There are lots of reasons to boil chicken. The most common one is to make a nice soup stock. It utilizes flavors from the meat, bones, skin, fat, and cartilage. So what do you do with all that meat? Some cooks will just throw it out, but that is so wasteful. Luckily, there are lots of things you can make with pre-cooked chicken meat.
If you’re using a whole chicken to make stock, try to get an older bird if you can. This is not always possible at the grocery store, since they usually just stock young fryers. If you can’t get an older bird, remove the chicken from the stock pot when the meat is done. Let it cool enough to strip the meat from the bones, then add the bones and skin back to the pot to work their magic on your broth.
Now that you have a pile of cooked chicken meat, there are lots of great recipes you can make with it. It is easy to do a simple rough chop of it now, or shred it if you prefer it that way. If you can’t use it all at once, put it in the freezer for another time.
A popular choice for boiled chicken is to make chicken salad recipes. You can put chicken salad on a lettuce leaf, in sandwiches, or serve it as both a meal and snack. This recipe can be made with crunchy nuts, celery or even pieces of fruit. With so many versions of this recipe, you’ll easily find one that you love.
Keep some boiled chicken on hand for casseroles, pasta dishes, or quesadillas. If your chicken gets a little overcooked, add it to some sauce and let the chicken support the sauce rather than the other way around. Barbecue sauce works well.
Don’t be afraid to tweak your chicken salad a little. You could stir in a little curry to make it unique. You could also use your chicken for chili, tetrazzini or lasagna. You’re sure to run out of your chicken before you run out of recipe ideas!
Setting your favorite chicken salad recipe aside, you can also create a delicious stew or pot pie. Chicken is an excellent ingredient in these types of recipes. Of course you can make chicken tacos, tamales, or enchiladas, too. Put some in ravioli or egg rolls.
Of course, if you’re making chicken stock, chances are you may want to make some chicken soup. Just add some of your cooked chicken back in a little while before serving. The meat can also be made into ground chicken, chicken sausage or made into dishes like chicken croquets.
The great thing about keeping boiled chicken on hand is how easy it makes your cooking. Make the rest of your recipe, season your boiled chicken appropriately for the recipe, and drop it in. Now you have a quick, tasty meal that took very little time and effort on your part. Keep this ingredient handy.