5 Meals From One Rotisserie Chicken
Have you bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco lately? Oh, my goodness, they are juicy, moist chickens already cooked and weigh about 3 pounds! I would love to say I have chickens in my backyard, but that won’t happen. Let’s talk about these 5 meals from one rotisserie chicken.
5 Meals From One Rotisserie Chicken
I couldn’t butcher a chicken and then eat it. I can hardly debone one. Okay, let me say this: I don’t debone them; Mark does. He fills a container that holds 9 cups!! One rotisserie chicken gives me 9 cups of juicy chicken for only $5.00. I love it! I think everyone is so different when it comes to eating meat. Sometimes, people can debone the chicken, and sometimes they can’t.
Tips for Cooking with Rotisserie Chicken
Here’s the deal: We’re all trying to cut our grocery bills, right? I know I am. We’ve decided to buy one chicken a week, debone it, and separate the meat into five baggies—one for each meal. I use one for the first night and one for the second night, and so forth.
I’m always nervous about meat going bad, so I freeze three bags for the other meals. The night before I go to fix dinner that day, I grab a bag from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator. It’s cut up and ready for any one of the recipes below.
When I raised my family, I could stretch a meal with one cup of chicken. I would stretch a can of tuna to make seven sandwiches. Oh, my, looking back, those must have been skinny tuna sandwiches.
When it was summertime, I would add lots of pickles (I canned) and lettuce from the garden. No one complained; that’s how we lived and saved lots of grocery money. I made the bread, so that made it taste even better.
How to Make Rotisserie Chicken Frugal Meals
1. Chicken Noodle Soup – One of the Classics
Let’s be honest: who doesn’t love Chicken Noodle Soup? I could eat it every day, especially when I’m sick, and it’s a real staple meal at our house. I want to show you one way you can make this soup without evening having to do anything special. We should all have some noodles available in our pantry so we can make various pasta dishes.
- 2 cups of cooked chicken
- 6 cups of water
- 1/4 cup Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base or substitute equal amounts of water with chicken broth
- 3/4 cup freeze-dried onions or 1 fresh onion chopped into bite-size pieces
- 3/4 cup dry dehydrated carrots or 1-1/2 cups diced fresh carrots
- 3/4 cup dry freeze-dried celery or 1-1/2 cups diced fresh celery
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- salt to taste
- 1 package Grandma’s frozen egg noodles (11-ounces cooked and separated as directed, or boil your pasta of choice)
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup undiluted (optional)
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Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker 6 to 8 hours on LOW. ***BUT add the Grandma’s Noodles the last two hours or they will be mushy. Enjoy!
2. Rotisserie Chicken Casserole – An Easy Weeknight Dinner
When you have the Rotisserie chicken cut up and ready to be cooked, make this Rotisserie Chicken Casserole. If we’re honest, I could eat this every day of my life. This is one meal I could make out of rotisserie chicken and be happy as a clam.
- 2 cups cooked chicken cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 1 chopped fresh onion
- 1 cup fresh celery chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1 can water chestnuts drained, sliced or chopped (approximately 8 ounces)
- 1 cup mayonnaise or miracle whip
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup almonds (slivered)
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Preheat the oven to (350°F) = (176°C) degrees.
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Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
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Chop the onion into bite-sized pieces.
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Chop the celery into bite-sized pieces.
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Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl, except the almonds. Stir the mixture until blended well. Set the almonds aside.
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Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Scoop the ingredients into the baking dish.
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Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, or until heated through. Add the almonds to the top of the casserole during the last 5-10 minutes of baking.
3. Chicken Tortilla Soup
When I don’t know what to make for dinner, I whip out this Chicken Tortilla Soup. Honestly, whether it’s warm or not, this soup is excellent. I can eat it frequently, and it feeds a good-sized family. I love picking up a rotisserie chicken to make this meal.
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
- ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup minced onion
- 1 cup chopped green pepper
- 1 cup chopped red pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 can of 10-ounces Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies
- 2 cans of 15-ounces each black beans, drained
- 32- ounces chicken broth
- 4 cups hot water
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- *Add more chili powder or taco seasoning (if desired)
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Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours. After cooking add a few broken tortilla chips with a dollop of sour cream on top.
4. Chicken Enchiladas
This is another favorite recipe for my whole family using shredded rotisserie chicken. When you have a rotisserie chicken and need something to make with it, try this chicken enchilada meal. You’ll love the flavor, and it can feed a crowd. I like making this meal for special occasions too!
- 1-1/2 to 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1-8- oz. cream cheese softened
- 1-4- oz. can green chilies (chopped)
- 2 cups grated Tillamook cheese
- 12 flour pre-cooked tortillas
- 1-10 oz. can enchilada sauce of choice
- 1-10-3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup grated cheese to sprinkle over the enchiladas
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Preheat your oven to (350°F) = (176°C).
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Grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole baking dish.
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Combine the ingredients, except for the mushroom soup, enchilada sauce, and one cup grated cheese.
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Mix the ingredients in a large bowl and evenly scoop the chicken mixture into each flour tortilla.
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Fold the sides of the tortillas toward the center and roll and tuck the other sides under and place in a greased 9 inch by 13-inch pan.
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Mix together the mushroom soup and enchilada sauce and spread over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining one cup of grated cheese.
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Cover with foil and bake at 350°F) = (176°C) degrees for 45-60 minutes or until fully cooked.
5. White Chili With Chicken
If there were ever one meal that I enjoyed on a cool night, especially around Halloween, it would be this White Chili with Chicken meal. You can use it as a dip or as your main dish. Either way, you’re going to enjoy it! I like dipping tortilla chips in it. Seriously, give it a try, and you can make it anytime.
- 3 cans of 15-ounces each of small white beans (not drained)
- 1-1/2 to 2 cups chicken cooked and shredded
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated)
- 4- ounce can green chilies (diced)
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 16- ounce jar of salsa
- Sour cream to garnish
- Tortilla chips crushed for garnish
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Add the ingredients in order into a slow cooker and cook on low 5-6 hours. Serve with crushed tortilla chips on top of the chili with a dollop of sour cream.
Final Word
Many people are experiencing tough times right now. It’s nice to know that you can go to the store and buy a chicken that you can use for so many meals. If you are tired of regular meals, you can easily make these, no problem! I love a little change in the kitchen, as does my family.
I hope these rotisserie chicken recipes help you stretch your grocery bill again. It’s great when we can buy a $5.00 chicken and make five meals, gotta love it!
Some other chicken-based meals you should try using store-bought rotisserie chicken are:
- chicken salad
- Buffalo Chicken
- chicken tacos
- chicken pot pie
May God bless you to be prepared for the unexpected. Be safe, my friends. May God Bless this World, Linda
Copyright Images: Slicing Chicken: AdobeStock_167517470 by Steve, Chicken AdobeStock_252406540 by Liudmyla, Cut Up Rotisserie Chicken: AdobeStock_141912933 by Danielle
Yummmo! Thanks for sharing these recipes.
Hi, Rita, you are so cute! I have readers reminding me of so many more recipes, I love these chickens! Happy Wednesday! Linda
Love these chickens. I use them to top salads too. Thanks for the recipes
Hi Deborah, thank you so much for commenting. I am using some of my chicken from the freezer on some salads tonight, I love having it ready to go. Linda
It is a money / food savings. I have used the rotisserie chickens and it is a great idea to purchase one a week and then do your menus for the next several days sometimes my grocery store and also wal mart will run a special on them and so a win win for me and my pocketbook. Love your blog Thanks again.
Hi Debbie, I have heard that Walmart puts the chickens on sale after a certain amount of time or during the day. I think that Walmart cuts the price of the chickens in half, someone told me. Yay, more savings! Linda
Yummy. Now to get a chicken. I love chicken enchiladas. I like the sour cream sauce on them.
Hi, Deborah, I love enchiladas, I could eat Mexican food every night! Linda
Awesome idea. I often open a tin can of chicken to make the above type recipes. HOWEVER, yours is fresh and yours is cheaper and probably tastes better. You are using about a dollar’s worth of chicken and the cans are more than that.
I LOL-ed at stretching the tuna. In an old crank meat grinder, I used to grind up home made pickles and onion and I’d run white bread through the grinder. I let the white bread sit in the drained water from the tuna cqn to soak up a little flavor, that, the tuna and the pickle and onion with mayo, plop on the garden leaf lettuce and I ended up with a bunch of tunafish sandwiches with a lot of extenders in them. Like you, I was trying to save whatever money I could, and I didn’t get complaints either. However, I made up for the minimal protein in that sandwich with a protein rich evening meal. We didn’t die.
Hi Debbie, oh my gosh I love your comment. You probably know by now I love to laugh with people so your comment “We didn’t die” got me giggling. My kids are still alive!! When I was raising my kids there was no entitlement. First of all, could I have used food stamps, sure, but why? I learned from my mom how to stretch meals. I wish I had thought of the meat grinder with white bread, pickles, onions, and the tuna water. Brilliant!! I buy 6 can packs of canned chicken from Costco. I make everything with those cans. You are right I’m using $1.00 worth of chicken in every meal. I need to see what I paid for the cans of chicken from Costco. Great comment! Hugs, Linda
9 Cups!?! Really? I’ve started buying rotisserie chickens from Walmart but I only end up with 4-5 cups of meat. 9 cups is INCREDIBLE! I’ll definitely have to check the weight of WAlmarts chickens next time I buy one. Thanks for the suggestions!
Hi, Hope, my husband debones the chicken and we filled a 9-cup Rubbermaid container. I had to turn the container over that was empty because I was so surprised to see how much chicken we got off that one Costco chicken. This is so funny that you mentioned you only get 4-5 cups. I was at a store called Albertson’s here in Southern Utah and the rotisserie chicken there was so much smaller than the Costco ones. I will have to check the weight next time, but those chickens cost $8.99!!! Costco charges $4.99!! What a difference in price and size. I guess we will both check the weights now! Linda
Costco chickens seem to be larger in my opinion. So that would give more meat.
Hi Janet, the Costco rotisserie chickens are bigger than any other store here is Utah and they are cheaper! Love it! Linda
Love rotisserie chicken!! Being single, I think I can get more than 5 meals from one bird!
I have been obsessed with chicken wraps lately! No cook when I have pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. Wrap chicken, lettuce (I use bagged salad mix), grated cheese and ranch dressing all in a flour tortilla! So easy and with the heat of summer, no need to turn on the stove! Of course, you can use whatever dressing you like. My grandsons like buffalo hot sauce – too spicy for me (at least the kind they have)!!
I grew up in a home where we took a bird, roasted it, ate one main meal with the just cooked meat, day two was chicken salad for lunch and dinner was chicken soup. Of course, this was for a family of 5 so we didn’t get very many meals out of one bird. As my brother got older (teenager), mom started cooking 2 birds at a time!! If that wasn’t enough to fill him up, he was in the kitchen an hour after dinner fixing a PBJ sandwich!
Hi Leanne, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend! We have 7 people living here so in a few days IF we move into our new tiny home, we will get more than 5 meals out of one rotisserie chicken! LOL! I never had brothers or sons, but my grandsons do the same thing, they want another meal or at least PBJ sandwich before bed! I love it! Linda
Thanks! Looks great as usual!
I use my chicken bones along with veggie scraps for yummy homemade nutritious bone broth. Then whatever is left from that gets composted to fertilize my garden.
Hi Ginger, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend! You take the leftover chicken bones to a new level! Way to go, I love this! Linda