A simple cheesy leeks recipe! The perfect vegetable side dish for roast dinner or Christmas lunch!
Tender leeks are smothered in a smooth cheesy sauce, topped with breadcrumbs, and baked in the oven until crispy and golden!
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I love making leeks in cheese sauce as a side for our traditional Sunday roast, but I also enjoy them on their own with some crusty bread.
👩🍳 Looking for another tasty, cheesy vegetable side dish? You'll want to try this easy creamed cabbage recipe too!
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- Delicious vegetable side dish.
- Cheesy and comforting.
- Perfect for roast dinners or Christmas lunch.
- Freezer Friendly.
🛒 Ingredients
Leeks - use thin young leeks which are much more tender than thicker older leeks.
For the cheese sauce - you'll need butter, flour, milk, grated cheddar cheese, nutmeg, and dijon mustard.
For the crunchy topping - breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan.
🔪 How to make cheesy leeks
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
Step One: Prepare your leeks by discarding the thick outer leaves, and removing any dirt by rinsing them under cold running water. Top and tail the leeks to remove the root and also the dark green top half. Chop the leeks into 5cm chunks.
💡 Pro tip! Save the dark green part of the leeks for making stock.
Step Two: Leeks need pre-cooking, otherwise they will be chewy and tough. I prefer to boil or steam the leeks for 5 minutes in salted boiling water.
Step 3: Make the cheese sauce (using the roux method). Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour, then whisk in the milk. Keep whisking until the sauce starts to thicken and it coats the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the grated cheese, nutmeg, and dijon mustard.
Step 4: Assemble the leeks in a baking dish and pour over the cheese sauce. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and Parmesan, and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Top Tips
- Spoon a little cheese sauce into the base of your baking dish to prevent the leeks from sticking to the bottom of the dish.
- If you prefer, you can pre-cook your leeks by frying them instead of boiling. Fry them in a tablespoon of butter until they are just starting to caramelise.
- Opt for extra-mature cheddar in the cheese sauce – it pairs perfectly with the sweet leeks.
🍴 Serving cheesy leeks
Cheesy leeks are delicious as part of a roast dinner. They go really well with my slow cooker lamb breast or slow cooker roast beef, carrot and swede mash, air fryer brussels sprouts, honey roast parsnips and carrots, crunchy air fryer roast potatoes, air fryer stuffing balls, and slow cooker red cabbage!
I also serve them with sticky sausage traybake or air fryer chicken breasts for an easy mid-week meal!
📖 Variations
- Fry three chopped rashers of streaky bacon and stir through the cheese sauce for cheesy leeks with bacon!
- Make cheesy leeks and broccoli by adding half a head of broccoli florets (boil them with the leeks) and doubling the amount of cheese sauce.
- Make creamy cheesy leeks by replacing half the milk in the cheese sauce with double (heavy) cream.
- Use different cheeses! Stilton or gruyere would both work well instead of cheddar.
- Add 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the cheese sauce at the same time as the grated cheese.
🥡 Storage
Store - This is a great recipe for making ahead and storing in the fridge until you are ready to bake! You can make the leeks in cheese sauce up to 3 days ahead of time!
Reheat - Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave until piping hot.
Freeze - The cheesy leeks can also be frozen (baked or un-baked) for up to 3 months. Wrap tightly in clingfilm or foil and defrost at room temperature before baking or reheating.
❓ FAQs
Leeks pair well with meats such as chicken and ham, cheeses, cream, and garlic. Complementary herbs include thyme, basil, lemon, and mustard. Leeks can be fried, braised, boiled in soups or stocks, roasted in an oven (in a cheese sauce!), and used in most recipes in place of onions.
Leeks are sweeter and milder than onions and can be eaten raw if desired. I personally prefer to cook them before eating.
Yes, make the cheesy leeks up to 3 days ahead and store them (covered in foil) in the fridge until you're ready to bake them in the oven.
😋Related recipes
More delicious vegetable side dishes to try!
- Roast Courgettes
- Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli
- Roast Sweet Potatoes
- Butternut Squash Gratin
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
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Recipe
Simple Cheesy Leeks Recipe
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Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 4 Leeks thin leeks are best
- 30 g Butter
- 30 g Plain Flour
- 350 ml Milk
- 100 g Extra Mature Cheddar grated
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg grated
- 2 tablespoon Breadcrumbs
- 25 g Parmesan grated
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C (180 °fan/ Gas 6).
- Prepare your leeks by discarding the thick outer leaves, and removing any dirt by rinsing them under cold running water. Top and tail the leeks to remove the root and also the dark green top half. All you want left are the white and pale green parts of the leek. Chop the leeks into 5 cm chunks.4 Leeks
- Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the leeks to the water, return to the boil for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Make the cheese sauce (using the roux method). Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour, then whisk in the milk gradually. Keep whisking until the sauce starts to thicken and it coats the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the grated cheese, nutmeg, and dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper.30 g Butter, 30 g Plain Flour, 350 ml Milk, 100 g Extra Mature Cheddar, 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard, ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
- Assemble the leeks in a baking dish. Spoon a small amount of the cheese sauce in the bottom of the baking dish (2 tablespoons should be enough), lay the leeks into the dish, then pour over the rest of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and salt & pepper, and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbling.2 tablespoon Breadcrumbs, 25 g Parmesan, Salt and Pepper
Notes
- Spoon a little cheese sauce into the base of your baking dish to prevent the leeks from sticking to the bottom of the dish.
- If you prefer, you can pre-cook your leeks by frying them instead of boiling. Fry them in a tablespoon of butter until they are just starting to caramelise.
- Use extra-mature cheddar for the cheese sauce. It complements the sweet leeks nicely!
- Fry three chopped rashers of streaky bacon and stir through the cheese sauce for cheesy leeks with bacon!
- Make cheesy leeks and broccoli by adding half a head of broccoli florets (boil them with the leeks) and doubling the amount of cheese sauce.
- Make creamy cheesy leeks by replacing half the milk in the cheese sauce for double (heavy) cream.
- Use different cheeses! Stilton or gruyere would both work well instead of cheddar.
- Add 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the cheese sauce at the same time as the grated cheese.
Alisa Infanti
This was perfect with my roast beef dinner last night!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
Love all the ingredients, can’t wait to try this! It looks so delicious and easy!
Caroline
My mum used to make something like this when I was little, but I haven't had it in ages. Such an easy comforting side!
Emily Flint
I know anything with cheese in the name is going to be a favorite of mine but I didn't expect to like these as much as I did! It could be a meal all in itself and totally reminds me of mac and cheese...but with more veggies!
Toni
This is seriously amazing! A new favorite side dish at my house!
Jo
If you make this in advance (without breadcrumbs), would you simply then add breadcrumbs and cook in normal way in the oven? And reheat leftovers in microwave? Thanks!
Beth Sachs
Yes that's the way I would do it!