Here are some easy and delicious recipes for using leftover roast chicken! Roasting chicken gives it a nice flavor that makes these recipes extra special!
Roast Chicken Leftovers and Recipes
Because the chicken is roasted, it adds a little different and a very yummy flavor to these recipes in the same way that if you roast your veggies before you put them in soups, stews or casseroles, it adds a nice flavor.
Chicken Spaghetti Bake Recipe
Make your favorite spaghetti, mixing noodles and sauce. Instead of adding hamburger to it or leaving it without meat, add some cubed leftover chicken. Put it in a 9×13 greased pan sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350° until heated through and cheese is melted.
Chicken Soup Recipes:
Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
Make this warm and comforting soup with your chicken leftovers. The roasted chicken adds a little different and yummy flavor. Don’t be frightened by all the ingredients. You can chop a lot of it the day before you make it and just dump and add the rest.
Ingredients
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive oil or canola oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. thyme
8 cups chicken broth
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsp. salt (adjust to taste)
2 cups chicken, cooked and diced
2 cups wide egg noodles
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Instructions
- Sauté* the first 4 ingredients in oil in a large Dutch oven (big pot or pan).
- Stir in flour, oregano and thyme.
- Gradually add chicken broth, potatoes and salt.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and cook for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
- Add chicken and noodles and simmer 10 more minutes.
- Reduce heat and add milk. Do not boil.
Notes
*Saute means to stir and cook until tender, usually about 3-5 minutes.
You can change this recipe to suit your taste:
- Add other veggies like peas, corn or broccoli.
- You can leave out the potatoes or substitute them with something like sweet potatoes or squash.
- You can leave out the milk (but the milk makes a nice creamy soup) and/or add more or less broth.
- You can also adjust the spices, for example you might add a little Tabasco sauce to give it a little kick.
Chicken Soup Recipe Quick Version
Take a can of cream of chicken soup mix with milk as directed on the can. Add any leftover mixed veggies or any kind of leftover veggies, leftover baked potato peeled and diced, leftover cooked rice, or leftover chicken. Heat in microwave.
Leftover Leftovers
If you have any of this soup left, thicken it with a little cornstarch or flour mixed in water. Make a batch of homemade biscuits or use any leftover biscuits you have and pour the thickened soup over it.
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I rarely roast chicken any more.
We prefer the rotisserie chickens so since I have a counter top one that holds a chicken with no problem that is what I use. They take no longer than 2 hours to cook. I stuff them as well if they are thawed enough to do that.
I use part for a meal. 1/4 chicken dinner like Swiss Chalet, French Fries and Swiss chalet gravy mix and some coleslaw. Restaurant meal with no line ups or waits.
The left overs make up chicken pot pie with tea biscuit topping or a chicken stew without the topping.
A small portion goes to a sandwich for me the next day for lunch.
So 3 meals from one chicken total cost of every thing is about $10 depending on the cost of chicken per pound.
my stew is much like your soup I just add some flour to thicken it.
i buy those rotisserie chickens from the supermarket all the time too .. i love those .. and for the price you cant beat it .. esp when u can get 2-3 meals out of it ..
we take the wings, legs and thighs and eat that the first dinner .. then i take the breast meat off the bones .. take the carcass and boil down and make soup .. the breast meat: i add a bit to the soup and the rest go on sandwiches ..
my friend buys 2 of those .. the first one she does what i do and then the 2nd one she makes casseroles out of the meat and uses the 2nd carcass for the soup again ..
the supermarkets used to mark down the chickens that werent sold at the end of the day . .now they just throw them away ..
and same thing with this one place we eat at .. they have rotisserie dinners and etc .. they also throw their leftover chickens away instead of selling them at half price ..
such a waste! .. and sometimes these places have lots left over … i told the owner of this one restaurant he should be ashamed of himself .. such a waste .. i also told the manager of the supermarket the same thing .. such a waste! ..
sorry .. venting here .. people are having it rough all over and yes i could go and wait until the dumped their trash and then go digging around the dumpster for it but well .. i cant do that ..
the least they could do is donate it to a shelter or something. they have a food license so the distribution should not be a problem.
In my area Trader Joe’s gives food away each evening [before the food expires]. They have a list of volunteers from churches in the area who pick up the foods et al. They take it to their home or some other designated site and then people who are in need of food because of loss of job or some other situation beyond their control, come and pick up what they need. Really have to give Trader Joe’s a HI 5 on this one. I can’t understand why all grocery stores do not do this.
Grandma,
What brand of counter top rotisserie do you have? I am interested in getting one. Does it take up much room? I have never done anything with a whole chicken before…will be a learning curve for me but we like rotisserie chicken so I have been wanting to try it.
Angie M.
Hi Angie
mine is a george forman. It takes up about the same space as a 4 slice toaster.
I had wanted one for a while so my son and daughter in law 6 years ago bought me one for Christmas.
It cooks a 3 and a bit lb. chicken in just under 2 hours.
It does roasts about the same size and time.
In the time I have had it I use it at least once a week so it is lasting well. No repairs at all. And I am not easy on gadgets.
I sometimes put a chicken in at midnight set the timer and when my husband gets home from work at 3am he opens it up and takes it apart for supper.
You can even put stuffing in it with no trouble at all.
The grocery stores sell them and sometimes it is a lot cheaper but we don’t care for the spices or lack of spices and I know how fresh mine are and they are always cooked the way we like them. Bought a few that were almost raw tasting.
Besides they are hot by the time you get through the store then through traffic and get it to the table they are stone cold.
The only near disaster I have had was when I put it on and went to bed. Don came home and there was chicken grease all over the counter. I forgot to put the catch tray back in place.
Grandma,
Thanks for the info! I just looked up the George Foreman rotisseries online and they look nice. Is yours the ‘baby George’? I’m thinking it might be since you said it takes up about the same space as a 4 slice toaster. The online info says the baby George can cook up to 5 pounds of meat. I think I will look for one and try making rotisserie chicken. Yummy!
Angie M.
yes grandma .. i agree . there is no reason they cant donate to a shelter or something .. :D …
i need to look into getting one of those rotisserie’s .. my friend has this thing that the chicken looks like its standing up and its in a pan … to catch the grease ..
i normally buy the original flavor of the chicken at the supermarket (or hte bbq flavored one) ..
they used to have the meditterranean (sorry spelling0 spiced ones .. and i used ot call ahead and have one specially made with lots and lots of oregano (i LOVE oregano) .. they dont make this flavor at this time .. now they have the bacon peppercorn flavor ..
I think they are afraid to donate these days because so many people are lawsuit happy. Or they are just to lazy to do it.
I love the Roasted Chicken recipe from the cookbook. So good. And it’s nice to have leftover chicken to use in other recipes. Yummy.
We love the preroasted chickens from the Safeway (our local grocery) but I only buy them when they are are sale at $4.99 each. Regular price is $7.99 and I can make a fresh chicken in the crockpot cheaper than that although it doesn’t have that roasted flavor. We usually eat the legs and wings the first night. I skip a day (we don’t want chicken every day) and then have the breast meat with gravy. Then, the 3rd day we eat chicken, I make open-faces hot roast chicken sandwiches with the leftover gravy and the rest of the meat. Then the carcass goes into the freezer to add with another one that will make a large pot of chicken and dumplings (if there is any meat left) or chicken noodle soup. With only the two of us, we can get 4 good meals from these chickens. Wish they were available when my kids were small. At this price, it is easy to make a great, quick meal while the chicken is warming in the oven or microwave. Some noodles and a quick salad or can of green beans. Dinner is ready. I would recommend watching for the sales, though. $3 difference in price is a lot more to pay.
Wow. I’m impressed that y’all get so much mileage out of your whole chickens. Our family of 6 will leave nothing but the carcass (if I served one) and be looking for more. I usually roast two in the oven, especiallylly if I’m banking on leftovers for another meal.
Hi Maggie:
thanks for recommending the pre-roasted chicken, I’ve never tried one, think I will now. I usually try to get the biggest roasting chicken I can find on sale and just roast in the regular oven,, I love the aroma, and then we get a lot from those. Do you think the bone/meat ratio is that good? I typically need to feed four or five. we have a Ronco rotisserie but I find, although the chicken comes out wonderful, it’s really hard and greasy to clean the thing. I’ll check out the Foreman ones.
Donna
Donna B., I think the bone/meat ratio is as good as some of the Purdue chickens you have to roast yourself and there is not the cleanup from the pan and the oven. What I like best is that they are warm when you pick them up at the store (most of the time) and you only have to heat them (right in the container they came in) in the microwave for a few more minutes while dinner is cooking. Even if the chicken is cold when you buy it, it only takes a few minutes to warm while potatoes and a veggie are cooking. As I said, watch for the sales. I thnk $7.99 for a preroasted chicken is high but worth it when you are in a rush. I try to wait until the store has their $5 Fridays or puts them on sale for $4.99. Costco and Sams Club and Walmart, as I hear, have them for $4.99 all the time. The chickens from Costco are a great size and the price is always $4.99. They offer different flavors, barbeque or smoked or just roasted but my Safeway only offers whole roasted chickens. I’d like to hear how you like them after you try them.
I usually roast my own and we (just the 2 of us) get about 7-8 meals from it. So long as DH doesn’t get to it first(he & the dogs will eat the whole chicken in one sit down). Meal 1 Share a breast. Meal 2 Breast open face sandwich. Meal 3 & 4 thighs cut up and put in pot pie. Meal 5 Legs re-heated with BBQ sauce. Meal 6 & 7 Soup– bones “gleaned” and lots of vegetables. Meal 8 Biscuits & gravy (left over soup used to make the gravy. These meals are rarely eaten back to back because I freeze them. At the very end all bones, innards,excess skin are boiled together & I make “soup” for the dogs (2 very happy/healthy German Shepherds)that gets mixed into their kibble(about 1/2 cup per meal). Cooked long enough & the bones disintegrate into a mushy pea size balls. So no worries for the pooches. We all love roasted chicken.
You save the cost of roasting too of course when you buy them ready cooked.
I do wish there were some way to indicate agreement or approval of comments. I’d be ticking all these.!
After you’ve used the meat from your roast chicken for sandwiches, casseroles, you can take the carcass add water, onion pwdr or fresh onion, some garlic, a wilted celery stick, etc and boil for a very good soup stock. Takes some time and attention, but the results are wonderful! Use as a base for soup: add veggies, some of your ‘saved’ meat, etc. you can make dumplings -use your imagination!