Chicken, leek and Cheddar bake recipe

This chicken, leek bake recipe with Cheddar cheese uses classic British ingredients – and is cheap to make, too.

Sometimes you just need to smother things in cheese. Our chicken, leek and bake with Chaddar serves four people and will take about 35 mins to rustle up. Packed with plenty of flavour, thanks to the buttery Cheddar cheese sauce and tangy leeks, this recipe uses chicken breasts but you could use other cuts like thighs or wings to keep the cost down. Serve this hearty bake with new potatoes or on a bed of freshly cooked pasta.

Ingredients

• 1tbsp oil
• 4 chicken breasts, diced
• 2 leeks, washed and sliced
• 25g butter
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 300ml semi-skimmed milk
• 125g Cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. To make this chicken breast recipe (opens in new tab), heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and fry the chicken for 5 mins. Add the leeks and fry for 10 mins, covered.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook for 1 min. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the milk then bring to the boil until thickened, stirring. Season and add half the cheese and stir until melted.
3. Place the chicken in a heatproof serving dish and pour over the cheese sauce. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and place under a preheated grill for 2-3 mins until golden and bubbling. Serve with a green salad.

Top tip for making this chicken, leek and Cheddar bake

The sauce in this recipe would work well with other meats too – try beef or pork instead.