Earlier this week I had roasted a whole chicken for dinner. We had more left over than normal and events conspired such that it wasn’t eaten up at lunch either. I’ve done two quick dinners with some of it that were both big hits.
Chicken Burritos
- leftover cooked chicken, skin removed
- green salsa
- taco seasoning
- refried beans
- chopped tomatoes
- grated cheese
- sour cream
- flour tortillas
I took some of the chicken and heated it with half a jar of green salsa and a bit of taco seasoning. I had bought a mix in a jar from Costco and it is nice for quick stuff like this, although I prefer to just mix up my own and probably won’t buy it again. If you don’t have a mix, sprinkle on a bit of chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Add some water if you’re salsa is more chunky than liquid so you can simmer the chicken. Pull it apart with two forks once it’s warmed (or cooked through if you start with a raw chicken breast, which also works well), and let it simmer in the sauce while you grate some cheese, heat up some beans and tortillas, and get the table set.
King Ranch Chicken
This is one of our favorite ways to eat leftover chicken. I usually make twice this much and freeze one 9×9 pan to pull out later. I only made a single pan’s worth this time but still used the full amount of tomatoes and chiles because I didn’t want half cans of each left over.
King Ranch Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 leftover chicken breast, skin removed, chopped
- 1/4 cup of chopped onion
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 can of cream of something soup or make your own of course!
- 1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chilies
- 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
- 6-9 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
Instructions
- Saute the onion in a bit of oil until soft, 5 minutes or so. Stir in the can of soup, the chicken, the tomatoes and chilies (or a can of Rotel tomatoes). Stir and heat through.
- In a 9×9 pan, lay 1/3 of the torn tortillas, spoon 1/3 of the chicken mix over the top, and sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat two more layers: tortillas, chicken mix, cheese. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
The chicken king ranch casserole is the FIRST recipe using boiled chicken leftovers I’ve ever seen that actually sounds like it will taste GOOD. I always have tons of leftover chicken from making chicken soup. THANK YOU!
The Chicken King Ranch casserole sounds delicious! I think I will give it a try.
My name is Wren…greetings from Montreal, Canada.
I love chicken, and appreciate you sharing your recipes.