns Night.

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Yields:

4 serving(s)

Prep Time:

15 mins

Cook Time:

1 hr 30 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 45 mins

Ingredients

350 g leeks
2 Tbsp. olive oil
425 g skinless chicken thighs
3 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
1 l hot chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 c. pearl barley
15 stoned dried prunes, chopped
large handful of parsley

Directions

1. Step 1
  Slice the leeks, keeping the white and green parts separate. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and brown the chicken. Remove chicken from the pan and add the white of the leeks. Soften over a medium heat for 10min, then stir in the bacon and cook for 5min.
2. Step 2
  Add the pearl barley and toast for 2 minutes then return the chicken to the pan. Add the stock and bay leaf. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30min, skimming the surface to remove fat. Stir in the green part of the leeks and simmer, covered, for another 30min.
3. Step 3
  Lift out the chicken, remove and discard the skin, strip the meat from the bone and roughly tear into pieces. Add to the soup, along with the chopped prunes and season. Remove the bay leaf, spoon the soup into four bowls and garnish with parsley.

Per Serving:

Sugars: 2 g
Total fat: 14 g
Saturated fat: 3 g

The GH Kitchen Team

The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor ⁠Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce ⁠Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time