Cock a Leekie Soup - Traditional Scottish Recipe

This traditional scottish recipe for cock a leekie soup is based on the traditional simple way of cooking cock a leekie soup. There are more modern variations of cock a leekie soup with carrot and prunes but my version is based on the old traditional way of making cock a leekie. Its really simple and easy to make and this recipe creates such a delicious healing, nourishing bowl of soup. The whole family enjoys it and although we didn’t frequently eat this growing up we will be adding it to our lunchtime recipes from now on.

I created this recipe as part of my Traditional Scottish Recipes series on Youtube and if you would prefer you can watch the full video below:

The traditional recipes call for prunes but I didnt have any available and am not particularly keen on chopped prunes in my soup so instead I added some delicious raw honey to the chicken at the end of the roasting time and chopped that back into the soup upon serving and I think it added in a light sweet element that the prunes might have given this soup. You can add chopped prunes in if you prefer to keep to the older ways of making this recipe.

Traditional Cock a Leekie Soup

1 small bunch of garden herbs

1 large pinch of seasalt (1-2tbsp)

1 whole fresh chicken

4-6 leeks (large) enough to fill the pot quartered lengthways and sliced

1 diced onion

3-4 handfuls of rice

prunes x 6 (optional) chopped

raw honey

salt & pepper

parsley for garnishing

As per the video instructions above:

Add the herbs to a large soup pan of water. Add in the salt and the whole chicken. Keep the chicken string on the bird to make it easier to remove after cooking.

Bring to boil then back down to a simmer. Simmer for a total of 1hr and about 10mins or until the chicken is cooked through.

Chop up the leeks and add half at the start of the cooking process in the soup pan.

Halfway through the hour add in the chopped onion.

Add in the remainging leeks just before the total cooking time is complete.

Remove the bird with two forks and place in a roasting dish once cooked through.

Add the rice to the pan and continue simmering until the remaining leeks are cooked and the rice is also cooked through.

Season the cooked chicken with salt and pepper and roast in a medium oven for about 10-15minutes to crisp up the skin. Remove and drizzle honey all over the chicken. Place back in the oven but switch the heat off and leave until the soup has finished cooking. This creates a nice sticky texture to the skin.

Once the rice and leeks have cooked in the soup remove the chicken from the oven and dice up a handfuls worth and add to a soup bowl. Ladle the soup over the top of the chicken and serve immediately with some chopped parsley and crusty bread.