Chicken skin is often discarded or overlooked as an unwanted byproduct of cooking chicken. However, chicken skins are not only edible, but can be a delicious and nutritious addition to various dishes when prepared properly. Here are 8 great ways to make use of leftover chicken skins:
1. Make Chicken Cracklings
Crispy, crunchy chicken cracklings are easy to make with leftover chicken skin. Simply pat the skin dry cut into pieces, and bake in the oven at 450°F for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Season with salt, pepper, spices, or chili flakes before baking for extra flavor. These nutty savory chicken cracklings make a fantastic topping for soups, salads, grain bowls, or just enjoyed on their own as a snack.
2. Enhance Soups and Stews
Add leftover chicken skin to soups, stews, and broths to infuse them with more chicken flavor. The skin will impart extra body, texture, and taste as it simmers. Try adding a few pieces of chicken skin to chicken noodle soup, vegetable beef stew, or any broth-based dish.
3. Make Schmaltz
Render chicken fat (schmaltz) by slowly cooking chicken skins in a pan over low heat until the fat melts away and you’re left with crispy bits (called gribenes). Strain and save the liquid golden chicken fat to use for cooking or frying. Enjoy the gribenes as a crunchy topping for dishes.
4. Flavor Rice or Grains
Infuse more rich chicken flavor into rice, quinoa, farro or other grains by cooking them in broth made with the chicken skins. You can also sauté grains or rice in a bit of schmaltz for extra flavor. The natural chicken fat adds moisture, taste, and richness.
5. Enhance Pan Sauces and Gravies
Simmer chicken skins in the pan juices after cooking chicken to create an incredibly rich and flavorful base for sauces and gravies The collagen in the skin will thicken the liquid while adding savory chicken essence Discard skins before serving or blend into the sauce,
6. Make a Snackable Seasoning
Dehydrate leftover chicken skins in a very low oven or dehydrator until completely dried out and crispy. Then grind the dried skins in a food processor or spice grinder to make your own homemade chicken skin seasoning powder. Sprinkle as a savory, salty topping.
7. Add to Chicken Salad or Pâté
Minced chicken skin adds moisture, richness, and flavor to chicken salads, chicken pâtés, rillettes, or spreads. The fatty skin balances lean chicken in these dishes. Add just a bit and pulse into the mixture for a silky, meaty texture.
8. Flavor Vegetables or Beans
Sauté vegetables like kale spinach, broccoli green beans, or carrots in a bit of rendered schmaltz instead of oil or butter. Beans also benefit from a touch of chicken fat while simmering. The natural chicken flavor adds a subtle meaty depth.
With a little creativity, those leftover chicken skins from your roasted bird or store-bought rotisserie chicken can be put to delicious use. Crisp them up into cracklings, use to enrich sauces, or add flavor to various dishes. Chicken skin is a versatile ingredient that deserves a second chance in the kitchen.
Tips for Preparing and Cooking Chicken Skin
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Pat chicken skin dry before cooking to help it get crispy. Refrigerating it uncovered for about an hour helps remove moisture.
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Prick the skin with a fork before crisping to allow fat to render and moisture to escape.
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Cook chicken skin in a 400-450°F oven or pan over medium-low heat to render fat and get crispy.
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Season chicken cracklings before cooking or sprinkle salt after cooking. Other good seasoning options include pepper, paprika, garlic powder, or cayenne.
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Save any rendered chicken fat (schmaltz) after cooking to use for sautéing vegetables, cooking eggs, roasting potatoes, or flavoring rice. Store covered in the refrigerator.
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Grind up dried chicken skin in a food processor to make your own seasoning powder. Store in an airtight container.
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Use chicken fat and pan drippings to make incredibly rich broths and sauces.
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Add just a small amount of minced chicken skin to chicken salads, pâtés, rice dishes, etc. A little goes a long way for added flavor and moisture.
Chicken skin can transform dishes by adding salty, savory, fatty flavor. With a bit of preparation, this often discarded ingredient can be turned into a variety of crunchy, crispy, delicious treats and ingredients. Get creative with these kitchen scraps and you may just find chicken skin becoming a prized staple.
Remove the Skin
Start by peeling the skin from the cooked bird—this will be easiest if your chicken has been separated into parts (breast, leg, thigh, etc.), but you can also peel the skin from a whole chicken and tear it into bite-size pieces.
Pan-Fry the Skin
Toss in the chicken skin in a single layer—you should hear a satisfying sizzle when the pieces hit the oil. Pan-fry each piece for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. If one side of your pan is cooking faster than the other, feel free to move the chicken skin around as the pieces cook—youre not trying to sear anything here. Instead youre rendering out the remaining fat and removing any moisture which is what caused that skin to go flabby in the first place. Moving the pieces around will help everything cook more evenly.
2 FAST & Easy Chicken Skin Recipes
FAQ
Is there anything you can do with chicken skin?
- Rendering: The skin can be rendered to extract fat, which is then used to produce chicken fat (schmaltz) or other products like oils and flavorings.
- By-products: The skin may be processed into pet food or animal feed, as it contains protein and fat that can be beneficial for animal nutrition.
What is eating chicken skin good for?
Most of the fat in chicken skin is unsaturated fat, which is very beneficial for cardiovascular health.Dec 27, 2024
Should you throw away chicken skin?
What do you do with chicken skin leftover from another recipe? Never throw away chicken skin! It’s so tasty when crisped up and baked in the oven. The drier the chicken skin, the more crispy the chicken skin cracklings will be. Take the skin off the meat by pulling with a thick paper towel.
What to do with extra chicken bones and Skin?
Laying the skin flat between parchment lined baking sheets and baking until crispy will give you chicken crackers, I often dust them with cane sugar to give them a mild sweetness. Can work crumbled on salads or pasta bakes as well as larger pieces with ice cream surprisingly enough.
What are the dangers of eating chicken skin?
Eating two chicken drumsticks with skin, or even just one chicken thigh, can get you upward of 10% of your daily vitamin D values, which is a lot. Eating two chicken drumsticks or a chicken thigh with skin can get you upward of 10% of your daily vitamin D values.
How do you make chicken skins?
Preheat the oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean up). Pat dry the chicken and lay flat on the foil. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken skins. Bake chicken skins for ~ 13-16 minutes or until crispy. 10 minutes may work for thighs, drums may be 12 minutes, breasts may be 16 minutes.
How can you get rid of chicken skin?
Take the skin off the meat by pulling with a thick paper towel. Pat the skin dry or put in refrigerator for an hour if you have time. Refrigerating the chicken skin will help dry it out. Thigh and breast skin are the largest pieces and lay the flattest. Drumstick chicken skin is smaller so there’s not a lot of yield compared to the breast or thigh.
What are the benefits of chicken skin?
Chicken skin even has Omega-3 fatty acids, known for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, and overall beneficial effect for health in general. Chicken skin is a natural source of vitamin E, albeit the content is minimal considering how much chicken skin you can and should eat.