Dinner

Chicken, Leek and Pearl Barley Pot

Name: Chicken, Leek and Pearl Barley Pot
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 300 g Chicken thigh, skinless and boneless; 200 g Leek; 150 g Carrot; 2 sticks, about 80 g Celery; 300 g Cooked pearl barley; 600 ml Chicken stock; 8 g Olive oil; 1 tsp, about 6 g Dijon mustard; A few sprigs Fresh thyme; 1 leaf, about 0 g Bay leaf; A handful, chopped Fresh parsley; Plenty Black pepper

Thighs simmered with leek, carrot, celery and pearl barley in stock with thyme and mustard. Halfway between soup and stew. 37 g of protein for 482 kcal a serving.

Calories: 482kcal
Protein: 37g
Fat: 12g
Carbs: 55g

Per serving, makes 2. 20 minutes of work, then forty minutes simmering. Published 8 September 2026.

Allergens

Gluten
Celery
Mustard

Nearly every stock cube and pot lists celery. Home-made stock without it carries no flag.

Flags follow UK labelling rules and come from the ingredients as listed, not from any particular brand. Check the packet before cooking for somebody with an allergy.

Ingredients

Chicken thigh, skinless and boneless300 g
Weighed raw. The same piece weighed after cooking has lost water, so the protein per gram is higher and the total would come out about a quarter over.
Leek200 g
Carrot150 g
Celery2 sticks, about 80 g
Cooked pearl barley300 g
About 110 g dry, cooked separately for twenty-five minutes. It keeps the stock clear if you cook it apart. Cooked weight.
Chicken stock600 ml
Made up from a cube or a pot.
Olive oil8 g
Dijon mustard1 tsp, about 6 g
Fresh thymeA few sprigs
Bay leaf1 leaf, about 0 g
Fresh parsleyA handful, chopped
Black pepperPlenty

Method

Brown the thighs in the oil in a casserole for three minutes a side and set aside.
Soften the sliced leek, carrot and celery in the same pan for eight minutes without colouring.
Return the chicken, add the stock, thyme and bay, and simmer with the lid on for thirty-five minutes until the chicken pulls apart.
Take the chicken out, shred it, and return it with the cooked barley and the mustard. Heat through for five minutes and finish with parsley and pepper.

Worth knowing

Makes two large bowls. It thickens overnight as the barley keeps drinking the stock, so loosen with water when reheating.
Pearl barley is a wheat relative and carries the gluten flag. Cooked brown rice in the same weight takes it off and leaves the calories where they were.

Other dinner recipes that share ingredients with this one, or every dinner between 450 and 600 calories a serving.

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Macros are calculated from the weights listed above using standard food composition values, and will shift with your own brands and measuring. Weigh what you can. This is a recipe, not dietary advice. The full health disclaimer is below.