Chicken and Leek Traybake

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This Chicken and Leek Traybake Recipe is easy, filling, nutritious and super tasty, making it the perfect midweek meal for busy families!

I love traybake family dinners. There’s nothing better than throwing all of your ingredients onto a big baking tray, drizzling it with oil, and baking it in the oven.

My Chicken and Leek Traybake Recipe is slightly different because you make a sauce too.

But that’s super simple and then you just pour it onto your other ingredients and bake as usual, with a little bit of extra stirring.

You still only have a baking tray and jug to wash up! Which is one of the best bits about any traybake midweek dinner.

Chicken, leeks, peas and beans are all yummy, filling and healthy, and they all work really well together. I always enjoy chicken and leek recipes, so a chicken and leek bake is a big favourite of mine. 

I love using beans for bulking out meals, too. They are healthy and cheap, a perfect ingredient to add to midweek family meals if you are looking to cook on a budget or just add some extra nutrition to your meals. 

Midweek family meals, I think, should be tasty and filling, but also easy. We’re busy in the week, and there’s not always time for chopping, prepping, stirring and everything else that comes with a big meal. 

This is why meals like this creamy chicken and leek traybake are perfect. They tick all of my midweek meal boxes, and the kids really enjoy them. 

What Kind of Beans Should You Use with Chicken and Leeks?

Chicken and leeks always taste great together, especially in a creamy sauce. But I usually add plenty of vegetables when I make a traybake. While I add a handful of frozen peas to this towards the end of baking, it never seems enough. 

So, I like to add beans to my chicken and leek tray bake, too. 

I typically add cannellini beans because we usually have a tin in. Any white beans, such as butter beans, would work well too.

Making the Stock for This Chicken and Leek Traybake

Most of my traybake recipes are just drizzled with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and maybe some spices. 

But this one is a little different. Leeks, I find, need a little more moisture, and baking it in a creamy gravy means you get lots of flavour and fantastically moist chicken breasts. 

I very simply season my chicken with salt and pepper. 

For the sauce for my chicken traybake with leeks, I mix 300ml chicken stock with 100ml white wine, 100ml Crème Fraiche and a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard.

I pour this stock over the potatoes, leeks and chicken breasts and bake, before adding the peas and beans towards the end. 

It can seem like a lot of stock when you first pour it on, but it thickens up and reduces as it bakes, and the starch from the potatoes mixes in, so you’re left with a lovely thick, creamy sauce for your traybake, that just coats all of the ingredients and brings it all together. 

If there’s still quite a bit when you serve, dip some crunchy bread in to make the most of it. 

Can You Make a Traybake with Frozen Chicken Breasts?

Absolutely. I often cook with frozen chicken breasts. They are cheap, and great to have in the freezer for midweek dinners or last-minute plans. 

If I use frozen breasts, I bake them for about 15 minutes on an oiled baking tray so that they aren’t frozen when I add them to my bean traybake. 

You can also make it with either skin on or off chicken thighs.

How Long do You Bake a Chicken Traybake for?

How long you bake a traybake for very much depends on what is on it and whether you are pre-cooking the meat or potatoes first. 

Unless I’m using frozen chicken, I bake everything except the peas and beans in my chicken and leek traybake together, so you need to give it time for the potatoes to cook through and the sauce to thicken. 

I usually bake for around 45 minutes before adding the peas and beans. I then give in an extra 15 minutes. As long as your chicken is piping hot and cooked through and your potatoes are nice and soft, it’s ready to go. 

If you wanted your chicken and bean traybake to be ready a little quicker, you could just mini chicken breast fillets, and slice your potatoes thinner so they cook faster.

If you do this, I recommend using less stock too.

What Do You Need to Make a Chicken and Leek Traybake?

To make this recipe for chicken and leek traybake, you really just need a nice deep baking tin or dish with plenty of space and high walls for the sauce.

Is This a Healthy Dinner?

My recipe for chicken and leek bake is really healthy. The only fatty thing in it is the Crème Fraiche, and there’s really only a little bit of that.

You could use half fat Crème Fraiche if you wanted to, but I find it separates a little and doesn’t give you the same creamy texture. 

More Traybake Recipes

If you love this recipe, you might like my other traybake recipes with vegetables.

• Chicken Fajita Traybake
• Peri Peri Chicken Traybake
• Halloumi and Chorizo Traybake
• Sausage and Bean Traybake
• Sweet Chilli Chicken Traybake
• Lemon and Herb Chicken Traybake

Chicken and Leek Traybake

Author NameAuthor: Donna

Chicken and Leek Traybake with white beans and peas is a super simple, filling and healthy family dinner. Simply throw it all in a deep tray, pour over the creamy stock, and bake.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Sweets

Cuisine British

Servings 4 Servings

Calories 649 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 500 g New Potatoes (Big ones cut in half)
• 4 Chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Large Leeks (Sliced)
• 300 ml Chicken Stock
• 100 ml White Wine
• 100 ml Crème Fraiche
• 1 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
• 150 g Frozen Peas
• 400 g Cannellini beans (Drained)

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (fan-assisted).
• Scatter the potatoes and leeks in a deep baking tray or roasting tin.
• Season the chicken breasts with a little salt and pepper and nestle them on top.
• Mix the chicken stock, wine, Crème Fraiche, and mustard in a large jug until smooth.
• Pour this over the chicken, leeks, and potatoes.
• Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
• Every 15 minutes, carefully remove the chicken breasts and place them on a plate while you stir the rest. Return the chicken breasts and use a spoon to carefully scoop out some sauce to baste the chicken before returning to the oven.
• After 45 minutes, remove and stir once more, but scatter on the peas and drained beans before returning and basting the chicken breasts.
• Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes.
• Check that the potatoes are soft and the chicken is piping hot and cooked through before serving.

Notes

• if necessary, return to the oven and bake for longer, until everything is cooked. If the top is browning, loosely cover it with foil.
• Read the post above for more tips and advice.

Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.

Keyword family recipes, midweek meal recipes, traybake dinners

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