32 Ways to Turn Leftover Chicken Into Delicious New Meals

Breathe new life into an old ingredient

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Updated 04/04/20

Buffalo Chicken Casserole — The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Want great ideas for using up the leftovers in your fridge? These recipes can be made with any type of cooked chicken, whether it was baked, roasted, fried, grilled, or poached. Of course, you needn't have cooked the bird yourself—all of these recipes work for rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, too. If you're starting with chicken that was breaded or cooked in a sauce, just scrape off the coating or crumbs before using.

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Watch Now: 3 Easy Recipes to Make with Leftover Chicken

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Grilled Chicken Banh Mi

The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Grilled chicken banh mi is a tasty Vietnamese sandwich that typically includes some type of meat, pate, pickled veggies, and fresh herbs. This mouth-watering version calls marinated chicken breast made from scratch, but you can easily swap in leftovers as a quick replacement.
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Crunchy Middle Eastern Chicken Salad

The Spruce / Anita Schecter

Leftover chicken is the perfect starting point for this crunchy Middle Eastern chicken salad, also featuring carrots and almonds in a tangy, yogurt dressing. Serve with pita wedges for a nutritious and filling meal.
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Thai Chicken Soup With Coconut Milk

The Spruce

Save money on takeout when you cook up this creamy Thai chicken soup with coconut milk from scratch. Traditional Southeast Asian ingredients—including lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, red chilies, and galangal or ginger—deliver huge flavor, with coconut milk making it a rich bowlful.
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Buffalo Chicken Casserole

The Spruce / Leah Maroney

This hot Buffalo chicken casserole with the popular taste of Buffalo chicken wings is always a hit at parties and potlucks. Sour cream, condensed cream of chicken soup, tater tots, and pepper jack cheese complet the crowd-friendly dish.

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Chicken Pot Pie

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Serve up comfort when you make this luscious chicken pot pie for family dinner. Leftover cooked chicken meat, a refrigerated pie crust, and frozen mixed vegetables make this one-hour recipe easier, but it tastes like you spent all day making it.
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Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Wrap

The Spruce / Grilled Cheese Social

Dark chicken meat from juicy legs and thighs are a fabulous addition to this delicious spicy Thai chicken salad wrap flavored with Thai ingredient, including sweet chili sauce, coconut milk, soy sauce, and chunky peanut butter.
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Chicken Pilaf

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Make this weeknight chicken pilaf dish on your stove top when you need to get dinner ready in a hurry. Seasoned long grain rice is dressed up with crunchy pecans and precooked chicken cubes in a simple recipe that uses pantry staples and cooks in about 30 minutes.
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Barbecue Chicken Pizza

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Barbecue chicken pizza is a terrific way to use leftover chicken because you don't need a lot of meat to make a difference. Layer it onto a ready-made pizza crust with plenty of cheese, a few veggie toppings, and your favorite barbecue sauce for a super easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love.

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Chicken Quesadillas

The Spruce

Chicken quesadillas make an easy weekday lunch or satisfying after-school snack. Shredded chicken is layered with cheese in flour tortillas, then quickly browned in a lightly-oiled pan to melt the cheese. Add some green onions, chopped tomatoes, or jalapenos, if you like, for extra color and flavor.
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Chicken Skin Chips

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Rather than discard chicken skin, make good use of it. Chicken skin chips are easy to make and a great way to reduce waste. Once you have the crispy chips, used them instead of croutons, crumbled bacon, or crackers. They also make a great bacon alternative for a BLT sandwich.
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Tarragon Chicken Salad

The Spruce Eats / Anita Schecter

While the tarragon chicken salad recipe includes a simple way to roast chicken, it's a perfect use for leftovers, too. It features a creamy homemade dressing seasoned with celery, Dijon mustard, lemon, onion, and tarragon. Mix that with shredded chicken, then serve it over salad greens or in a sandwich for a quick, delicious meal.
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Chicken Alfredo Casserole

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Busy weeknights just got more delicious with this chicken Alfredo casserole that is easy to assemble and cooks in well under an hour. Diced breast, jarred sauce, curly pasta noodles, Parmesan cheese, and a little milk are all that's needed.

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Classic Chicken Salad Sandwiches

The Spruce

These classic chicken salad sandwiches start with cooked chicken. Mild breast meat works best for these sammies, which also call for some mayonnaise, hard boiled egg, onion, celery, relish, and your favorite bread or rolls.
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Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Chowder

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Spring asparagus adds a wonderful fresh flavor to this creamy chicken and asparagus chowder, which includes tender potato chunks for great texture. Loads of heavy cream makes this soup velvety and rich. It's great for warming stomachs on rainy, cool days.
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Chicken Tamale Pie

Anita Schecter

Shredded leftover cooked chicken becomes the base of this delicious tamale pie when mixed with onion, taco seasonings, salsa, and beans. This combination is topped with a homemade cornbread batter (or use boxed for quicker preparation) that is flavored with corn, cheddar, and cilantro. The pie is baked until golden brown and served with sour cream and avocado.
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Chicken Quiche

Leah Maroney

Rotisserie chicken turns this quiche into a hearty meal, perfect for brunch, lunch, or dinner. The chicken is combined with eggs, cream, Gruyere cheese, onion, and parsley and poured into a homemade crust. The quiche is baked in a springform pan, making for a pretty presentation.

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Italian-Style Grilled Chicken Panini Sandwich

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Cook up an Italian-style grilled chicken panini sandwich with leftover cooked chicken, pre-cooked bacon, and store-bought pesto sauce. Don't have a panini grill? Simply heat your sammie for a few minutes on each side in a non-stick pan, pressing it down with a heavier pan set on top.
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Smoky Chipotle Chicken Salad

Katie Workman / themom100

Canned chipotle peppers give this smoky chipotle chicken salad a terrific smoky flavor, while chopped fresh vegetables add great crunch. A combination of dark and white meat works well in this recipe, which can be served over spinach or romaine greens, or sandwiched between slices of your favorite bread.
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Takeout-Style Chicken Fried Rice

The Spruce / Ray Kachatorian

Takeout-style chicken fried rice is so easy to make, it's sure to become a go-to recipe in your household. Leftover rice is quickly stir-fried in soy sauce with diced chicken and any fresh or frozen veggies you have on hand for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
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Chicken Enchiladas

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Mild, green salsa verde is the secret ingredient in these scrumptious chicken enchiladas. Buy it jarred for pouring over flour tortillas that are filled with pre-cooked chicken and cheese and baked in the oven until they are hot, melty, and ready to enjoy.

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Chicken Risotto

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Arborio rice cooked slowly in a bath of white wine, butter, and chicken stock (store-bought is fine), is made even better with the addition of shredded chicken bits and Parmesan cheese at the end. Mushrooms would make a great addition, too—just add them with the shallots for this delicious chicken risotto.
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Indian-Style 5-Minute Creamy Chicken Curry Soup

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

If you have five minutes, you've got enough time to make this Indian-style 5-minute creamy chicken curry soup. Condensed soup and pre-cooked chicken means it's a snap to heat and serve, and the creamy texture and aromatic curry flavoring makes it heavenly to enjoy.
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Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Katie Workman / themom100

Using precooked chicken in this soup, along with store-bought ramen noodles, means you can have soul-soothing easy chicken noodle soup in minutes. Feel free to use prepared broth or stock, too!
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Buffalo Chicken Tacos

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Chicken tacos flavored with a Buffalo wing sauce boosted by heavy cream are guaranteed to become a buffet party favorite for these Buffalo chicken tacos! Blue cheese salad dressing and ripe avocado slices add even more decadent richness to every bite.

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Easy Chicken Crepes

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The savory easy chicken crepes are special enough to impress at a dinner party, but simple to prepare. All you need is precooked chicken, canned water chestnuts, and an addictive sauce made from condensed cream of mushroom soup.
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Thai Mango Chicken Salad

The Spruce / D Schmidt

Tropical mango slices and coconut shreds mingle in a Thai-inspired dressing in this delightful Thai mango chicken salad with crunchy fresh vegetables, peanuts or cashews, fresh basil strips, and tender chunks of cooked chicken.
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Deep-Fried Chicken Croquettes

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Kids love these deep-fried chicken croquettes with a golden-brown exterior and creamy mixture on the inside. A simple white sauce is mixed with chicken, onion, and fresh parsley to create the filling.
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Chicken French Bread Pizza

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This easy five-ingredient appetizer chicken French bread pizza is made with prepared barbecue sauce, French bread as the crust, three kinds of cheese, and leftover cooked chicken.

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Chicken Waldorf Sandwich

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Raisin bread makes an unusual, but delightful base for this chicken Waldorf sandwich with a tasty mayonnaise and honey-mustard dressing. Canned or precooked chicken is mixed with diced celery, walnuts, dried cranberries, and chopped apples to make the sandwich filling.
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Classic Cobb Salad

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When is a salad more than a salad? When it's a fully-loaded classic Cobb salad chock full of tender chicken, creamy avocado, salty bacon, hard-boiled egg, blue cheese, lettuce, and tomato.
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Pasta Salad With Chicken and Spinach

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Pasta salad with chicken and spinach is always welcome at picnics and potluck lunches. Spinach, tomato, red bell pepper, and red onion are tossed with canned or chopped cooked chicken in a tangy mayonnaise-and-Dijon dressing.
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Chicken Macaroni and Cheese Casserole

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

This family-friendly chicken macaroni and cheese casserole is a delicious option when you've got lots of leftover chicken. It goes into a classic macaroni and cheese bake with a simple homemade cheddar sauce, some thawed frozen spinach, and a crunchy breadcrumb topping.