The Best Casserole Recipe With Rotisserie Chicken Leftovers (2024)

FAQs

How do you use rotisserie chicken scraps? ›

In fact, the picked-over, shredded bits of leftover meat are ideal for grain bowls, herbaceous noodle dishes, and creamy chicken salad. Helpful hint: re-heating the chicken dries it out, so unless you plan on serving it in soup or a sauce (see: pot pies), go for a cold or room-temperature salad.

USDA recommends using cooked chicken within three to four days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth.

Use your favorite preserves, chutney, barbecue sauce, or build your own thick and sticky concoction to coat the bird with. Think honey and lemon or brown sugar and soy sauce; just be mindful of how much salt the glaze contains as most store-bought rotisserie chickens are already seasoned with salt.

To freeze a whole rotisserie chicken, allow it to cool completely. You never want to freeze chicken while it's still hot. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. A cooked rotisserie chicken can be refrigerated for 2-3 days before freezing, but it's better to freeze on the same day.

Don't throw away those chicken bones and veggies scraps! Save them in your freezer until you have enough to make a pot of Homemade Chicken Stock! This healthy bone broth can then be frozen and saved to make soups, sauces and other recipes!

It is not recommended to eat rotisserie chicken a week after purchase! The USDA guidelines state that cooked chicken is only good for 3-4 days when refrigerated.

Raw chicken lasts in the fridge for 1–2 days, while cooked chicken lasts 3–4 days. To detect if chicken has gone bad, check the “best if used by” date and look for signs of spoilage like changes in smell, texture, and color. Avoid eating spoiled chicken, as it can cause food poisoning — even if you cook it thoroughly.

Uneven cooking is not an issue for rotisserie chickens; the heating elements in large-scale rotisseries are arranged in a way so all the rotating chickens receive an equal amount of heat. Because of this, all the meat is cooked to perfection. What's more, the entirety of the chicken's surface area is also browned.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that cooked chicken can last three to four days in the refrigerator, if stored at 40°F or less. 1 And that goes for any type of cooked chicken—store-bought, homemade, or restaurant leftovers.

Can I freeze chicken that was cooked 5 days ago? ›

Of course! Freezing cooked chicken is an excellent way to extend its shelf life. But, making cooked chicken last in your freezer is all about doing it the right way. Your cooked chicken can be kept in the freezer for 3 to 4 months.

While it may be tasty, "I generally advise people to skip the skin due to its saturated fat content," says Andrews. In fact, removing the skin can cut the saturated fat in half if you're eating the breast and by a third if you're eating dark meat.

You can make chicken stock very simply using the leftover cooked carcass and bones from your Sunday roast, or you can use a raw carcass, sold cheaply at most butcher's. If you've got leftover chicken bones but you don't want to make stock straightaway, store them in the freezer in the meantime.

Rather than having to buy bones separately, I love this rotisserie chicken stock! All you need a rotisserie chicken for another dinner, and once the meat is used, the carcass can be transformed into a lovely low sodium broth that's bursting with flavor.

After enjoying your oven-roasted chicken, don't throw away the carcass. Instead, use it to make nutritious bone broth for your pets. My favorite way to roast a chicken in an air fryer. This method results in a rotisserie-style chicken with a crispy exterior and without the excess salt found in store-bought versions.