The Monday leftovers collection · 02 November 2026
MONDAY’S
GOLDEN
ENCORE.
Sunday’s roast chicken. Monday’s gloriously smooth cream of chicken soup. And one rather clever Ninja.
The story begins on a Sunday
There are few things more comforting than a proper Sunday roast. Golden skin, tender chicken, gravy, potatoes, and the unspoken understanding that nobody is in any particular hurry.
But then comes Monday. The roasting tin is washed. The table is cleared. And somewhere in the fridge sits yesterday’s chicken, waiting to be turned into something that deserves a meal of its own.
Some people look at leftover chicken and see sandwiches. I look at it and see the beginning of a rather magnificent soup.
Today’s NIX Kitchen mission is simple: make an old-fashioned, beautifully smooth cream of chicken soup using my Ninja Foodi Blender & Soup Maker HB150UK, proper cooked roast chicken and fresh whole milk — no cream, no complicated pans, and definitely no sweet vanilla protein powder.
A little kitchen alchemy
Why this soup tastes so luxurious.
A traditional cream of chicken soup doesn't need to be swimming in double cream. What it needs is chicken flavour, a velvety texture and the right balance of body and richness. We get all three from ordinary ingredients.
01 · Chicken
Already-roasted chicken supplies deep savoury flavour and makes this an economical, satisfying meal rather than a watery starter.
02 · Potato
Just 100g of potato helps the Ninja blend everything into a beautifully thick, smooth base. No flour or roux required.
03 · Milk
Whole milk rounds off the flavour, adds richness and softens the texture without needing expensive double cream.
And the really clever bit? The Ninja cooks the vegetables and chicken base, then blends it into a silky texture without forcing you to stand stirring at the hob.
Print it · Cook it · Enjoy it
The definitive Monday soup.
NIX Kitchen recipe card
Silky Cream of Roast Chicken
Everything you'll need
- 250g cooked roast chicken, skin and bones removed
- 500ml chicken stock, preferably low-salt
- 200ml fresh whole milk
- 100g peeled potato, roughly diced
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 1 stick celery, chopped
- 10g unsalted butter
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- To taste salt, added at the end
- Optional ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- For serving parsley and homemade bread
Use cooked chicken that was chilled promptly and hasn't already been reheated. The 1.4-litre hot-fill mark is the limit: never exceed the mark after adding the milk. This is a home-developed recipe, not a tested Ninja manufacturer recipe.
If you are lucky enough to have a generous amount of Sunday chicken left, measure out the 250g before starting. Roast breast, thigh or a mixture all work; remove every bone, gristle and piece of skin before it goes anywhere near the blades.
Press the right buttons
The Ninja method. No guesswork.
Everything happens in the Ninja jug. For the smoothest result, we're adding the milk at the end rather than letting it cook for the full soup cycle — a small extra step that reduces the risk of milk catching on the heated base.
Save the best of Sunday
Check that the roast chicken was cooled and refrigerated within two hours of cooking. Remove skin and bones, then measure out 250g of cooked meat. Never use chicken that has been sitting out overnight.
CHOP → SAUTÉ
Place the quartered onion, celery and butter in the Ninja jug. Secure the lid and press CHOP. Then select SAUTÉ; let the five-minute programme soften the vegetables and release their sweetness.
Add chicken, potato and stock
Carefully add the cooked chicken, diced potato, 500ml stock, thyme and white pepper. Check the fill line, secure the lid and select SMOOTH SOUP. Let the approximately 30-minute automatic programme finish.
The golden transformation
Wait for the blades to stop. Carefully release the lid away from your face — there will be hot steam. Pour in 200ml fresh whole milk, staying below the hot-fill line. Refit the lid and select BLEND → LOW for 15–20 seconds.
COOK → LOW, then serve
Select manual COOK → LOW and heat until the soup is steaming hot throughout, stopping the programme manually. Taste, season carefully and stir in the optional Dijon mustard. If it is too thick, thin with a splash of hot stock; if you prefer it thicker next time, use slightly less stock.
HOT JUG, HOT SOUP
Only open the lid after the blades have stopped. Use the handle, avoid touching the hot glass, and take care with escaping steam. Don't exceed the HB150UK's hot-liquid maximum. The programme's keep-warm function is not a substitute for safe food storage.
A little science, a lot of pleasure
What makes it cream-of-chicken?
The smoothness is an engineering trick dressed up as comfort food. The potato's starch thickens the liquid as it cooks. The Ninja's blades break the chicken and vegetables down into fine particles. Then the milk rounds off the sharp edges of the stock, giving a gentle, creamy finish.
It's also a sensible way to use the protein that's already in yesterday's roast. With 250g cooked chicken and 200ml whole milk, you're looking at roughly 65–85g protein in the whole batch, depending on the cut of chicken — around 16–28g per serving if divided into three or four bowls. That's an estimate, not a laboratory nutritional analysis.
For anyone wanting an even more substantial lunch, the answer isn't automatically another powder or supplement. Sometimes the old-fashioned solution — more real chicken — is the best one.
Finishing touches
Make your Monday magnificent.
Properly thick
For a condensed-style texture, try 130g potato next time or reduce stock by 50ml. Avoid adding flour to a running hot jug.
A savoury edge
Try a little Dijon mustard and white pepper. They deepen the chicken flavour without overwhelming it.
The best companion
Serve it with a generous slice of bread from the Panasonic SD-PN100, freshly buttered and perfect for dunking.
What about milk powder?
Milk powder works in an emergency, but today we're using 200ml fresh whole milk because it gives a naturally creamy taste without any whisking. The important thing is to add the dairy after the main cooking programme whenever practical.
The leftover rule
Cooked chicken should be refrigerated within two hours, then eaten within 48 hours or frozen. Reheat leftovers only once and ensure the soup is steaming hot throughout. Since this chicken is already being reheated as part of this soup, make only what you intend to serve now; freeze portions of the original cooked chicken before reheating if you want soup another day.
Good cooking saves food. Good food safety keeps it worth saving.
NIX Kitchen / the last spoonful
One roast.
Two brilliant days.
Sunday gave us a golden roast. Monday gave us a velvety bowl of comfort. Nothing wasted, nothing complicated — just a proper meal made from something already good.
Now pass the bread.