Chicken and leek barley soup
A warm chicken soup with soft leeks, carrots and pearl barley.
About 55 min · 405 kcal · 36 g protein per serving
Cod, tomato and fennel broth
A light coastal broth with cod, fennel and white beans.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 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 the fennel softens in 10 minutes
- Photograph the finished bowls
- Time
- About 40 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 305 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 34 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains fish. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- vegetable stock. Vegetable stock often contains celery, and some contain milk or gluten; check the label, especially if you need it vegan.
Cooking steps
Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the fennel for 10 minutes, until soft. Slice it thinly enough and it softens in the time the broth takes; cut thick, it will still be crunchy when the fish is done.
Add the tomatoes, beans and stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
Lower the heat, add the cod and poach gently for 5 to 6 minutes, until it is opaque and flakes.
Cooked when: 63°C / 145°F, or until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Stir in the parsley and serve.
The useful detail
Cut fennel thinly enough to become soft before adding the fish. The fish needs six minutes; fennel in thick wedges needs twenty, and the two cannot be reconciled later.
Make it work for you
One serving is A large bowl, half the pan. 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.
Haddock instead of cod
Finer flakes, with the same safe endpoint.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
Prawns instead of cod
Add them for the last 3 to 4 minutes instead.
Per serving: about 5 kcal more, about 3 g more protein, about the same fat.
Allergens: Removes fish; adds crustaceans.
Butter beans instead of cannellini
Larger and softer. The figures use the same record.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same 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 light broth with a high protein figure for its energy: white fish and beans, and almost no fat beyond the spoon of oil.
| Energy | 305 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 34 g |
| Fat | 4 g |
| of which saturates | 1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 34 g |
| of which sugars | 9 g |
| Fibre | 9 g |
| Sodium | 1,170 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.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| olive oil | 4.5 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 40 kcal | 0.0 g |
| fennel | 200 g | FDC 169385Fennel, bulb, raw | 62 kcal | 2.5 g |
| tomatoes | 250 g | FDC 170457Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average | 45 kcal | 2.2 g |
| white beans | 180 g | FDC 175204Beans, white, mature seeds, canned | 205 kcal | 13.1 g |
| vegetable stock | 490 g | FDC 171583Soup, vegetable broth, ready to serve | 25 kcal | 1.2 g |
| cod | 280 g | FDC 171955Fish, cod, Atlantic, raw | 230 kcal | 49.9 g |
| parsley | 5 g | FDC 170416Parsley, fresh | 2 kcal | 0.1 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 608 kcal | 68.9 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. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool it quickly, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. The FDA chart gives soups and stews 3 to 4 days. Fish does not improve on reheating; make the broth ahead and add the fish fresh.
- In the freezer
- The same chart gives soups and stews 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout, stirring so it heats evenly.
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.
Try another recipe
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About 50 min · 345 kcal · 20 g protein per serving
Vegetarian