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Chicken, leek and tarragon with pearl barley

Chicken and sweet leeks with barley and the aniseed note of tarragon.

By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 20 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
  • Confirm pearl barley is tender after 25 minutes plus 15 with the chicken on top
  • Photograph the finished pan
Time
About 1 hr
estimated
Serves
2
see below
Energy
525 kcal
per serving
Protein
47 g
per serving
Jump to recipe
Not yet photographed. The panel names the dish’s main ingredients rather than showing a picture we have not taken.

Ingredients for 2 servings

2 servings

Check off ingredients as you go.

Contains gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:

  • chicken stock. Stock often contains celery, and sometimes gluten or soya; check the label.

Cooking steps

  1. Slice the leeks into rounds and wash them well. Soften them in the oil in a lidded pan over low heat for 8 minutes, without letting them colour.

  2. Add the barley and the stock, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 25 minutes.

  3. Lay the chicken breasts on top of the barley, replace the lid and cook for a further 14 to 16 minutes.

    Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.

  4. Lift the chicken onto a board and rest for 5 minutes.

  5. Take the pan off the heat. Stir the yoghurt and chopped tarragon into the barley, slice the chicken and return it to the pan.

The useful detail

The yoghurt goes in off the heat. Boiled, it splits into grains and water, and there is nothing you can do to bring it back together.

Make it work for you

One serving is 150 g of chicken over half the barley and leeks. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.

  • Spelt instead of pearl barley

    Chewier, and it needs about 5 minutes longer.

    Per serving: about 5 kcal less, about 2 g more protein, about 1 g more fat.

  • Fresh parsley instead of tarragon

    Cleaner and without the aniseed note. Use twice as much.

    Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.

  • Quark instead of Greek yoghurt

    Thicker and sharper. It also splits if boiled.

    Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about 1 g less fat.

Estimated nutrition

Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.

A dinner where a whole grain does the work of a starch and a sauce at once, with yoghurt standing in for cream.

Nutrition per serving
Energy525 kcal
Protein47 g
Fat11 g
of which saturates2 g
Carbohydrate60 g
of which sugars8 g
Fibre10 g
Sodium990 mg
Show calculation notes

Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.

Calculation, whole recipe
IngredientWeight usedSourceEnergyProtein
leek250 gFDC 169246Leeks, (bulb and lower leaf-portion), raw153 kcal3.8 g
olive oil9 gFDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking80 kcal0.0 g
pearl barley100 gFDC 170284Barley, pearled, raw352 kcal9.9 g
chicken stock475 gFDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve28 kcal3.0 g
chicken breast300 gFDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw360 kcal67.5 g
fresh tarragon5 gNot calculatedFoodData Central has no record for fresh tarragon. The fresh herbs it does record, parsley at 36 kcal and dill at 43 kcal per 100 g, put 5 g at about 2 kcal.··
Greek yoghurt100 gFDC 170903Yogurt, Greek, plain, lowfat73 kcal9.9 g
Whole recipeDivided by 21046 kcal94.1 g

Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Ingredients marked “Not calculated” are excluded and could add at most 3 kcal to the whole recipe. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.

Storage and reheating

In the fridge
Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. The barley drinks the liquid overnight; loosen it with stock when you reheat.
In the freezer
The FDA chart gives cooked poultry dishes 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality.
Reheating
Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.

Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.

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