Roasted Chicken and What to do With Leftovers

There are a lot of different things to do with a whole chicken, it can serve as multiple meals for two people.  

I start with roasting the whole bird. There is something so comforting about the smell of it cooking and eating a fresh leg.

Make sure your bird is thawed. Rinse with water and make sure there isn’t anything in the cavity. I like to cut off the fat and skin that cover the cavities so that it doesn’t make a nasty fat layer.  Pat the chicken and make sure it is very dry.

Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and Greek seasoning (or an all purpose seasoning),  I sprinkle all over and rub in evenly each one. 

Make sure to do both sides of the bird. Place into pan and bake at 400* for about an hour and a half. Until the juice run clear and internal temp is 165*.

Then you have dinner for one night, serve up with some fries or vegetables.

Here are some other ideas-

Once it has cooled you can pull off the rest of the meat that is on the bones. This can be separated in half to be used for separate meals.

Place the bones and skin into a pot with enough water to cover it along with a carrot, some celery and onion and any seasonings you wish to have. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for a minimum of 3 hours and up to 8. Then you will have a delicious homemade stock. 

• My favorite thing to do with my chicken and stock is to make Chicken and Dumplings.   You’ll need about 3 cups of stock, however much meat you want to add into it. I use bisquic and make drop dumplings, some people prefer the noodle ones. I just follow the directions on the box or online.  Get the stock boiling, and then drop in the dumplings one by one making sure they don’t stick together. Once they are all in let it simmer until consistency is thick to your liking. I will do a post on this in the coming weeks.

• Another great thing to do is make Chicken tacos or burritos. Take the meat throw in a skillet and add in seasonings of choice.  Then serve on tortillas with rice and beans. Delicious!

• A go to for anything left over especially chicken is to make it into a sandwich

• Put it into a pasta or casserole.

• Or put it on a pizza

There are so many different ideas to use any left over chicken you have. I can typically get three meals out of one roasted chicken for the two of us.  What is your favorite thing to do with your roasted chicken?