Ideas please!? Whole Chicken...

[writtenonmybody]

I have two whole chickens I'm thawing for tomorrow. So, my questions are these....

How many meals can you* make from one chicken?

What do you like to make the most?

Tips, tricks, good ideas... all involving whole chicken welcome!

[lisaflex]

we love roasting the whole chix stuffed w/ lemons and garlic. then after you have had dindin...pcik off meat that you will consume.

then, the next day, put in CP, cover w/ water, add garlic, bay leaf, pepper, onions, celery tops and a few carrots and let cook all day. you will have this absolutely fab chix stock that is sooo versatile! you can thin some w/ water and make chix soup w/ the leftover chix and some carrots and noodles. (btw, thats what we had tonight) then, w/ the chix you picked off that you will eat, make chix salad and stuff in a pita along w/ some cucumber and you have lunch!

i bet if you look in the kitchen basic section, you may find lots of ideas.

what about chix casserole? noodles of your choice, some low fat low sodium cream of shroom soup, chix, sauteed onion and garlic, some of those every so yummy durkee onions, and peas and then topped w/ a bit of shredded cheddar and baked? i would like that but dh would never in a million yrs eat that. lol.

[sunshine]

We get several meals from one chicken. I generally do roast sticky chicken first, and we eat the meaty portions (3 of us), then I cut off the meat we didn't eat first round, and serve it with gravy over rice, or potatoes. . . then I boil it and pick of the rest of the meat - to make shepherd's pie, and save a bit for chicken /rice soup (using the broth from boiling the carcass)

[McD]

Last time I made 2 whole chickens, I used this recipe: Crisco - Recipes - Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

The veggies lasted us 3-6 meals. The chickens themselves fed 4 grown adults, 3 young children. We pulled meat off the bone and used in chicken noodle soup, we also used it to make a chicken pasta recipe, and ate as several rounds of leftovers.

[sahm2boys]

i usually roast the chicken..covered in seasonings..and reynolds wrap...20 minutes before it comes out i take off the reynolds wrap

serve

then i pick large left over chunks off..and boil the rest or simmer in the cp over night with seasonings and veggies...

then you can make any kind of chicken soup..chkn rice, chkn noodle. chkn stew..etc..chicken n dumplins

then the big left over meat can be either...chicken salad, added to make pot pie, added to rice o ronie. or chicken and yellow rice stew...quesa dias too..

chicken fried rice

[writtenonmybody]

Fantastic ideas so far. Thank you all for commenting!

[Contrary Housewife]

I usually bake it plain, sometimes I have them cut the spine out and flatten it (spatchcocking or butterflying) because it cooks faster that way. I tend to buy the smallest chicken I can get for the two of us, so there is maybe one meal the first night, and then I scrape all the meat off the carcass. DH will have a lunch from that, and I will take the rest and make chicken pot pie filling with lots of vegetables. That stretches it to two or three more full servings.

Sometimes I boil the carcass and make stock, but with chicken broth 39c a can I often won't bother.

I will also take a whole chicken and cut it up and use it to make old fashioned pan fried chicken.

[moasmom]

Good topic! Lots of great responses already. I do much the same as others here with gets several meals out of each chicken, and then making broth to freeze from the carcass.

Also, I always cook 2 chickens together since that's as easy as cooking one, and then I have cooked meat to freeze for simple future meals.

Kara

[pollypurebred39]

I can make 3 stick to your ribs rather unhealthy meals.

1) chicken croquettes- make a thick white sauce, add minced chicken, seasoning & soft white bread crumbs to stiffen. Shape and roll in bread crumbs. Put in ice box to dry off for a few hours or overnight. Crust will stay on and be crunchier that way, old restaurant trick. Fry in hot oil. Serve with mashed potatoes, country gravy and biscuits.

2) Chicken and rice dish. Which is basically a bit of pan fried chopped onion & celery. A white sauce, bits of chicken and garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste and cooked rice. Covered with buttered bread crumbs (last part of baking) and bake in oven till bubbly and topping is golden. Serve with biscuits.

3) Chicken and dumplings. Save carcass and some chicken (set chicken aside) In kettle put one onion, carcass, salt, garlic and water. Bring to a boil and simmer till you get a really nice broth. Strain. Make a triple batch of rolled dumplings. Cut dumplings and drop into the boiling broth. Stir pot between putting dumplings in so the do not stick to each other or the pot. Boil till dumplings are done. In a mason jar put water and flour, shake to mix. Add mixture to kettle and cook till the broth is nice and thick. Taste for salt, then season. Finally season heavily with black pepper. Serve with biscuits.

2 Healthy recipes

Take whole chicken and remove the breast meat a set aside. The rest goes in a kettle, with and onion, bay leaf, garlic & salt to make a nice broth for chicken vegetable barley soup. Adjust seasonings to taste.

1) Strain broth, add chopped celery, chopped carrots and simmer till tender crisp. Then sliced cabbage and barley and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add chicken pieces.

2)Chicken and Broccoli Stir-fry Recipe : Food Network Kitchens : Food Network We like this.

[sweetsinger912]

When we have a chicken we make it last three recipes. We'll eat it roasted one night. then use the chopped up bits for soup or other recipes. My favorite way to utilize the leftover bits of chicken is a pie recipe. Hubby requests this often. I'll use ham, leftover porkchops or chicken for the meat.

Chicken Swiss Pie

2 c. chopped chicken
1 c. shredded Swiss
1/3 c. finely minced onion
4 eggs
2 c. milk ( I use 1 & 3/4 if I use skim)
1 c. Bisquick

Use deep dish pie plate...pre-heat to 400 degrees.
Lightly grease pan...place chicken, then onion, then Swiss in pan. Beat together the eggs, milk & Bisquick. I beat the eggs and Bisquick first so the mixture is less lumpy and then add the milk gradually. Pour over the rest and bake for 35 to 40 minutes...until it doesn't jiggle when you move the pan.

One pie will feed our 2 person family for 3 days with an added veggie