How Do I Get the Most Out of a Whole Chicken?

A whole chicken can be an extremely versatile and budget-friendly ingredient. With some handy tips and creative recipes, you can stretch a whole chicken into multiple delicious family meals. Here’s how to make the most out of your whole chicken purchase.

Buy the Right Chicken

• Opt for a good quality organic or free-range chicken. The flavor will be superior to a conventional factory-farmed chicken.
• Choose a chicken that is about 3-5 pounds. Larger chickens tend to be tougher.
• Consider buying whole chickens frequently. They are one of the most economical ways to buy organic poultry per pound.

Prep the Chicken for Cooking

• Rinse the chicken under cool water and pat dry. Remove the giblets and neck from the cavity.
• Leave the chicken whole or cut it into parts. Whole chicken is easier to cook juicy, but cutting it up gives you more options.
• Truss the legs together with kitchen string if leaving whole to help it cook evenly.
• Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

Cook the Entire Chicken

• Roast in the oven using your favorite herbs and spices. Roasting whole results in very juicy meat.
• Cook in a slow cooker or instant pot for 8+ hours on low until fall off the bone tender.
• Grill or smoke the chicken for a tasty barbecue flavor.

Separate the Meat from the Bones

• Allow the cooked chicken to cool slightly before handling. Use your hands or tongs to remove all the meat.
• Reserve the breast meat, legs, thighs, wings, and drumsticks in separate containers.
• Refrigerate the boneless chicken up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months.

Use the Leftover Chicken Meat

• Add to soups, salads, wraps, tacos, casseroles, and more. Shredded chicken is very versatile.
• Make chicken salad sandwiches by shredding and mixing with mayo, celery, and herbs.
• Stuff the chicken into peppers, potatoes, lettuce cups, or hollowed bread for easy meals.
• Toss with barbecue sauce and serve on buns for pulled chicken sandwiches.

Save the Bones for Broth

• Place the bare chicken bones in a pot with veggies, herbs, and water. Simmer 3-4 hours.
• Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve. Store broth in jars in fridge up to 5 days or freeze.
• Use the savory homemade broth for soups, stews, risotto, or drinking.

Get Creative with the Wings and Drumsticks

• The wings and drumsticks have the most flavorful meat. Try them Brazilian churrasco style or Buffalo wings.
• Use drumsticks for chicken salad, tacos, nachos, pasta dishes, flatbreads, etc. The meat shreds nicely off the bone when cooked.
• Roast wings low and slow until crispy as an appetizer. Toss in your favorite sauce like honey mustard or hot buffalo.

Don’t Toss the Carcass

• Save chicken bones, scraps, and carcass to make bone broth. This is very nutritious and healing to drink.
• Make your own bone meal fertilizer by baking bones at 350°F until brittle and grinding into a powder. Mix with soil.
• Bury bones around plants. As they break down, they’ll provide calcium and other nutrients to your plants.

Following proper storage times, using multiple cooking methods, saving the bones, and getting creative with recipes allows you to get multiple family meals plus stock from just one chicken. With a little planning, you can stretch one whole chicken into a week’s worth of budget-friendly dinners!