leftovers

37 Leftover Chicken Recipes to Try This Year

Dinner comes together fast with these recipes. 
Chicken pasta bake on a red sheet pan next to two blue plates.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

Wondering what to do with leftover chicken? Maybe you roasted a bird last night, but just couldn't finish it. These leftover chicken recipes will turn last night's roast chicken into an exciting new dinner. Below, you'll find 37 of our favorite ways to use up that extra meat, including easy, weeknight-friendly soups, salads, pastas, tacos, bowls, and more.

  • Chicken pasta bake on a red sheet pan next to two blue plates.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    1/37

    Sheet-Pan Pasta Bake With Chicken and Kale

    This sheet-pan dinner is quicker, easier, and has more crispy topping per bite than your standard pasta casserole. It's filled with kale, sweet cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, creamy mozzarella, and more. 

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    2/37

    Shredded Chicken Salad With Creamy Miso Dressing

    We love the creamy, savory miso dressing on this crunchy salad. Combine your leftover chicken with shredded lettuce, smoky bacon, scallions, and sesame seeds, and you've got a winner.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    3/37

    Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Skillet

    This Mexican-inspired meal offers all the goodness of cheesy chicken enchiladas with half the effort. Medium red salsa and pickled jalapeños bring just the right amount of sweet heat. 

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
    4/37

    Easy Fried Rice With Chicken and Broccolini

    Fried rice is one of the fastest, easiest meals you can make. This vegetable-packed recipe calls for broccolini, snow peas, and edamame. The orange-soy sauce adds sweetness, acidity, and a punch of umami. 

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou
    13/37

    Chicken Cobb Salad

    Here's another one of our favorite main-dish salads. This one features crispy bacon, beefsteak tomatoes, avocado slices, eggs, and leftover cooked chicken over a bed of torn frisée or endive. 

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Anna Stockwell
    14/37

    Bibb Lettuce, Chicken, and Cherry Salad With Creamy Horseradish Dressing

    This completely cravable dinner salad is filled with cherries, radishes, chives, and chicken, seasoned with a touch of cayenne pepper. It hits all the right spots of creamy, crunchy, sweet, and spicy.

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  • Marcus Nilsson
    15/37

    Green Goddess Cobb Salad

    The secret that makes this salad better than all others? A generous sprinkle of crispy chicken skin. Fry leftover skin in a skillet for five to eight minutes and it'll turn a gorgeous, golden brown. 

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  • Lisa Hubbard
    16/37

    Black Beans and Rice With Chicken and Apple Salsa

    Relying on leftover chicken (or a fresh rotisserie from the grocery store), this rice bowl is very weeknight-dinner friendly. The canned beans get a major upgrade thanks to garlic and spices.

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  • Photo by Lara Ferroni
    25/37

    Chicken Taquitos

    Roll up leftover chicken with cheese and spices in tortillas, pan-fry them, and you've got a great party snack that's ready in less than ten minutes. 

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  • Con Poulos
    26/37

    Garden Chicken Alfredo

    This leftover chicken recipe is so rich you'd think it's made with heavy cream, but it's actually made with plain nonfat Greek yogurt and fat-free half-and-half. 

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  • Jason Lowe
    27/37

    Curried Spelt Salad

    Don't be afraid to swap in another grain, like farro, for the spelt in this picnic-friendly salad. It's a lively and aromatic dish that works as a side or light entrée. 

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  • Gentl & Hyers
    28/37

    Cock-a-Leekie Pie

    This comforting, cold-weather recipe calls makes life easy with two shortcuts. First, you can lean on store-bought pie dough, and second, you can use leftover chicken in the filling. 

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  • Photo by Romulo Yanes
    33/37

    Chicken Quesadillas

    Dinner, solved. This easy quesadilla features grated Monterey Jack cheese and chicken. Serve it with sour cream, salsa, cilantro, and fresh lime wedges, if you like. 

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  • Weelicious
    34/37

    Chicken Pesto Wraps

    These simple wraps pack beautifully, making them a solid choice for kid's lunches—and adult's. You can make your own pesto, or make it easy with store-bought pesto. 

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  • Photo by Shutterstock
    37/37

    Chicken Tamales with Tomatillo-Cilantro Sauce

    One final way to use your leftover chicken: coat it in tomatillo-cilantro sauce and wrap it up in tamale dough. Using leftover (or rotisserie chicken) will cut back on the time it takes to make this Mexican favorite. 

    Get This Recipe
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