Leftover chicken recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to make leftover chicken taste good? ›

- lift the chicken and add a bit of olive oil to the pan and pan fry on both sides for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. - you're left over with a crispy and juicy piece of chicken that doesn't taste leftover at all!

Now, if you do happen to overcook your chicken breasts — don't sweat it. The best way to save them is to reintroduce moisture, which means whipping up a buttery pan sauce or a silky yogurt sauce.

USDA recommends using cooked chicken within three to four days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. USDA recommends using cooked leftovers within three to four days.

Just because the chicken is already cooked doesn't mean it can't benefit from a rub. Before reheating, make a custom blend of your favorite spices like paprika, cayenne, onion or garlic powder. Mix in dried herbs or a bit of sugar for beautiful caramelization, then sprinkle it evenly over the skin.

Depending on what I'm reheating, I will soak a paper towel sheet in water and wrap the food in it or at least cover the item with the soaking wet towel. Other tips: Pour 1–2 tablespoons of water, chicken or beef broth over the meat when reheating. If it's a creamy or cheesy pasta, add a little milk.

Use a non-stick pan if you can and keep the heat medium to low. Put a small amount of butter or oil in, or broth or water and toss the chicken in. Make sure to move the chicken a lot or flip it so it doesn't burn in the pan. Once it's heated to your specifications, give it a second to rest then dig in.

However, I find that a wet brine makes for a much moister cut of meat. To do this, dissolve 1/4 cup of salt in a cup of hot water and then dilute it with three cups of cold water. Add the chicken breasts and let sit for about an hour — but even as little as 15 minutes can help.

Moisten with a simple sauce

If you're feeling fancy, you can even make your own: try mixing some hot sauce and lemon juice to give the chicken a nice tangy kick. These works best if you shred the chicken and then add the sauce, but you can put the sauce on the side and dip it too.

Another of our favorite ways to use up leftover rotisserie chicken? Tossing it with plenty of Buffalo or BBQ sauce to make something like our BBQ chicken twice-baked sweet potatoes, our Buffalo chicken & rice casserole, or our copycat California Pizza Kitchen BBQ chicken pizza.

How long can you store chicken in your freezer? According to the USDA, frozen chicken will be "safe indefinitely" as long as you keep it continuously frozen (i.e., you're not unfreezing it and then re-freezing it because you didn't have a chance to cook or eat it).

Can I eat 10 day old chicken? ›

Raw chicken lasts in the fridge for 1–2 days, while cooked chicken lasts 3–4 days. To detect if chicken has gone bad, check the “best if used by” date and look for signs of spoilage like changes in smell, texture, and color. Avoid eating spoiled chicken, as it can cause food poisoning — even if you cook it thoroughly.

How To Tell If Cooked Chicken Has Gone Bad. If your chicken starts to look off-color (dark or faded), appears slimy, sticky, or tacky, or smells bad, it's time to throw it out. 2 Of course, chicken that's been marinated or drenched in sauce may not give you telltale clues that it's spoiling.

Occurrence of warmed-over flavor

The iron is released by the heat of cooking, or by mechanical grinding. The free iron then acts as a catalyst, or promoter, of oxidation reactions. The reactions break down some of the fats in the meat to form primary oxidation products.

PS: If you do forget to season your chicken before cooking, then all is not lost. You can sprinkle on seasoning afterwards, but be careful because dried herbs can be quite overpowering when added to cooked food.

Whereas seasoning before or during cooking is often about effectively integrating salt and other seasonings into a dish, seasoning foods after cooking can be an instant, easy way to add complexity and layers of texture to any finished dish, along with contrasting pops of flavor.

If your chicken is overcooked, just pull a batch of the homemade broth from the freezer, reheat it until simmering, and add the chicken. Spice it up with fresh herbs and your favorite rice, dumpling, or noodle — and dinner is done. Basically, if chicken turns out overdone, don't get hot under the collar.

While you won't be able to really serve the chicken as is, you can fix it up, add a little extra moisture, and reclaim the flavor that was lost in the overcooking process by using a few basic pantry staples. If you've cooked your chicken to a charred, burnt crisp, see if you can remove the chicken's outer layer.

There isn't really a magic pill or cure-all. 'So, if you're having diarrhoea, nausea, cramps—the usual food poisoning problems—start following a bland diet and stay well hydrated with water and electrolyte drinks until symptoms improve,' Dr. Bonheur says. Most food poisoning cases will last up to a week.