One Costco Chicken = 10+ Meals!

 

One of the best values I take advantage of in order to keep my grocery budget low is the $4.99 Costco whole rotisserie chicken.  One whole chicken will net me at least ten meals (often more) making each one only 50¢ per meal for the meat portion of that meal.  This is how I do it.

 

I get started right away once I get home from the store cutting that chicken apart into meal portions.  It is still nice and warm and I find it is easiest to work with it at this point rather than after it has been in the refrigerator.  What typically happens when I remove it from the bag it comes in is the legs come off.  I put them into meal prep containers at that point and the rest goes onto my cutting board.

 

Leg & thigh

Breast pieces

Next I cut off a large part of the breast portions and place both of them into a meal prep container.  They are so large that I know I can cut each piece in half for four more meals.

 

Sliced chicken breast

I will slice off any more remaining breast meat and place that it another meal prep container to be used in sandwiches or sliced up and added to a nice dinner salad.  It is really good as part of a Cobb salad.  I typically have enough in this meal prep container for two more meals.

 

Bits & pieces

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Once I’ve slice off the larger remaining breast meat I remove all remaining meat from the carcass and place all of those bits into a meal prep dish.  By carefully removing the meat from the thigh area, breast area, both wings and the back of the chicken I will have enough meat for at least two more meals.  This meat is perfect to use in a soup, a pot pie, a noodle casserole, stir fried rice, pizza, enchiladas or tacos, quesadillas, creamy chicken & rice, chicken & dumplings or a stir fry.

 

Save those drippings!

I save the drippings in the bottom of the bag to use in making gravy or add it to a soup.  It is a lot of delicious flavor that I definitely do not want to waste.

 

Chicken carcass

Lastly, I take the carcass, all of the skin, fat and any of the tough and chewy bits and place that in my slow cooker with a piece of onion, a large carrot a couple stalks of celery and a sprig of fresh rosemary from my garden.  I don’t peel anything, I just wash it all and cut it in half to tuck into the slow cooker with the carcass.

Making a delicious broth

I always rinse out the bag before I toss it into the trash and the water I use is added to the slow cooker, again more added flavor not to be wasted.  Then I top up the rest of the way with water, set it on high and allow it to cook all day.  Once the finished broth is strained it is ready to make into a delicious soup.  It is typically enough broth to make two different soups.  That same bag the chicken came in gets used again to put everything into once the broth is strained so it doesn’t make a leaky mess in my trash can.

 

Many, many meals!

Some of this broth will get used in my chicken gravy along with those saved drippings.  It is perfect over mashed potatoes or baking powder biscuits.  I add any leftover gravy as a flavor boost to a casserole or soup.  It’s so good.

 

Whole chickens are a great way to make a lot of thrifty meals.  One that is already cooked and ready to go saves you a lot of time making it an even better value.