Zero-Waste Rotisserie Chicken
Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are some of the easiest, healthiest, most tasty dinners around. The question is, what do you do with everything other than the juicy white and dark meat? This post is a quick run-through of how we use up all the parts of our rotisserie chicken.
- PULL APART THE CHICKEN – Unless you’re eating some of the meat right away (then by all means DIG IN!), let your chicken sit on the counter until it comes down to a reasonable temperature so you can pull it apart. We like to separate the meat into light and dark meat to be used in different dishes, but this is up to you.
- [OPTIONAL] CRISP THE SKIN – Okay, my mom would kill me for even suggesting this because she would tell me my cholesterol would be through the roof, but crisping up that chicken skin on the stove-top or in the oven is so dang tasty and a great bacon substitute in dishes.
- MAKE BROTH – Place carcass, bones, skin etc in a crock pot. Everything you’re not eating can go in. I usually just make plain chicken broth to keep it versatile in recipes, but you can add vegetable ends, herbs, etc. Fill the crockpot with water and set it on high for 8-10 hours. For extra rich broth, set it for another 8-10 hours on high before straining. I recommend not adding salt as you’ll add salt when using the broth in recipes. Store the broth in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for months. If freezing, be sure to leave at least an inch or two of space for the broth to expand.
As for what to make with your rotisserie chicken, here are some of my favorite ways to use up the meat:
- Sandwiches or wraps
- Chipotle chicken, mozzarella, and basil focaccia sandwich
- Chicken salad lettuce wraps
- Chicken fried rice
- On it’s own with a side of vegetables
