Leftover chicken recipes

Make up some curry sauce (you can make a homemade one or grab a jar if you’re short on time) and add your cooked chicken 5 minutes before it’s ready. A hearty curry will feel like you’re eating a completely different meal, rather than just leftovers.

Ingredients you need:

• Curry sauce (see how to make curry sauce from scratch)
• Rice

Recipes to try:

• Hairy Bikers’ chicken curry
• Skinny chicken tikka masala
• Creamy coconut chicken curry

More chicken curry recipes

Pretty much any of your leftovers can be boiled down to make a soup. You simply combine what you have in with a little stock and either leave chunky or whizz smooth with a hand blender.

Ingredients you need:

• Stock cubes (or you can make your own stock with leftover chicken bones)
• Leftover vegetables (optional)
• Cream or milk (optional)

Recipes to try:

• Roast chicken soup
• Hairy Bikers’ chicken noodle soup
• Cream of chicken soup

More chicken soup recipes

A crisp coating and a creamy sauce and voila – your leftover chicken is transformed into a brand new dish. Always keep a roll of ready made pastry in the kitchen so you can gather all your leftovers together in a quick and easy way.

Ingredients you need:

• Pastry
• Chicken stock
• Cream (optional)
• Vegetables (mushrooms and leek go particularly well)

Recipes to try: Chicken and mushroom pie
Chicken and leek pie
Cheat’s chicken puff pies

More chicken pie recipes

If you’ve got leftover chicken from a roast, we’re betting there is a few stray roast potatoes and some veg too? A tray bake is an easy way to warm them all up together. All you need to do is drizzle with a little flavour and stick in the oven.

Ingredients you need:

• Potatoes (can be cooked)
• Onions
• Lemon/lime juice
• Sauce (like soy sauce or teriyaki)

Recipes to try: Lemon chicken tray bake
Farmhouse chicken braise

You’ll always find a packet of noodles lurking towards the back of your food cupboard, make good use of them by teaming them up with your leftovers. Chicken with a nice Chinese-style sauce is the perfect Monday night meal.

Ingredients you need:

• Noodles
• Sauce (sweet chilli or a ready made Chinese sauce would work well)
• Stir-fry veg (or whatever you have, sliced finely)

Recipes to try:

• Gok Wan’s Vietnamese-style leftover chicken salad
• Lemon chicken stir-fry with noodles

More noodle recipes

Strips of cooked chicken make cooking Mexican food nice and speedy. Season with some paprika mix, warm through (you can have it cold if you would like) and wrap up with some rice, peppers and some delicious sauces. Easy.

Ingredients you need:

• Rice
• Wraps
• Mexican spice mix (or make your own with chilli, oregano, paprika and cumin)
• Sauces (make your own guacamole and salsa with our easy recipes)

Recipes to try:

• Hairy Bikers’ chicken fajitas
• Easy chicken tacos
• Burritos

More Mexican recipes

A nice option for lunch the next day is a leftover chicken salad. You don’t need to worry about heating the chicken up and you can just throw together all your salady bits. Couscous, rice or pasta will make it nice and filling.

Ingredients you need:

• Salad leaves
• Tomatoes
• Salad dressing

Recipes to try:

• Chicken and tomato couscous salad
• Chicken Caesar salad

More chicken salad recipes

A casserole doesn’t need to spend hours simmering. Chicken casseroles have a lighter sauce so they don’t need as long for the flavour to mature as a red meat version. You can make a delicious stock-based vegetable sauce and add your cooked chicken into the mix. A chicken flavoured stock will give you a fab added flavour – you could even save some of the juices from your roast chicken for an extra strong taste.

Ingredients you need:

• Chicken stock
• Onions
• Vegetables – your choice

Recipes to try:

• Chicken casserole
• Tomato baked chicken
• Italian-style chicken with olives

More chicken casserole recipes

Eggs aren’t just for breakfast, they can the basis for a filling family meal if used right. An omelette, tortilla or frittata brings together all your ingredients into a one tasty slice. Serve with salad and cooked veg or some pasta or potatoes if you want something a little more filling.

Ingredients you need:

• Eggs
• Cheese
• Whatever you have in!

Recipes to try

• Cheese and ham omelette – swap the ham for chicken!
• Baked vegetable omelette
• Bacon squeak frittata

More omelette recipes

Risotto is a seriously underrated dish. You only need rice and some stock and you can pull together your leftovers in one tasty dish. You need to stand by the hob to slowly stir in the stock but it’s worth the effort for value alone.

Ingredients you need:

• Rice (risotto is traditionally made with arborio rice but whatever rice you have in will work)
• Stock
• White wine (optional)
• Vegetables like peas or spinach (optional)

Recipes to try:

• Chicken and pea risotto
• Chicken and bacon risotto
• Lemon chicken and pea risotto

More risotto recipes

An exotic treat and also a good way of using up your leftover chicken – win-win! Paella is pretty similar to risotto to make, you combine rice with stock and wait for it to absorb it. Unlike a risotto you can just pour it all in at once, rather than a little at a time, so it’s less time over the stove! A few Spanish ingredients like chorizo and paprika and your chicken and rice is given a new twist.

Ingredients you need:

• Rice (you can get paella rice but you can use whatever you have in)
• Chorizo
• Paprika

Recipe to try:

• How to make paella – with step-by-step pics!
• Chicken and prawn paella
• Traditional Spanish paella

More Spanish recipes

Got bread in? Chuck your chicken in a sandwich. There are lots of different combinations you could try: chicken and bacon, chicken and sweetcorn, chicken and stuffing or just plain old chicken mayo – whatever you have in!

Ingredients you need:

• Bread
• Mayonaise or butter
• Salad (optional)

More sandwich recipes to try

Good old pasta. As long as you’ve got a bag in the cupboard, there is usually some way to use up your leftovers. Chicken and pasta is a lovely combination – you can sprinkle cold cooked chicken over your pasta to make a pasta salad or heat it up in a sauce to pour over it or bake under a cheesy topping.

Ingredients you need:

• Pasta (dried or fresh)
• Sauce (a homemade tomato or cheese sauce would be perfect)
• Vegetables
• Cheese (optional) 

Recipes to try:

• Chicken and tomato pasta bake
• Chicken and pepper pasta salad
• Chicken and chorizo pasta

More chicken pasta recipes

If you’ve only got the scraps and bones of the chicken left, you can still stretch it a little bit further. Homemade chicken stock is easy to make and it taste so much better than stock cubes. Make up a big batch and freeze in portions so you can grab the amount you need easily. Soup is delicious when made with a homemade stock.

Ingredients you need:

• Boiling water
• Carrots
• Leeks
• Herbs

Try our classic chicken stock recipe

Where to next? More chicken recipes
Roast chicken recipes
Chicken thigh recipes

Pilaf can be made with most leftovers and it couldn’t be easier to make. It’s just a simple combination of rice, stock, herbs and spices and some veggies. Rice is handy ingredient when it comes to using up leftovers, other good dishes to try are pepperpot and jollof rice.

Ingredients you need:

• Rice
• Stock
• Herbs
• Vegetables

Recipes to try:

• Chicken pilaf
• Leftovers pilaf

More rice recipes

Add a little coating and your cooked chicken is transformed! Breadcrumbs or a light batter will turn your plain chicken into chicken nuggets, they’re much better homemade – and you know exactly what’s in them!

Ingredients you need:
For a batter coating

• Flour
• Eggs
• Milk

OR

• Breadcrumbs
• Eggs
• Flour

Recipes to try:

• Homemade chicken nuggets
• Chicken goujons with white breadcrumbs
• Chicken dippers with mustard sauce

It’s always handy to have a roll of ready-made pastry in your fridge or freezer. A pesto, tomato puree or cheese topping will house your chicken and any veg you have in – instant dinner.

Ingredients you need:

• Ready made pastry
• Pesto/cheese or tomato puree
• Egg to glaze

Recipes to try:

• Italian ham and cheese tart – swap the ham for chicken instead!
• Mediterranean chicken parcels

More tart recipes

A bake doesn’t need to have a pasta or potato topping, you can simply bake chicken with a cheese or tomato sauce. A breadcrumb, crumble or oaty topping will give it a nice crunch.
If you do have potatoes in, slices or mash would also make a good topping.

Ingredients you need:

• Sauce (cheese or tomato)
• Breadcrumbs (optional)

Recipes to try:

• Chicken, leek and Cheddar bake
• Leftover chicken bake
• Chicken and vegetable bake