Slow-Cooked Chicken, Sausage, Root Vegetable & Barley Stew

I’m starting to use my slow-cooker a lot more these days. Its great for when i’m out all day and back late from training, as usually at this point I have very little energy or enthusiasm to cook, and I’m usually already starving. If I prepare it in the morning and leave it to cook all day, then when I come home its there ready and waiting. The beauty of a slow-cooked stew is that literally anything can go in it. Its perfect for using up lots of vegetables, which is why there are so many in this recipe. Barley is also a great carbohydrate source to cook in a slow-cooker as it doesn’t disintegrate and go mushy like other carb sources such as rice or pasta. It is not recommendable to cook either of these in a slow cooker. You could swap barley for potato if you like or add it instead of any of the other vegetables. Its so versitile and flexible that you can just put your own spin on it and use my ingredients list as guidance.

Print Recipe

Slow-Cooked Chicken, Sausage, Root Vegetable & Barley Stew

Keyword

Barley, Carrot, Chicken, Leek, Parsnip, Sausage, Turnip

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

6-8 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 leek
• 2 skinless, boneless, chicken thigh fillets
• 2 good quality pork sausages
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 1 turnip
• 1 small handful mushrooms
• 40 g green lentils
• 80 g barley
• 600 ml chicken stock
• 1 small handful fresh sage leaves or use 1 tbsp dried.

Keyword Barley, Carrot, Chicken, Leek, Parsnip, Sausage, Turnip Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 6-8 hours Servings people Ingredients 1 tsp olive oil 1 clove garlic 1 onion 1 leek 2 skinless, boneless, chicken thigh fillets 2 good quality pork sausages 1 carrot 1 parsnip 1 turnip 1 small handful mushrooms 40 g green lentils 80 g barley 600 ml chicken stock 1 small handful fresh sage leaves or use 1 tbsp dried.

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Peel and dice the onion.
2. Peel and crush the garlic.
3. Top and tail the leeks, remove the outer layer and slice in to rings.
4. Peel and dice the root vegetables in to similar sized, small chunks.
5. Cut the mushrooms in to quarters.
6. Cut the chicken in to large chunks.
7. Cut the sausages in to quarters.
8. Shred the sage leaves.
9. Make up the stock.
10. Weigh out the lentils and barley.

To cook:

1. Put everything in the bowl of the slow-cooker and stir. Make sure the lid is on properly.
2. Set the temperature to 85 degrees celsius and the timer to 8 hours and leave.
3. Once cooked divide between 2 bowls and enjoy.

Recipe Notes

If you make this, let me know how it goes and share your photos.  I’d also love to hear how you adapt it to suit yourself.