Leftover Chicken Recipes

Cooked chicken is the most useful leftover in the fridge. Shred it, crisp it or fold it into something new — here are recipes that start with chicken you have already cooked.

The quickest wins for cooked chicken are fried rice, quesadillas, a fast noodle soup, tacos and a wrap for lunch. Shred it cold and add it near the end of cooking so it warms through without drying out.

Have chicken plus other ingredients? Find recipes with what you have

Started with a store-bought bird? What to do with leftover rotisserie chicken covers how far each amount stretches and what to do with the carcass.

What can I make with leftover chicken?

Chicken fried rice
Cold rice plus shredded chicken in a hot pan — dinner in about 15 minutes. Try Chicken Fried Rice.
Quesadillas
Chicken and cheese folded into a tortilla and crisped in a dry pan. Try Chicken Quesadilla.
Noodle soup
Drop shredded chicken into broth and noodles at the last minute. Try Roast Chicken Ramen.
Tacos
Warm the chicken in a smoky sauce and pile it into tortillas. Try Mexican Tinga Tacos.
A wrap for lunch
Cold chicken, something crunchy and a sauce, rolled up. Try Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich.

Got more than chicken to use up? Find recipes with what you have.

How to decide what to make with your leftover chicken

The right dish depends on the state the chicken is in, not on the recipe you feel like cooking. Find yours below.

Still moist, in big pieces: Slice it and keep it cold: a wrap, a grain bowl or a chopped salad. Cooking it again is the fastest way to make good chicken dry.
Dry breast meat: It needs a sauce, not more heat. Shred it and stir it into a curry, a creamy pasta or a chilli off the heat, so the sauce rehydrates the fibres.
Odds, ends and skin: Small scraps do their best work crisped in a hot pan for tacos, quesadillas or fried rice, where texture matters more than the size of the piece.
Bones and carcass: Simmer them with an onion, a carrot and a bay leaf for an hour. That stock turns the same chicken into soup a second night, which is why roast chicken stretches so far.

How long does cooked chicken keep, and how to store it

Cool it fast, then fridge it: Get cooked chicken into a shallow covered container within two hours of cooking. Shallow matters: a deep tub of warm chicken stays warm in the middle for hours.
Three to four days in the fridge: That is the window Canadian and US food-safety guidance gives cooked poultry. Label the container with the day you cooked it and you never have to guess.
Freeze it in portions with liquid: Freeze shredded chicken flat in a bag with a spoonful of stock or its own juices. It thaws in minutes and does not come out stringy.

The best way to reheat leftover chicken

Add it last, not first: In soup, stir-fry, curry or pasta, stir the chicken in during the final minute. It only needs to warm through — it is already cooked.
Pan over microwave for texture: A dry non-stick pan on medium-high crisps the edges in two or three minutes. Microwaving is faster but reheats unevenly and toughens the meat.
If you must microwave: Cover it, add a splash of stock or water, and go in 30-second bursts, stirring between. The steam is what keeps it from drying out.

Mistakes worth avoiding with leftover chicken

Reheating the same chicken more than once — decide what you are making before you warm it up.
Leaving it out on the counter to cool completely before refrigerating.
Boiling shredded chicken in sauce; simmering it hard squeezes out the moisture you are trying to add.