There’s a reason why chicken is a weeknight dinner staple: It’s easy to cook and issoversatile.
Keeping an arsenal of simple leftover chicken recipes in your back pocket can save many a weeknight dinner.
To tweak this recipe for a busy weeknight, skip Step 1 and use leftover cooked chicken.
Photo: CAITLIN BENSEL
Add veggies, noodles, and heat through for a homemade soup in a fraction of the time.
This leftover chicken recipe proves that simple, quick, and easy can be satisfying and delicious.
Change it up by swapping noodles for any other pasta or your favorite grain.
Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
If there’s leftover chicken, you don’t even need to fire up the grill.
Plain yogurt gives this dish a creamy texture and subtle tang, and fresh cilantro brightens everything up.
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
Slow cookersare the secret weapon of the over-scheduled.
Jennifer Causey
Rotisserie Chicken Chili
Fred Hardy
Here’s a meal the whole family can get behind.
Thekaleabsorbs the punchy anchovies, garlic, Dijon, and lemon to make each bite savory and delicious.
It fuses Japanese miso with Koreankimchifor a richly flavorful soup that comes together in 20 minutes.
Caitlin Bensel
Chicken and Vegetable Pot Pie
Does pot pie sound like a laborious project to you?
It doesn’t have to be if you use leftover chicken and store-bought pie crust.
In this recipe, skip Step 1 and sub in your leftover chicken.
Greg DuPree
The easy-to-make casserole has a flavor and texture reminiscent of fettuccini alfredo.
Grilled Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas
No, the chicken’s not grilled, but the quesadillas are.
These quesadillas cook right on the grates but also taste great from a baking sheet out of the oven.
John Kernick
It’s ready in just 30 minutes.
There’s also roasted cauliflower, baby arugula, and cotija cheese to give this bowl a fresh spin.
Substitute leftover chicken for fresh cutlets, and you save even more time without sacrificing a bit of deliciousness.
Jennifer Causey
Chicken Satay Lettuce Wraps
Craving something fresh, light, and easy?
A peanut butter and coconut milk dressing brings everything together for a low-carb, Thai-inspired treat.
Top with sour cream for a tangy, rich finish.
Fred Hardy
Serve with store-bought or homemade biscuits for a meal worthy of a Midwestern grandmother.
It sits on toasted sourdough slices and is topped with radish slices for a decorative crunch.
Grilled Chicken and Corn Salad With Avocado
No grill?
Greg DuPree
Skip the chicken-cooking part in Step 1 and use your cooked leftover chicken instead.
Serve with biscuits as recommended.
Butternut Squash and Chicken Pozole
Christopher Testani
This Mexican-inspired soup has autumn comfort written all over it.
Caitlin Bensel
Serve with Greek yogurt for creaminess and tortilla chips for crunch.
Mango Chicken Curry
This 30-minute curry dish takes you on a non-stop trip to the tropics.
Serve over jasmine rice.
Linda Pugliese
Roland Bello
Greg DuPree
Alex Farnum
Cara Cormack
Greg DuPree
Jen Causey
Victor Protasio
Jennifer Causey
Greg DuPree
Antonis Achilleos
José Picayo
Victor Protasio
Roland Bello
Con Poulos
Caitlin Bensel
GREG DUPREE
Christopher Testani
Caitlin Bensel
Caitlin Bensel
Greg Dupree, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
Alexandra Rowley
