57 Delicious & Healthy Ways to Use Leftover Chicken

Pictured Recipe: Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

Roasting a whole chicken has always been one of my favorite meal-prep tips-cook once and you'll have dinner tonight plus more for meals all week. I've even made it part of my regular Sunday routine. Trust me, it's easy!

Not only is buying a whole chicken easy on your wallet (it's cheaper per pound than buying chicken parts), roasting your own means it will have almost 50 percent less sodium than the rotisserie birds at your grocery store. Use this easy roast chicken recipe to cook two whole birds side-by-side on one pan: you only have to heat the oven once, but you'll have enough leftover chicken to put to good use with these 57 ideas.

Don't feel like roasting a whole bird? These easy ideas will work well with leftover grilled chicken, as well as rotisserie chicken (whether it's store-bought or a homemade air-fryer rotisserie chicken). Feel free to use light or dark meat interchangeably in any of these recipe ideas too.

Related:Healthy Whole Chicken Recipes

Pictured Recipe: Chicken Chili with Sweet Potatoes

1. Stir it into a quick chicken chili with sweet potatoes (pictured above)

2. Top homemade cheesy black bean nachos

Related: Healthy Nachos Recipes

3. Add it to a quesadilla with sautéed spinach, or make these chicken quesadillas with beans

4. Simmer with vegetables and broth for a quick chicken soup

5. Mix with Buffalo sauce, carrots, celery and blue cheese for a Buffalo chicken salad, or use it to make Buffalo-Chicken Celery Sticks

Pictured recipe: Chopped Cobb Salad

6. Make a chicken Cobb salad (pictured above)

7. Use it to make BBQ chicken tacos topped with red cabbage slaw

8. Top a baked sweet potato with chicken, scallions and Cheddar cheese

Related: Creative Ideas for Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

9. Add it to a vegetable stir-fry with teriyaki sauce

10. Toss with barbecue sauce and make a BBQ chicken sandwich

Pictured recipe: Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

11. Stuff into enchiladas with cheese and kale

12. Make chicken pasta salad with broccoli, tomatoes and Italian dressing, or pull together a chicken Caesar pasta salad

13. Stuff in a burrito with rice, beans, guacamole and corn, or make a burrito bowl (pictured above)

14. Scatter over a mushroom-and-cheese pizza

15. Turn it into a tasty chicken Parm-inspired dip

16. Thread onto skewers with tomato, basil and baby mozzarella

17. Slice into a pita with watercress and tzatziki

18. Make a quinoa bowl with hummus, cucumbers and tomatoes

Related: Healthy Grain Bowl Recipes

19. Mix with soy sauce and chives for a dumpling filling

20. Tuck into a chicken and root vegetable potpie

21. Stir into gumbo with frozen okra and corn

22. Add to macaroni & cheese with broccoli

23. Sauté with peppers and onions to make fajitas

24. Make a frittata with chicken and herbs

Related: Healthy Frittata Recipes

Pictured recipe: Easy Chicken Fried Rice

25. Make chicken fried rice with carrots and peas (pictured above)

26. Use for chicken Divan

27. Fry up a hash with frozen potatoes, spinach and chorizo

28. Make classic chicken salad with grapes and tarragon

29. Shred into Asian sesame noodles

Pictured Recipe: Chicken & Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

30. Bake a shepherd's pie (pictured above)

31. Top cooked lentils and sautéed kale and drizzle with fish sauce

32. Layer with artichokes and ricotta cheese into a lasagna

Related: Healthy Lasagna Recipes

Pictured recipe: Chicken Club Wraps

33. Fold into a wrap with bacon, lettuce and mayo (pictured above)

34. Make a flatbread with pesto and fresh mozzarella

35. Mix with rice, peas and a light mushroom cream sauce

36. Make calzones with broccoli, cheese and marinara sauce

37. Toss with fish sauce, rice noodles and coleslaw mix for a Thai salad

38. Top a Southwest-style Caesar salad

39. Whip up chicken Tetrazzini

Pictured Recipe: Chicken Enchilada-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

40. Mix with wild rice and stuff a delicata squash or spaghetti squash (pictured above)

Related: Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Recipes You'll Go Crazy For

41. Make a chowder with bacon and potatoes

42. Combine with breadcrumbs, scallion and egg for chicken patties

43. Add to roasted Brussels sprouts and cranberries

44. Top toast for an open-face melt with Gruyère

Pictured Recipe: Chicken, Arugula & Butternut Squash Salad with Brussels Sprouts

45. Add it to a hearty fall salad with butternut squash and Brussels sprouts (pictured above)

46. Use as a layer in 7-layer dip

47. Thread onto skewers and serve with peanut sauce

48. Use as a topping for ramen with bok choy

49. Sauté with eggplant and peppers and serve over polenta

50. Make a Mexican quiche with black beans, corn and salsa

51. Make hand pies with mashed sweet potatoes

Pictured Recipe: Chicken Udon Bowl with Zucchini Noodles

52. Slide into a biscuit and top with gravy

53. Toss with hot gnocchi, chard and cheese

54. Add to Chinese lo mein with egg noodles or make a chicken udon bowl (pictured above)

55. Fold into an egg roll filling with napa cabbage and hoisin sauce

56. Stuff into crepes with goat cheese and roasted butternut squash

57. Combine with mayo and Cheddar to make chicken pimiento cheese

Still want more? Browse all of our Healthy Leftover Chicken Recipes for plenty of delicious ideas.