The succulent and affordable rotisserie chicken can be eaten off the bone, chopped up for fresh salads, folded into cheesy casseroles, or shredded into simmering soups. When Boston Chicken (later Boston Market) saw success with rotisserie sales, Costco and Kroger jumped onboard and started selling whole chickens in 1994. We’ve been clucking about them ever since!
This versatile poultry is a staple for so many, and everyone seems to have a favorite way of repurposing this ubiquitous bird. I reached out to my pals asking, what’s your fav way to incorporate a rotisserie chicken into a recipe? I got so many great answers, I’m sharing them here.
When possible, there are links, and absence of links, I posted condensed explanations of the recipe. Enjoy!
- Tlisa’s Chili Verde Soup: Combine vegetable or chicken broth, a can of white beans, cumin, garlic, chicken, and a jar of salsa verde and heat through. Serve with corn chips, onions, cilantro, etc.
- Jessica’s Roast Chicken Soup
- Natasha’s Instant Pot Stock: Crack the bones with pliers, slow cook for 6 hours with onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns and water; then pressure cook for 2 hours and strain.
- See Natasha’s blog for a ton of other recipes using rotisserie chicken.
- Mathue’s Mexican Lasagna:
Ingredients: 16 oz container ricotta cheese; 16 oz sour cream or plain Greek yogurt; 1 cup salsa of your choice; 2 diced tomatoes; 1 can sliced olives; 1-2 tsp chili powder; 1-2 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp granulated garlic[ 1 tsp granulated onion; salt and pepper; rotisserie chicken shredded or 2-3 cooked chicken breasts shredded or cut into small cubes; shredded cheese; Tortillas cut into triangles or strips (corn or flour). Directions: Mix everything except the shredded cheese and tortillas in a bowl to combine. (The seasonings can be altered to your taste.) Spray an 8×11 glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Cover the bottom with a single layer of tortillas, slightly overlapping to be sure it’s completely covered. Add half of the creamy chicken mixture and evenly spread it out. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Another layer of tortillas to cover the cheese, then the rest of the chicken mixture, more shredded cheese. Cover with one more layer of tortillas and cover that with shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let it rest for about ten minutes before cutting/serving. You can add any other veggies you like to the mix, sometimes I add a can of drained/rinsed black beans. Add avocado or guacamole, salsa, cilantro. - Ivy’s Sesame Miso Chicken Salad
- Sue’s Creamy Chicken over Rice: Make a white sauce using half milk or cream and half chicken stock. Add a pinch of turmeric for color. Season as desired. Thin with more milk or stock or simmer gently to thicken. Stir in chunks of cooked chicken and whatever cooked veggies are desired. Peas and chopped parsley recommended. Heat through and stir over rice.
- Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti (recommended by Sue!)
- Roy’s Mole Chicken: Mole chicken. Mole from the jar, blended with water, pour over chicken in skillet, add cooked rice.
- Aaron’s Go-To Soup (sub chicken for ham)
- Jill’s wild rice soup
- Jessica’s chicken divan: Make a white sauce, pour over cubed chicken, broccoli and cauliflower and bake, with more cheese on top.
Other ideas included chicken tetrazzine, enchiladas verdes, and soups — so many soups!
In the end, after Costco fairies magically deposited said chicken on my door (thank you Instacart!), we opted for enchiladas with red sauce. I also added onion, cumin, fire-roasted green chiles, several kinds of cheese, and green onion; and served it with sour cream, Spanish rice and corn.
Enjoy, fellow foodies.
