For only $5, you can buy two chicken breasts, two drumsticks, and two wings, precooked and ready to eat. A rotisserie chicken is something so many people are intimidated by. Rightfully so, it's a lot of food! But if used correctly, it can be a huge help in making good meals that aren't labor-intensive or expensive. The many uses for rotisserie chicken aren't inherently obvious, but they are there. Dare I say it, a rotisserie chicken is something students should consider buying more often. It has a place in a college diet that often goes unrecognized.
Christian and I went shopping the other day to see how we wanted to make the most of an entire rotisserie chicken, and we hope to inspire more people to do the same. I've linked the recipes we loosely followed, but it's important to note that most recipes that call for chicken can also use a rotisserie chicken. There are also quite a few things we could've made that we didn't: buffalo chicken dip, chicken enchiladas, barbecue chicken flatbreads, etc. There are endless possibilities.
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
When brainstorming uses for rotisserie chicken, this one seemed obvious. No strict recipe is necessary. We just removed a chicken breast from the bird and shredded it, then added Duke's Mayo, salt, pepper, and sliced carrots. For a little more fun, we added paprika (to taste), juice from half of a lemon, and a hefty spoonful of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. We measured with our hearts and made enough for two sandwiches. That being said, there's more that can be done with chicken salad than just sandwiches. Eat it by itself, put it on crackers, or toss some in an actual salad. Pro tip: if you do make sandwiches, buy a fun, fresh loaf of bread to make the sandwich even better. White bread certainly has a place, but the Whole Foods sourdough we used undoubtedly made the sandwich so much better.
Barbecue Chicken Sliders With Coleslaw
This was my favorite of the three uses we found for the rotisserie chicken. We used the other chicken breast to make these, and they were worth it. It's an easy build, with shredded chicken breast, barbecue sauce, and coleslaw on top, contained within a King's Hawaiian roll. We added a small amount of vinegar to some Sweet Baby Ray's and poured it onto a slab of cut-in-half rolls, shredded a breast from the whole chicken, and added it on top. We also wound up baking the sliders for a bit at 350º just to give them a little toasting, but it's not totally necessary. For the coleslaw, we used a bag of slaw mix and made our own dressing. We did, however, eventually add about a 1/4 cup of mayo. I will say that I'm not the biggest coleslaw fan, but this one was really good. Give it a shot! These sliders were quite tangy and the coleslaw was a really good addition to round out the meal.
Arroz Con Pollo
Christian, our wonderful photographer, is Cuban. Needless to say, it didn't take much convincing on my part to make arroz con pollo. If you don't know, it translates to rice with chicken. Despite the simple-sounding name, this dish has a lot of great flavor, and the legs of a rotisserie chicken work well here. I highly recommend finding a good recipe that works with your tastes, as many people make it differently. No matter what recipe you choose, it will serve as a worthy use of rotisserie chicken legs.
Source: Trust Me Bro
In the end, we used a whole rotisserie chicken to make just these three dishes. Compared to buying the raw chicken for each dish, we spent quite a bit less money and did not have to cook raw, slimy chicken. If you don't love any of the things we made, or just want to do some more research, Spoon contributor Gabriela Rodriguez has some great ideas too! Rotisserie chicken saves time and money, so why not take advantage of the convenience? It may seem intimidating at first, but with planning and forethought it's easy to make the most of it! Don't knock it 'till you try it. If this article inspired you to make something with a rotisserie chicken, we'd love to see it! Tag us on Instagram @spoonuf. Below are some happy customers, and of course, the bare chicken carcass (which you can boil to make chicken broth!)