How to Use a Whole Chicken for Multiple Meals

I have found that the instant pot is the best way to cook chicken, especially if you have a tendency to forget to thaw it ahead of time, like I do.

Fill up the instant pot halfway with water, sprinkle two tablespoons of salt, and get your chicken in, to have it done and tender in as little time as possible.

Make sure the pressure valve is turned on, use the poultry setting, and cook it for two hours to make sure that the broth is nice and rich.

Finally, de-bone and shred your chicken. Now we are ready to move on to the three easy chicken meals we are going to make.

1. Chicken mac & cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 C Shredded chicken
• 2 C macaroni
• 1/2 C half and half
• 1/4 C sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 4 C cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 pkg frozen peas or your choice of frozen vegetable
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook two cups of elbow macaroni for about eight minutes.

In the meantime, take a bowl and mix ½ cup of half-and-half (or milk, but half-and-half makes for a creamier flavor), ¼ cup of sour cream, and two eggs.

Stir this around to get the eggs beat up and incorporated. Now add two cups of cheddar and two cups of shredded chicken.

Next, add some kind of vegetable for the nutritional boost. I will be using a package of frozen peas, but any vegetable would do well: Consider broccoli, corn or carrots.

Stir this all together and add salt and pepper.

Once it is ready, add in the macaroni, too, and stir it again. You might want to add some more milk or cream if you see the need for it.

Put the mixture into a 13*9 baking dish.

Spread it out in an even layer and then top it with another cup or two of cheese.

Bake it in a preheated oven at 350 F for 20 minutes.

This dinner is delicious and it could not have been simpler. In just 20 minutes in the oven, it is ready for dinnertime.

2. Buffalo chicken and rice casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 C shredded chicken
• 1 block cream cheese 1 recipe cream of chicken or
• 2 cans prepared cream of chicken
• 4 C shredded cheese, divided
• 1/4 C hot sauce, or more depending on taste
• 2 C rice, prepared
• 1 TBSP salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Let’s start by making some homemade cream of chicken soup to use as a thickener in the casserole.

Take two cups of chicken broth, whisk in one half cup of all-purpose flour, and heat it until it has thickened to a cream of soup consistency.

Add two cups of shredded chicken into a KitchenAid (or just a bowl if you do not have one in your kitchen).

Add one block of cream cheese, ½ cup of prepared ranch dressing, the cream of chicken mixture, 2 cups of shredded cheese, and ¼ cup of hot sauce.

Stir this together until it is well combined.

Next, add two cups of cooked rice (what was two cups before it was cooked) and stir it in.

If you want to make this a one-pot meal, add some corn or even green beans to this.

Add about a tablespoon of salt and a couple of sprinkles of pepper.

Give it one final stir, put it into a 13*9 baking dish, even it out and sprinkle two more cups of cheese on top.

Drizzle some hot sauce on top, too.

Finally, bake it at 350 F for about 20 minutes.

The casserole looks really good, and it was a super easy meal to make.

3. Chicken corn chowder

Ingredients:

• 10 small potatoes
• 6 C chicken broth
• 2 TBSP salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 pkg frozen corn
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 C half and half 1 block cream cheese
• 2 C shredded chicken

Start by chopping up 10 small potatoes, and then rinse them to get some of the starch off. Add six cups of broth, and turn on the heat. Add two tablespoons of salt and about two teaspoons of pepper.

Next, add one package of frozen corn, one teaspoon of onion powder, and one teaspoon of paprika. Stir in one cup of half-and-half, and add a block of cream cheese, which you have cubed in advance.

The last ingredient is what is left of the chicken, which should be around two cups.

Give all of this a good stir, put the lid on, and let it simmer until the potatoes are tender, the cream cheese has melted, and the liquid has thickened a bit. This should take around 15-20 minutes.

Stir it every five minutes or so to make sure nothing sticks. If you are using a crock-pot instead of the stovetop, I suggest cooking it for four hours on high, and if you are using an instant pot, cook on the soup setting for 12 minutes.

In the end, you can smash up some of these potatoes to make the soup a little thicker.

This is what it looks like in the end. Seems really good and hearty to me, and it came together so quickly.

How to use a whole chicken for multiple meals

I hope these easy chicken meals have inspired you, and you will try these recipes at home.

Which recipe did you like the best? If you were to make multiple meals from one chicken, what dishes would you go for? Share your thoughts in the comments below.