One thing you will ALWAYS find in our Costco cart is rotisserie chicken! They are only $5 and can be used so many different ways. Today we will share five of our favorites, though the possibilities are endless!

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A rotisserie chicken is a such a versatile weapon in your shelf cooking arsenal. You can’t beat the price, plus the pre-cooked meat is a huge time-saver at dinner time! Costco sells 3-pound rotisserie chickens for $4.99 which is an excellent price point. (I have become somewhat of a Costco pro over the years, if you haven't noticed by my Costco membership guide!)


Side note: One of the shelf cooking 101 principles I always preach is to KNOW YOUR PRICES! How will you know if something is a great deal if you don’t have a barometer for a “normal” price range? I literally carry a notepad around the grocery stores with me, noting price per pound of meats and average gallon of milk costs until I had a great frame of reference. If you don’t know what’s “normal” then you won’t know what’s a CRAZY GOOD DEAL! 


Here’s a trivia fact of the day that you can stump your family with later, are you ready? How many rotisserie chickens did Costco sell last year? 

No cheating! Did you make a guess?! 

fresh rotisserie chicken, from Shelf Cooking

106 million! 

It literally broke a record for most rotisserie chickens sold in a year by them! So clearly, Costco rotisserie chickens are a staple among many. We’ve even covered fun ways to use them in a blog post previously! But when it comes to shelf cooking, it’s all about getting creative with what you have and keeping your family happy with recipes that they enjoy. So here are five MORE ways to use that juicy bird for a family-pleasing dinner. 

Obviously these will work just as great with rotisserie chickens from any other grocery store as well! Costco just seems to have the best price per pound. 


FIVE WAYS TO USE A COSTCO ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

1. Shredded Chicken Flautas: Once you shred up the meat from the rotisserie chicken, it can be used is as a delicious filler to a variety of recipes but one of our favorites are flautas! This recipe can be baked, fried, air fried, or frozen.

The filling is creamy, with mixed salsa, sour cream (or plain greek yogurt), spices, shredded chicken and cheese. Roll them up into flour tortillas and bake or (air) fry to crispiness! Having pre-cooked chicken makes throwing this dinner together so quick and simple!


2. Chicken Noodle Soup: Cut down on time spent on this comfort food classic by also incorporating a cut up rotisserie chicken. The juicy flavor from the chicken gives that extra SCRUMPTIOUS factor to the broth. Substitute the rotisserie chicken in any family favorite recipe you have, or follow this recipe that specifically uses a rotisserie chicken!

Chicken noodle soup has plenty of shortcut options, and it is totally freezable! It's a great idea to double your batch and freeze some for whenever you or your family are feeling a cold come on and don't want to cook from scratch!


3. White Chicken Chili: A fun spin on a bowl of chili – including white chicken, white beans, and chicken broth! This easy recipe incorporates a rotisserie chicken and can be made on a stovetop or in a crockpot.

CHILI THICKENING HACKS: Use a blender to thicken the broth! Remove about a cup of the chili about halfway through the cooking process and blend with an immersion blender or a regular blender before adding back into the chili pot. Alternatively, you can incorporate cream cheese or heavy cream to the broth to also make a richer bite!


4. Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip: When it comes to buffalo chicken dip, our best tip is to double the recipe because you'll inevitably eat way more than expected! It is SO. DANG. TASTY. We can't get enough. If you love tangy buffalo sauce, try a recipe for Easy Rotisserie Buffalo Chicken Dip out and thank us later!

Most chicken dip recipes use canned chicken, so using a fresh juicy rotisserie chicken takes it a whole new level. You're going to want to remove the skin for this recipe, and then pull apart. You'll be combining ranch and buffalo sauce along with lots of cheese – is your mouth watering now, too?


5. Chicken Salad: Rounding out our five rotisserie chicken recipes, we have the lunchtime staple – chicken salad. But SO MUCH BETTER because we're swapping out canned chicken for fresh flavorful chunks. We love this super easy recipe, although it can also just be substituted in any other chicken salad recipe you already use and love.

Serve it in a sandwich, on a salad, with some crackers or in a wrap. Of course the classic chicken salad recipes usually call for celery, red onion, and scallions. Some other fun chicken salad add-ins to try are grape halves, diced apple, jicama, corn kernels, raisons, nuts, and avocado. Leave a comment below with what YOU love to include in chicken salad!


We'd love to hear what you think! After all, this entire Shelf Cooking site is meant to unite a COMMUNITY of others we can share with! 

Do you have a favorite leftover rotisserie chicken recipe? Drop a comment below or start a conversation in our Shelf Cooking group in our App!

Hungry for more creative leftover ideas?