Leftover Chicken Meals + MORE!!

Barnyard Poultry-Farm Eggs

If you read my Chicken and Egg sale post here, you'll remember that I bought a bunch of whole chickens for the freezer and my MIL went out and bought a bunch for her freezer too! She asked for some recipe ideas and how to use up some of her chicken meat leftovers....so I sent her a big e-mail. I'm going to post it here as it is filled with good information....most of these ideas can be found in other blog posts here but since I put this compilation together, I thought I'd be nice to have it all in one post. I think I'll eventually print it out for my recipe/grocery notebook, I don't care if anybody else does too.

Our leftover chicken meals... I'm sure there are a million ways to use up
chicken but these are the ones we use most often. If you have some other goodies please share them too as one can never have too many recipes and ideas! I'll just list what we do and explain it as best I can...hope it all makes sense! Any of these chicken meals can be made with turkey meat too when it goes on sale. You don't have to feel trapped into chicken all week long either, just freeze the meat after cooking or only cook one chicken and use just 1 or 2 of the below ideas. Mix it up sometimes too...maybe make roast chicken one night then have spaghetti the next night, then the third night another chicken dish, then maybe pork chops, then the final chicken meal. Here's the meal list:

1. Roast Chicken dinner- we usually serve with mashed
potatoes or parsley potatoes and a side of green
beans. When done pull all leftover meat from bones, I
separate into the premo white chunk meat and then the lesser
dark meat with the bits...throw carcass back into
roasting pan (or into crock pot if you cooked it there
first) -fill to top with water cook 350 degrees for
2-3 hours - strain broth to use in other meals.

2. 2nd meal- chicken and noodles w/mashed potatoes
(reheat chicken pulled from bones the night before, I
use the good nice white meat here, make homemade
noodles (cook in broth you made) serve w/mashed
potatoes with a side of corn or carrots.

3. Chicken and rice casserole (chop leftover veggies
from day one and second meal into small bits and chop
leftover chicken (maybe a cup or so) into small
chunks...put in a 9 x 13 dish with 2 cups dry
rice...add 4 cups broth, cover with foil bake 350 x 30
mins or till broth is absorbed....you can throw some
cheese on top too during the last 10 mins. ( if you
don't use the cheese you can take any leftovers from
this meal and add extra broth or water to it for lunch
the next day to have chicken veggie rice soup)

4. Chicken Pot Pie- chop leftover chicken, veggies and
potato and add to some thickened broth and put in a
pie shell for chicken pot pie. If you cook veggies
each night save any leftovers (even only a tablespoon
or so) in a container in the freezer to use for
this....or just keep a can or bag of frozen mixed
veggies on hand to keep this meal simple and fast.

5. Chicken and noodles #2- make a thick broth and add
chopped chicken. Serve over cooked wide egg noodles or
even brown rice or mashed potatoes.

6. Shred chicken and mix with about a half jar of taco
sauce (or 1 pack taco seasoning plus 1/2 cup water)
and use for chicken taco's or burritos. Add lettuce,
salsa, cheese, sour cream....really what ever toppings
you guys like! We serve with re fried beans on the side
(heat a can of beans...add shredded cheese on top.)
And mexican rice (cook brown rice then mix well with a
can diced tomatoes with green chilies, sprinkle cheese
on top.)

7. Shred chicken put in sauce pan add BBQ sauce, heat
and serve on rolls/buns-Yum! We like to serve with
coleslaw and chips or baked beans and chips.

8. Cold sliced/chunked in sandwiches is good too or
add mayo, celery, and relish for chicken salad.

9. Chopped chicken can be stir fried with soy sauce
and any fresh veggies you've got and served over brown
rice for an Asian type meal.

10. Chicken and dumplings is easy too...take extra
broth, add chicken, add chopped carrots, celery and
onion... cook dumplings in mixture. I make dumplings
with flour, egg, salt and some milk- just stir till a
softish dough forms then drop by spoon fulls into
boiling mixture, cook 10 mins or so- this depends on
how big you make them. You can add parsley to the
dough to make them pretty.

11. Chicken soup in all it's various forms. You can
take your leftover homemade noodles and add extra
broth, chicken and whatever veggies you like for
chicken noodle soup. Or take broth add a can crushed
tomatoes, then chicken, potatoes or rice and carrots
for a stew type soup...white chicken chili is great
too- one pack white chicken chili mix, one can great
northern beans, one can corn, one can tomatoes with
green chilies-heat and eat... just use your
imagination and whatever you have leftover to throw in
the pot for soup.

12. Creamed chicken and veggies over homemade biscuits
-make biscuits- chop leftover chicken, cooked veggies
you like and add to a basic cream sauce (2 tbls butter
melted add 2 tbls flour add 1 c milk, whisk and boil
till thick- season to taste with salt and pepper) add
chicken and veggies, serve over warm biscuits....maybe
even toast in a pinch.

13. Here's a leftover crock pot mexican mix that can make a few dishes too.
Crock Pot Mexican Chicken
1 or 2 cups chicken shredded more is better)
1/2 pack taco seasoning
15 oz canned black beans drained
15 oz canned yellow corn drained
16 oz jar salsa (store brand is fine)
Put chicken in crock pot sprinkle with taco seasoning,
cover with can of drained black beans, can of drained
corn and jar of salsa. Cook on low 2-3 hours or until
mixture is warmed.
*You can eat this straight out of the pot kinda like a
casserole- sprinkle with shredded cheese and serve
with nacho chips to scoop up in.
* Make Enchiladas. Wrap the shredded chicken mixture
in flour tortillas. Top with enchilada sauce (we buy
canned or you can just spread salsa on top too)
Sprinkle all with cheese. Bake for 30 mins @ 350.
*You can put this mix into hard taco shells and top
with lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.
*You can mix with a can of crushed tomatoes with green
chilies and enough water to thin out- spice with a
taco seasoning pack for a chicken mexican soup- serve
with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese and corn
chips.
*One last quick meal could also be a mexican
pizza.....take a premade bobolli type pizza shell (or
homemade), spread with salsa (this is your sauce) top
with shredded chicken/corn/bean mix...then top with
mexican cheese, heat in oven at 350 till warm and
cheese melts.


You can also cook ahead with other meats too...here's
what I do with roast beef and ham and at the very end
there are a few meatball makeovers.


Roast Beef (Get a BIG one-or a few smaller ones when on sale)
1st meal- Roast beef dinner, I like to cook mine in
the crock pot so I get loads of broth (I add extra
water plus a few beef bouillon cubes, bay leaf and
onion)...plus I don't have to watch it (always a
bonus-especially during school and homework time) But
cooking in a roaster like you do is fine too....just
make sure there's lots of broth/gravy.
Leftover roast beef meals:
Hash- shredded beef w/cubed potato in gravy
Beef pot pie- take leftover hash add chopped carrot,
some green beans (any veggies you like) and more
gravy-put all in pie shell
Shepherd's pie- like pot pie only topped with mashed
potatoes
Shredded beef BBQ sandwich- shred meat, heat with
bottled BBQ sauce, serve in nice rolls or buns.
Rice Casserole- like chicken one above
Shredded beef in gravy over wide egg noodles, rice,
toast or potatoes
Shred beef, add taco seasoning pack, use for beef fajitas
Cube beef and stir fry with veggies and soy sauce-
serve over brown rice.
Make beef stew- just add cooked carrots to hash and
thin a little to stew thickness.
Beef veggie soup- to broth add can of crushed or
chopped tomatoes and more water if needed to thin all
out, add veggies of choice, I basically follow your
rival soup recipe but add potatoes in too. You could
add rivals too if you want.

Ham
First Meal: Nice sliced Ham dinner with whatever sides you like.
Leftover meals :
Great northern beans w/chopped ham added and cornbread
Sliced hot ham sandwiches with melted american or
swiss cheese on buns, serve with baked beans.
Scalloped potatoes w/ham chunks, maybe with fruit and
salad. I honestly just buy the Betty Crocker box of
cheese (au gratin?) or scalloped potatoes and make
according to box recipe but add cubed ham to
them...you could slice your own potatoes and make a
white or cheese sauce and layer it all up but I get
the box for this one.
Mac and Cheese w/ham chunks I like to throw peas in
but the kids hate it this way so I don't do it as often.
Ham salad sandwiches- grind ham, add mayo and relish.
Ham and cheese omelet
Ham and cheese Quiche- this is an egg pie, just line a
pie plate with a shell, fill with ham, shredded
cheese, maybe some chopped veggies if you have them.
Then mix 2 cups milk with about 3 eggs and some salt
and pepper. Stir well and pour into pie plate till it
reaches the top- you may have leftover egg mix if your
pie plate is really full- just pitch it. Cook about
350 degrees till egg is set, maybe 35-45 mins....again
maybe longer depends on how fat your pie is. Let cool
for about 10 mins or so, cut and eat.

Meatballs- Make a big batch and have a nice spaghetti dinner first
Leftover meals:
Meatball hoggies- stuff 5 or 6 meatballs into hoggie
buns with spaghetti sauce, add hamburger pickles and
mozzarella cheese...heat to melt cheese- these are really good!
Italian meat ball soup- just add beef stock to
spaghetti sauce and about 12 meatballs, add one can
crushed tomatoes- season to taste with salt, pepper,
garlic and more Italian seasoning, add about 1/2 cup
small noodles- small shells or elbows, cook in soup
till tender. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and serve
with garlic bread. We don't make this much because the kids don't like it but I do!
Any other meatballs can be crumple and used along with
any leftover spaghetti sauce to top a pizza shell with
...I would add onion and chopped green peppers to the
pizza, top with cheese - cook and eat.
You can also crumple up the meatballs and use in lasagna.
You can rinse the spaghetti sauce off too (or just
save some cooked ones before you add to the spaghetti
sauce) to make BBQ meat balls- just heat in the crock
pot or on stove with some BBQ sauce- serve with mac
and cheese and maybe green beans or peas.

That's about all I can think of for now and the
leftover meals we use most, but if you come up with
some other goodies please share them! You won't get
every single dish from one time cooking, but I usually
shoot for 3 or 4 meals from one bulk cooking. You can
package the cooked meat up and freeze it too if you
don't want to eat chicken that many days in a row and
when I have extra broth I don't use...I freeze it in
ball jars till needed.

Take care and HAPPY HOME COOKING!!