40+ Rotisserie Chicken Meals

Make delicious rotisserie chicken meals using a chicken from the store (or cook a whole chicken at home). Use these 47 healthy rotisserie chicken recipes to stretch your meat over multiple meals and save money!

Do you ever walk by the rotisserie chickens at the grocery store and think to yourself how easy it would be to just pick one of those up and have dinner DONE for the night?

Yeah, me too. But what if that single rotisserie chicken made MORE than just dinner tonight?

What if it also made dinner tomorrow night?

And better yet – what if it made dinner the night after THAT, too?

I’m all about some simple dinner recipes beyond sandwiches and pasta! So, if I can make meals with leftover rotisserie chicken? I’m there. Except I’m changing one thing…

COOK CHICKEN AT HOME FOR ROTISSERIE CHICKEN MEALS

I’m going to explain how you can stretch that one rotisserie chicken into several meals in just a moment. First, I want to encourage you to make your own chicken rotisserie instead.

Yes, it requires just a smidgen more work, but it’s SO worth it for four main reasons:

You can use better quality chicken. If you’re concerned about chickens without antibiotics or GMOs or seek pasture-raised chickens, you won’t find them in the rotisserie section at the store.

1. You’ll get more meat. The average rotisserie chicken weighs just 2 – 2.5 pounds. Compare that to the average whole raw chicken that weighs 5-6 pounds. Just buying a whole chicken raw, versus a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, means you’re getting twice as much meat.

2. It’s a better bang for your buck. According to this article, homemade rotisserie chickens cost an average of $1/pound LESS than a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. At some stores, the difference was nearly $3 per pound!

3. You control the ingredients. You might not have noticed that rotisserie chickens have an ingredient label. You’d think they wouldn’t need one, but think again!

• Here’s the list of ingredients from a Costco rotisserie chicken: Whole chicken, water, seasoning [salt, sodium phosphate, modified food starch (potato, tapioca) and potato dextrin, carrageenan, sugar, dextrose, spice extractives].
• Of these ingredients, 3 are listed on my top 5 ingredients to avoid in food. Quite a bit more than just chicken, right?
• Psst…speaking of toxins, did you know that many salts contain MICROPLASTICS? It’s a sneaky toxin that may be in your everyday salt, and thus your everyday food (um, gross). I love Ava Jane’s Kitchen because their salt is FREE of microplastics, and it tastes delicious! (PLUS, you can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt – just pay shipping and handling!)

4. You can use better quality chicken. If you’re concerned about chickens without antibiotics or GMOs or seek pasture-raised chickens, you won’t find them in the rotisserie section at the store.

HOW TO COOK A WHOLE CHICKEN FOR ROTISSERIE CHICKEN RECIPES

I’ve told you WHY you should make your own rotisserie chicken. Now let’s talk about HOW you can pull it off. You have 5 main options:

1. Cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Chicken is by far the easiest way to cook a whole chicken. Cook it while you’re at work and come home to a cooked chicken.

I have this 6-quart slow cooker and can get two birds in at the same time. Doesn’t the idea of having dinner done for over a week sound good to you? Yeah, me too.

2. Roast a whole chicken in the oven.

It’s hard to beat the crispy skin of a traditional oven-roasted chicken, but I admit that it’s more time-consuming than the slow cooker method. Still, of all the methods, this one is my favorite.

3. Spatchcock a whole chicken.

When you spatchcock a chicken before you cook it, you cut the cooking time down to less than an hour. You get crispy skin too, so this is a good compromise if you’re short on time and can’t pull off the traditional oven-roasted chicken.

4. Make a whole chicken in the Instant Pot.

A whole chicken in the Instant Pot is extremely delicious. It comes out tender like a roasted chicken in the oven (but without the crispy skin). It’s easy to cook, and you’re all set up for Instant Pot Chicken Stock when dinner is done.

5. Rotisserie a whole chicken.

We used to have this rotisserie attachment for our grill in California, and we LOVED having homemade rotisserie chicken. If you have the attachment and aren’t in a rush, definitely try this method. You can also “set it and forget it” with this rotisserie gadget if you have the slush funds.

Or use a different cut of chicken.

If you want to make some of the following rotisserie chicken meals, but don’t have a whole chicken to cook, that’s okay! Use the cuts you have in the fridge or freezer and shred the chicken to stretch it further.

Make Sheet Pan Chicken Breast, Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs, Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts, or Instant Pot Frozen Chicken.

SAVING CHICKEN FOR ROTISSERIE CHICKEN DISHES

So, now you know WHY you should cook your own chicken and HOW to cook your own chicken. Let’s talk about getting the most chicken you can for leftover rotisserie chicken recipes!

One of my favorite tricks to save money is to treat meat like a part of the meal and not make it the main star of the meal at all. That means we’re NOT sticking that freshly roasted chicken on the table and telling the family to knock themselves out.

Oh no.

Instead, you’re going to pick off all the meat from the chicken, and when you do, you’ll end up with about 6 cups worth of shredded rotisserie chicken. Most recipes will use about 2 cups of shredded chicken each, but some use as little as 1 cup. Depending on what you make, you can get anywhere from 3 to 6 different meals out of that meat. And that doesn’t even include making Homemade Chicken Stock with the bones!

One of my go-to recipes for cooked chicken is tacos, but even the greatest taco fan needs a break now and then, right?

47 MEALS MADE WITH ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

I’ve put together a list of 46 easy meals with rotisserie chicken. That way, you can stretch that single chicken as far as you possibly can and stretch your grocery dollars along with it!

Also, shredded chicken freezes wonderfully, so if one rotisserie chicken makes more meat than you can use in one meal plan, don’t let that get in the way of saving some money!

RECIPES USING ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

Try these recipes using rotisserie chicken the next time you cook a whole chicken – you’ll be able to get dinner on the table quickly and easily!

PASTA DISHES

Add rotisserie chicken to nearly any pasta dish for an easy way to include meat but still stay on budget.

• Creamy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
• Savory Pasta with Onions, Bacon, and Greens (add chicken)
• Pasta Primavera
• Greek Pasta Salad

CASSEROLES

Casseroles are one of my go-to meals made with rotisserie chicken!

• Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas
• Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole
• Easy Creamy Squash Pasta Bake
• Baked Ziti
• Chicken Pot Pie (the BEST comfort food recipe!)
• Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole

MAIN DISHES

In recipes that call for diced chicken breast, simply use rotisserie chicken instead. You can add it near the end of the cooking time so that it gets fully heated but doesn’t dry out.

• Kung Pao Chicken
• 30 Minute Cashew Chicken
• Simple Autumn Rice Pilaf
• Easy Risotto with Summer Vegetables
• Shrimp Creole
• Stuffed Peppers
• Vegetable Fried Rice
• Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• Weeknight Dinner Veggie Stir Fry
• Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

FUN FOODS

Use your meat as a topping in these rotisserie chicken dishes.

• Mediterranean Grilled Cheese
• Buffalo Chicken Pizza
• Homemade Hot Pockets
• One Pan Buffalo Chicken Potatoes
• California Chicken Wraps
• BBQ Chicken Sweet Potato Pizza
• Chicken Caesar Wraps
• Pizza Bagels (BBQ sauce and shredded chicken are great pizza toppings!)

SOUPS, STEWS & CHILIS

Remember how I said you might only need 1 cup of chicken for a meal? Soups, stews, and chilis are one of the types of meals with a rotisserie chicken that can help it stretch the furthest.

• Garlic & Kale White Bean Soup
• White Chicken Chili
• Chinese Noodles Soup
• Mexican Corn and Potato Chowder
• Chicken Tortilla Soup (don’t forget to add some sour cream on top!)
• Hearty Minestrone Soup
• Turmeric Chicken Soup with Cabbage and Coconut
• Slow Cooker Thai Pineapple Vegetable Curry
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

SALADS

Add rotisserie chicken to any salad to boost the protein and keep you satisfied.

• Chicken Southwest Salad
• Kale Salad with Blueberries, Walnuts, & Feta
• Asian Mason Jar Salad
• Buffalo Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
• Kale Caesar Salad
• Southwestern Salad
• Chicken Bacon & Avocado Salad
• Kale Salad with Strawberries, Pecans, & Blue Cheese
• Greek Quinoa Salad
• Cranberry Apple Spinach Salad

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN MEALS FAQS

MORE WAYS TO SAVE ON MEAT

• 10 Steps to Stretching Meat at Home
• 11 Ways to Save Money on Meat at the Store
• How to Save on Meat Without Buying a Whole Cow
• 17 Ways to Stretch Ground Beef
• Leftover Pork Roast Recipes