29 Recipes That Turn a Rotisserie Chicken Into Dinner
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Pick up a rotisserie chicken and dinner is easy. But we don’t just meancutting up that birdto eat unadorned. These rotisserie chicken recipes help you transform cooked chicken into a wide variety of flavorful meals without much prep. Shredded chicken can add protein and heft to soups, salads, pasta bakes, and more, and there are lots of ideas below for using up the last bits of a store-bought rotisserie chicken—or a whole bird, which probably means you want to pick up two in the first place. Scroll down forweeknight dinner ideasand no-fuss dinner party inspiration.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell1/29
Sheet-Pan Pasta Bake With Chicken and Kale
Rotisserie chicken recipes are clutch on a weeknight—and this one is a guaranteed hit with everyone in your household. It's basically an Italian-inspired pasta and chicken casserole with maximum crunchy topping.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton2/29
Braised Rotisserie Chicken With Bacon, Tomatoes, and Kale
If you have a store-bought, pre-cooked whole chicken in your fridge, revive it with this easy,kale-packed braise. Active time for this recipe is just 10 minutes, and total time ishalf an hour.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton3/29
Chicken Pot Parmentier
Here's a way to turn rotisserie chicken intocomfort foodthat's worthy of a dinner party. Tarragon perfumes the filling, which hides under a cloud of creamy mashed potatoes.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson4/29
Arroz Caldo
Speaking of comfort food, you can have this fortifying Filipino rice porridge on the table fast if you sub in store-bought chicken stock and use a shredded rotisserie chicken to cut out the poaching step that comes first. Don't skip the garnishes of crispy fried garlic, hardboiled eggs, sesame oil, and lime or kalamansi.
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Photo by Angie Mosier5/29
Chicken Salad With Mango Chutney and Pistachios
If you think chicken salad is boring, you haven’t had good chicken salad. This one fromI Am From Hereflavors the cooked rotisserie chicken with cumin, jalapeño, Major Grey's chutney, grainy mustard, mint, and basil. Serve it with crackers or pile onto a sandwich or salad.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell6/29
Lentil and Chicken Soup With Sweet Potatoes and Escarole
Shredded cooked chicken and the leftover carcass flavor this warming lentil soup; sweet potatoes add a touch of sweetness.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano and Stevie Stewart7/29
Chilaquiles Rojos
If you're not sure what to make with a rotisserie chicken, we'd highly recommend this chilaquiles recipe. Top with avocado, queso fresco, and cilantro and dig in.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell8/29
Warm Chicken Salad With Asparagus and Creamy Dill Dressing
Chopped dill, greenasparagus, mint, and peppery watercress or baby arugula make this spring dinner feel fresh and bright. To quickly revive dry, cold rotisserie chicken, place slices of it in a steamer basket along with the spring vegetables for a warm salad—it's a whole new take on the one-pot meal.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton9/29
Grain Bowls With Chicken, Spiced Chickpeas, and Avocado
Store-bought rotisserie chicken (or leftover roasted chicken) brings you one step closer to this nourishing grain bowl dinner. This recipe works equally well with cooked quinoa,farro, barley, or brown rice.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Erika Joyce10/29
Pickle Potato Salad
This pickle brine–inspired dry rub turns potatoes and carrots crispy-creamy with pleasantly sharp vinegary tang. Toss them, still warm, with leftover shredded chicken and crunchy raw celery, onion, and yes, sliced pickles for a double-the-pickle, double-the-fun dinner salad.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton11/29
Lemony Chicken Soup With Farro, White Beans, and Kale
In this hearty soup, takeout rotisserie chicken meets one of our favorite pantry staples:cannellini beans. Add kale, chopped dill, and a squeeze of lemon and you've got a meal you'll want to make over and over.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell12/29
Chicken Salad With Apricots, Celery, and Blue Cheese
This summer-season chicken salad is a dance between sweet, creamy, and acidic flavors and tender, crunchy, and juicy ingredients. Make it in early summer when apricots are peaking and choose a fairly nonassertive blue cheese that won’t overwhelm the mix. The prep time for this easy dinner is just 25 minutes, so it's perfect for busy weeknights.
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Photo by Molly Yeh13/29
Chicken Pot Tot Hotdish
This dish is like chicken pot pie, but topped with tater tots instead of pie crust. The creamy chicken filling is made with milk, onion, carrot, and peas. Using shredded cooked chicken shaves several minutes off the cooking time.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks.14/29
BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizzas with Smoked Mozzarella
Sweet and smoky flavors make this quick and easy pizza a family favorite.
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Photo by Aubrie Pick15/29
Super-Simple Overnight Porridge
Take leftover rice and soak it overnight in vegetable or chicken broth to get a headstart on this comforting Vietnamese rice porridge. Then you'll simmer it with fragrant ginger and scallions, and top with shredded rotisserie chicken,辣椒的, fresh herbs, and whatever else you like.
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Photo by Lauren Volo16/29
Chicken and Black Bean Nachos
Sure, you could make a chicken sandwich. But everyone wants nachos for dinner. Case closed. Feel free to top with extra cooked or raw, crunchy veggies if you have them on hand.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Ali Nardi17/29
Chicken-Cranberry Hash
Store-bought rotisserie chicken and frozen hash browns get crispy and sage-seasoned in this quick and easy hash, which tastes likeThanksgivingleftovers in the best way possible.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Anna Stockwell18/29
Bibb Lettuce, Chicken, and Cherry Salad With Creamy Horseradish Dressing
Creamy, crunchy, sweet, and spicy: It's the salad you want to eat for dinner tonight. Toss juicy cherries into this salad, along with rotisserie chicken and a creamy horseradishsalad dressing. All you need on the side is a baguette.
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Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell19/29
Chicken Soup With Charred Cabbage
Bump up the flavor in this soup by simmering the bones of a rotisserie bird in water with a handful of aromatics and flavor-packed mushroom stems. Drizzle each bowl with chili oil before serving.
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Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich20/29
Any Way Niçoise
As main dish salads go, this might be the ultimate. Switch up this endlessly riffable salad to suit your preferences, but try to always include a mix of cooked and raw vegetables for the best textures. Pick your protein: pre-cooked chicken, oil-packedtuna, salmon,white beans, or chickpeas all work well. The dressing is simple but delicious: olive oil, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, pepper, and salt.
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Rowena Dumlao-Giardina21/29
Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Adobo (Pansit Bihon Guisado)
You only need half a cup of leftover chicken for this Filipino noodle dish, which means it's the ideal meal for a weeknight when you've picked up a chicken or two the day before.
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Photo by Brian W. Ferry22/29
Skillet Chicken Pot Pie With Butternut Squash
Rotisserie chicken and store-bought puff pastry make quick work of this comforting kale- and squash-stuffed pot pie. Not sure which puff pastry to buy? We've gotrecommendations.
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Photo by Alex Lau23/29
Shredded Chicken Salad With Creamy Miso Dressing
Freshen up your dinner routine with this quick and satisfying salad, tossed with a creamy tahini dressing that you can make a day ahead.
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Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou24/29
Chicken Cobb Salad
Step one: Crisp bacon. Step two: Turn bacon fat into a fantastic vinaigrette. Then prep some 7 minute eggs, shred your chicken, add tomato and frisée, and congratulate yourself on a dinner well done.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone25/29
Epi's 50-Ingredient Super Bowl Nachos
Don't be scared—you really don't need all 50 ingredients to use this nacho recipe. Choose one of the variations—may we suggest the spicy Buffalo chicken?—and go from there. Don't sleep on the potato skin-inspired version, either, loaded with cheddar, Monterey Jack, bacon, potatoes, paprika, and sliced chives.
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迈克尔Graydon + Nikole赫瑞特26/29
Noodle Salad with Chicken and Chile-Scallion Oil
This spicy, crunchy, and refreshing noodle salad will make any weeknight better, and is a great way to use up leftover roast chicken. Radishes and scallions keep it fresh. You may want to double the batch of chile-scallion oil for adding to other dishes, since it keeps for four days in the fridge.
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Marcus Nilsson27/29
Green Goddess Cobb Salad
The clever move here: Take the rotisserie chicken skin, and crisp it in a skillet, until it's as crunchy as a potato chip. Crumble over the top of this hearty salad and never look back.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Monica Pierini28/29
10-Minute Chicken Flatbreads With Hummus and Yogurt
Using shredded rotisserie chicken instead of cooking raw chicken turns this 10-minute dinner into a 5-minute one.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton29/29
"Nextover" Chicken Tacos with Quick Refried Beans
We've included this dish on our list of go-to rotisserie chicken recipes because you can use leftovers fromchicken you've cooked yourselfor start with a store-bought bird. Warming the meat in tangy tomatillo salsa and topping it with bright cabbage slaw brings it back to life. A can of black beans, seasoned with garlic and smashed until creamy, rounds out the meal.
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