Everyday Moms: Rotisserie Chicken Solutions

Posted by Amy Allen Clark

Rotisserie chickens can be a busy cook's best friend, offering an arsenal of dishes that can be prepared with simple pantry ingredients.

I love to buy these for a quick weeknight dinner to make a variety of dishes for our family. I dice the chicken to put in pasta salads, shred it for sandwich wraps, and make delicious paninis smeared with pesto sauce. Casseroles can be thrown together on the fly and these chickens have always come through for me for a fast potluck dish. The possibilities are endless with just this one ingredient!

One thing I hadn't tried, though, is to make barbecued chicken sandwiches out of the chicken. Our family was inspired by Everyday Food's Barbecued Chicken on Garlic Toast for a fun weeknight meal, and the dish couldn't be easier.

Tossing the chicken with a little barbecue sauce makes an instantly yummy sandwich that no one in our family could resist. The addition of garlic-rubbed toast helps to develop more flavor and adds another dimension. The toasted bread does a great job of soaking up the taste without the soggy bun and gives a bit of crunch. What a fast and easy way to get dinner on the table!

SEE THE RECIPE:
Barbecued Chicken on Garlic Toast

When I have more time to plan ahead, I love to make whole chickens in my slow cooker. Although they don't have the crispy and delicious skin like the rotisserie chicken, they do make a great substitute for being added into dishes as an ingredient. Best of all, they are an economical choice for families!

RECIPE: Slow-Cooker "Roasted" Chicken
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (approximately 3 pounds)

Directions
1. Wash chicken inside and out (removing anything inside). Sprinkle seasoning of your choice on the chicken (seasoning blends, salt, or pepper).

2. Put 3 balls of aluminum foil in the bottom of the slow cooker (this creates a rack so the chicken doesn't soak in its own juices). Place the chicken in, breast side down, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

This chicken works great for our family's favorite Chicken Pasta Caesar Salad and Chicken Lo Mein dishes -- they both are always crowd-pleasers in our home. Our Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein has been a great substitute for  takeout, and my Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is the perfect dish to take to family picnics. Both are very economical dishes and help to stretch the chicken to serve 6 to 8 people.

Amy Allen Clark is the Founder of momadvice.com. Amy resides in Indiana with her two children and husband. She can be found blogging regularly on The Mother Load about her adventures in eating, parenting, and managing her busy household.

Comments

[Amy]

Thank you guys so much for giving me the opportunity to share my recipes with your readers! It is such an honor!

[Domestic Diva]

Great recipes! I'll be adding them to my file. Thank you!!!

[List Mama]

Great ideas, Amy! I just used leftover rotisserie chicken for the most delicious chicken salad sandwiches to take on our last picnic. It felt good to put every delicious morsel to good use.

Jen
http://www.ListPlanIt.com

[Domestic Chicky]

Great ideas Amy! I love seeing how many meals I can get out of one chicken!

[Deal Seeking Mom]

Mmm, great ideas! I will definitely have to try this. I NEED quick and easy meals on weeknights!

[Christine - From Dates to Diapers]

My family will thank you for this scrumptious-looking recipe! Thanks. :)

[lylah ledner]

Amy Woman ~ Love the idea - DUH! adding bbq sauce to rotisserie chicken and I think I'll serve ours on burger buns.

Keep up the good MOM Advice work.

Lylah

[Lucretia Pruitt]

Wow - what a great idea!
My husband and I had recently started putting BBQ sauce on grilled chicken breasts - but how much easier and faster to use rotisserie chicken!
I know this will be on rotation in my menu for those nights when we're just too tired to deal with thawing, basting and cooking! :)

Fabulous!

[Jessica]

Yummy! This sure beats chicken nuggets! (our usual dinner time fare).

Great ideas. Bookmarking this post NOW!

[Lori]

Such a yummy and quick dinner, thanks! We also toss left over pork chop meat in bbq sauce for a pork sandwich. Yum!!

[To Think Is To Create]

Oh yum, can't wait to try the lo mein!

[Deb Puchalla]

Hey folks,
So happy to see some familiar faces and new ones! Amy's right that rotisserie chicken is one of those shortcuts that can really work for you. I love to give the boys some and shred the rest to put over salad with cashews, carrots, red peppers and a ginger dressing. What do you do with yours?
p.s. Thanks, Ms. Momadvice. Let's keep swapping good ideas!

[Jenn @ Frugal Upstate]

Great article! Of course roasting your own chicken is the most frugal option, but I find that a rotisserie chicken can be a frugal alternative to take out. And when you can use it for several recipes-well, you've got a winner.

[Juliet]

I have a couple whole chickens in the freezer that I've been racking my brain over what to do with - this is perfect!

http://marthastewart.onfineliving.tv

[Nancy]

I've tried Amy's Chicken Lo Mein recipe and it's fantastic! My family absolutely loved it. Give it a try.

[Christi]

Amy, sounds great! So happy to see you posting here!

And another note, about the slow-cooker "roasted" chicken - I do mine this way, too. Then, I crank the oven up to broil and pop the chicken in (in a more shalow pan) for 10 minutes. There's your delicious crispy skin.

[Amy]

Christi- What a great idea! I love it! I have to admit, that is my favorite part. Not good for a girl's figure, but it is oh-so-worth-it!

[Monica]

Yeah, Amy! We love rotisserie chicken too - I don't buy them often, but the flavor they lend to casseroles and other dishes is hard to match!

[Kendra]

Amy, I first have to say I absolutely love your site and can't begin to express how much it's helped me and my family. We've had your Lo Mein several times at our house and it's a total hit. The hubby (who hates Chinese food) loves it and the kids nearly lick the plate clean. Great to see you posting here and I hope to see more great stuff from you!

Kendra

[Katie]

Amy- Great ideas! I always forget about Rotisserie chicken. BBQ sauce with it would be fantastic! I love your website,so it is great to see you over here.

[AnneMarie]

I love rotisserie chicken, but can never figure out to do with what's left after eating the "good" parts! I'll be giving some of these recipes a try! Well, actually, I've already tried your chicken pasta caesar salad, so I know that one's good! As is everything else on your site (my recipe file would be empty without it!)!

[Jayne]

Great ideas!! It is so hard being a working mom to come up with different and clever ideas that my family will ACTUALLY eat!!
Thanks!

[Mary]

Amy - What a great idea! I never think of using my crockpot like it should be used. I will be making this for dinner this week. Thanks.

[Jen]

They all sound delicious! Of course anything you come up with is! Thanks.

[Katie]

Amy, as always, we love the quick meals that you come up with! I love to get the menu ideas on Sunday before shopping! Great chicken ideas; thanks!
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