Making the most of your roast chicken
Who doesn’t love a juicy roast chicken on the weekend? But what do you do with your leftovers and could you stretch them into several more meals? Read more to find out how to make the most of your roast chicken, from turning the carcass into stock to using the leftovers in stews, curries and soups.
First roast your chicken
The time it takes to roast a chicken depends on the size of the chicken itself. Most packages will give you a roasting time, but if not roast at 190 C for 20 minutes per 450 g plus 10 - 20 minutes, roasting until the juices run clear. As an example, a 1.6kg chicken will usually be roasted for 1 ½ hours.
We have plenty of roast chicken recipes for you to choose from on Cookpad. Why not try John’s chicken roasted with lemon and garlic or Miss Fluffy’s herby roast chicken.
Remove any leftover meat from the carcass
Once dinner is over and the carcass is cold, use a knife and then your fingers to remove the leftover meat. You can separate the meat into dark meat (legs, thighs and wings), white meat (breast) and the meat ‘scraps’ (small bits of meat from around the bones and underneath the bird).
Make stock
Once the meat has been removed, put the carcass into a large saucepan to make a chicken stock - you can find recipes for chicken stock on Cookpad here. The process of making stock pulls out the nutrients, collagen and fats from the bones and last scraps of meat to make a nutritious broth. This chicken stock can then be used to make sauces, stews and soups.
Use the leftover meat
Leftover chicken can be used in sandwiches, salads, curries, stews, casseroles and so much more.
- Natalie's leftover chicken soup recipe combines leftover chicken with Asian aromatics and noodles for a deliciously warming broth.
- Mandy’s leftover roast chicken curry recipe is a great way to use up that leftover chicken, simply mix with veggies and curry powder for a filling meal.
- Sig’s leftover roast chicken salad recipe combines leftover chicken with tangy lemon, tomatoes and chives for a really satisfying lunch.
- John’s leftover chicken pie recipe is so easy, leftover chicken mixed with a tin of chicken soup and topped with ready rolled pastry!
Nadine’s shredded chicken with melted cheese sandwich recipe, simply leftover chicken mixed with mayo and topped with melted cheese, how delicious. - Aiman’s chicken shawarma pizza recipe made with leftover chicken (doesn’t need to be shawarma) and topped with veggies and oozy mozzarella cheese