Delicious Low Syn Chicken, Leek and Butternut Squash Bake - a perfect meal for the family to dig in and enjoy
If you struggle to do SP days because you think you will miss some of the foods that are off limits, then you just have to try this Chicken, Leek and Butternut Squash Bake.
Those flavours will have you wondering why you don't do Slimming World SP days more often, just so you can make this dish. Hey even if you are not doing an SP day you should make this dish.
Butternut Squash as a vegetable is so underrated. I have to buy at least one a week, because they are so versatile and can create many delicious dishes. Some of my favourites are:
- Butternut Squash Fries
- Roasted Paprika Butternut Squash
- Creamy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
- Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto
- Spaghetti with Roasted Butternut Squash Sauce
- Chicken and Rice Stuffed Butternut Squash
- Chicken, Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Soup
with many more delicious Butternut Squash Recipes for you to try.
I use ghee for infusing the garlic and herb flavour into the dish. You can use butter or even olive oil if you do not have ghee. If you want to keep it syn free then by all means use spray oil, but for the sake of less than a couple of syns, that flavour is worth it in my opinion. Incase you are wondering what ghee it. It's a clarified butter, which is a great fat for cooking with, it's natural and can be heated to high temps without going rancid like many man made oils. It's one of my favourite fats to cook with and well worth the 4.5 syns for 1 tbs, as that tablespoon will go a long way.
There are plenty of speed foods in this dish to not need to serve with an additional, but I love any opportunity to get more vegetables into my day and so served this Chicken, Leek and Butternut Squash Bake with some delicious oven roasted asparagus. Asparagus has a flavour that just pairs really well with this recipe.
If you are not doing an SP day and can't do without the carbs, this dish is great with some rice, or Syn Free Roast Potatoes or even these Crushed Roast Potatoes.
You won't believe how delicious the sauce is on this Chicken, Leek and Butternut Squash Bake, that gets it's flavour from the infused ghee/butter and the sweeteness of that butternut squash.
The only disappointing part to this dish, is when it is all gone. Seriously!!!
Extra Easy - 1 HEa and 1.5 syns per serving
Original - 1 HEa and 1.5 syns per serving
WW Smart Points -
Paleo/Dairy Free - omit cheese (use ghee or other oil of choice)
- 6 chicken thighs (all skin and visible fat removed)
- 3 large leeks, sliced
- 1 onion, halved and sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 90g (3oz) of parmesan (3xHEa’s)
- Fresh Parsley, chopped
- Fresh Thyme, chopped
- Black pepper
- 240ml (1 cup) of chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter (6 syns)
- Preheat oven to 200c or 400f
- Cut all the chicken thighs in half, to make small pieces.
- Add the ghee or butter to a frying over a medium heat with the garlic and a little bit of chopped parsley and thyme and fry for a 1-2 minutes just to infuse the flavour
- Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly golden.
- Set aside
- Add the onion and butternut squash and cook until the squash starts to soften. Add a little bit of the chicken stock at time, to prevent any from sticking to the pan.
- Add the chopped leeks to the pan, and continue to cook for approx 2 mins.
- Transfer the chicken, leeks, onion and squash to an oven proof dish. Pour over the remaining chicken stock, just to keep the dish moist. Top with the parmesan cheese and season with some salt black pepper.
- Bake in the oven for approx 30 mins, chicken should be cooked through and cheese melted and lightly golden.
- Serve with your choice of sides, but this dish is perfectly delicious all on it's own.
Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.
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Mhmmmm Dleicous ... Now I know what to Cook for the Cold Days .
O.M.G i made this for tea tonight and it is so good!!
this was really lovely thanks again
another cracking recipe even my hubby who thinks that meals should be meat, potato and veg said how good it was so it must have been fabulous.
Another lovely recipe. I had to pop some foil over the dish for the last ten mins to stop the cheese from burning
This was amazing! Totally worth it! I might try it with different cheese in the future x
i did this dish today and every single person enjoye it so much. Thank you
Could I use buttery fry light instead of butter to save syns
This was absokutely delicious! I made it tonight!
Just eaten this. It was extremely tasty. Nice and warming too
Made this tonight and it was soooooo scrummy! Packed with loads of flavour. This will become another favourite.
Please tell what SP is.
SP is part of Slimming World - it is where you eat only the foods from the free food list with an S or a P next to them and at least half of your plate should be speed foods.
What a tasty dish..loving all these recipes xx
thank you Karen, it is one of my favs. I love good healthy ingredients as in this dish.
Just made this for dinner, absolutely delicious. Thank you for your lovely recipes. x
Great base [email protected] Didn;t have so much chicken so subbed in more veg. Stirred in roasted red pepper pesto and topped with panko & parmesan for a gratin-like finish. Yum!
Can you freeze this? Thanks
Hi Catie - yes this will freeze fine.
Absolutely delicious !
This was seriously delicious Shevy! I loved the delicate subtle flavours of thyme and ghee. I didn't have butternut so used sweet potato and carrot, it worked well. Passed the husband test and got thumbs up ! Thanks for the recipe and your blog, love it here in Australia.
Ahh thanks so much, Lorraine for such a lovely comment. I am so happy to read that you are enjoying the recipes on the blog.
Hi Siobhan what approximate weight would you say a small butternut squash is as I live in Tenerife and they all look quite big here thank you x
I wouldn’t worry too much about the weight, just dice and spread out evenly so it looks an even ratio to everything else, any leftover you can use in a soup or similar
I don't eat meat, could I substitute salmon or prawns for the chicken? Really like the look of the dish though.
You sure can, but don’t add the shrimp or fish until later otherwise they will be over cooked.
Hi could you use a slow cooker for this recipe thanks
This is best cooked in the oven.
Lovely meal thanks for the recipe ! Can I freeze the leftovers?
yes it freezes fine, enjoy 🙂
My butternut had a very thin skin and broke when I was trying to scoop it out. In fairness, it was still quite hot so I may have been a bit clumsy with it. Anyway, I popped it all into a large gratin dish, topped it with the cheese as directed and it came out well. Very tasty, syn free and really want to say don’t panic if your squash breaks - just make it in a dish.
the butternut squash should be cubed, peeled and added to this recipe raw? Not sure if you have confused with another recipe. But glad you enjoyed all the same.
Hi is this menu 1.5 ww per serving
This was just beautiful. The first SP meal I have had from your 7 day plan. Can’t wait to try the others, I cannot believe this is only 1.5 syns
Absolutely delicious, cooked it to have some leftovers for lunch..... we all came back for more!
A brilliantly tasty dish, one to repeat again and again. Thank you
Had a load of homegrown butternut squash to use up and was looking for some different recipes. This was delicious, will definitely make again. Currently doing the fast 800 diet which is lowish carb and this fitted perfectly. Thank you 🙂
Hi is butternut squash easy to peel? What is the best way? I’ve never cooked it before.
I use a sharp santoku knife. I just cut off the nose, the slice off each end to make flat, then you can carefully slice the skin off with the knife and dice. The nose part, you need to remove seeds and then chop into easier sized pieces to manage, but again the skin can be sliced off with a sharp knife. A good peeler will work too, but I prefer to use a knife.