40 Leftover Chicken Recipes You’ll Definitely Want to Make

updated Aug 29, 2024
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Overhead view of spatula taking a serving of enchiladas out of a white pan.
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe ; Food Stylist: Rachel Perlmutter

Anytime you find yourself with leftover baked chicken breasts, shredded chicken from the slow cooker, poached chicken breasts, or whole roasted chicken, consider it a very good thing. You can certainly go for a second round of last night’s dinner, but the wonderful thing about chicken is that it’s so easy to repurpose it into an entirely different meal. It doesn’t matter what cut you have handy: Boneless or bone-in breasts and thighs are all fair game, as is whatever you have left over from a rotisserie chicken. All it takes is a little inspiration.

We’re here to share ideas and dinner essentials that will help you turn your leftover chicken into a brand-new meal. Here are 40 leftover chicken recipes you’ll definitely want to make.

Chicken Appetizers & Snacks

Turn leftover chicken into game day appetizers and snacks, from extra-cheesy chicken sliders and chicken nachos to easy Buffalo chicken dip.

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Extra-Cheesy Chicken Sliders

For the best-ever sliders, mix shredded chicken (like leftover rotisserie chicken!) with mayo, sour cream, and scallions. Melty cheese and buttery rolls take things to the next level.

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Crispy Chicken Taquitos

Cheesy chicken taquitos are the dreamiest and easiest weeknight meal. Serve them with pico de gallo and classic guacamole.

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Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

Want restaurant-style chicken nachos at home? This is your go-to recipe! Leftover rotisserie chicken is the best way to jump-start nachos at home.

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Quick and Easy Chicken Flautas

Served warm with plenty of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, crema, and avocado, these chicken flautas are a quick and easy weeknight dinner idea. You can make these flautas with leftover roast chicken or rotisserie chicken.

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Creamy, Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Puffs

Chopped cooked chicken in a creamy, cheesy buffalo sauce, wrapped in crescent roll dough for the ultimate party snack.

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Cilantro-Lime Chicken Quesadillas

Leftover shredded chicken is teamed up with buttery, flaky tortillas and melty Monterey Jack cheese for this quick and easy appetizer.

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Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos

Want to make chicken taquitos in your air fryer? This easy recipe feature crispy tortillas rolled around a creamy chicken filling.

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Chicken Empanadas

This recipe for chicken empanadas draws from the empanadas found throughout Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, where the briny bite of olives is coupled with warmer spices, like cumin and smoky paprika. Use leftover cooked chicken for an easier version.

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Chicken Soups & Stews

Soups and stews are the best way to use leftover chicken! Whether it’s a classic chicken noodle soup and Cajun gumbo, or a creamy chicken vegetable soup, we’ve got you covered with some of our faves.

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Chicken Noodle Soup

This cozy classic has everything you love and cooks in less than 30 minutes.

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Copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

This copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup has everything from the creamy broth to the pillowy gnocchi, chicken, and vegetables.

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Avgolemono (Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup)

Assembled from just a few ingredients, this vibrant lemon and egg soup with shredded chicken might be better than grandma's chicken noodle.

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Classic Cajun Gumbo

This Cajun recipe represents the marriage of cultures, subtleties of tradition, local ingredients, and, above all, community. To amp the convenience factor in this recipe, raw chicken thighs can be replaced with shredded rotisserie chicken.

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Creamy Chicken Potato Soup

One sip of this soup is like getting wrapped in your warmest, coziest sweater. Between the thick chunks of vegetables, tender cubes of Yukon gold potatoes, juicy shreds of chicken, and thick, creamy broth, it truly doesn’t get more comforting than chicken potato soup.

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Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup

There are so many different types of delicious chicken noodle soup out there, but for us there’s something especially delightful about a version that adds in bright and bold lemony flavors. This lemon orzo chicken soup with fresh dill fits the bill.

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Creamy Chicken Soup with Vegetables

Chicken soup with vegetables and herbs is pure cold weather comfort food, and this version takes it up a notch with a luxe, creamy broth.

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Chicken and "Clunkers" Soup

This weeknight recipe starts with boxed chicken broth and a rotisserie chicken for ease and convenience.

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Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

It’s a hearty soup packed with juicy chunks of chicken, earthy wild rice, and thick-cut vegetables, all swimming in a creamy, herb-infused broth.

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Chicken Salads

Got leftover rotisserie chicken or roast chicken? Shred or chop them for easy salads the next day.

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Chicken Salad

Skip the hassle of cooking the chicken yourself and pick up a rotisserie chicken. This chicken salad has grapes, a combination of mayo and Greek yogurt as the base, and celery seed.

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Chicken Caesar Salad

The homemade dressing and shredded rotisserie chicken are really what make this a hit. You can always swap in your favorite bottled Caesar dressing in place of homemade to make it even easier.

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The Best Grilled Chicken Salad

Packed with bright, fresh, bold flavors and juicy strips of leftover grilled chicken breast, this is the chicken salad you'll eat on repeat all week long. It has cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, creamy avocado, pickled red onions, tangy goat cheese crumbles, and a punchy vinaigrette.

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Easy Chicken Shawarma Salad

This easy trick using rotisserie chicken delivers the fastest shawarma. The flavorful dressing is made with Greek yogurt, garlic, nutty tahini, and pickled pepper brine.

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Curried Chicken Salad

Sandwiched between bread or wrapped up in lettuce leaves, this curried chicken salad a great way to use up leftover roast chicken or cooked chicken breast.

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Cucumber Chicken Salad

This perfect make-ahead salad with cooked chicken and Persian cucumbers is bound to become an instant classic.

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French Bistro Salad with Rotisserie Chicken

A 20-minute dinner salad inspired by the roasted chicken salad at Buvette, a French bistro in NYC’s West Village. This easy salad relies on pantry ingredients like Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil for the dressing, then some shredded rotisserie chicken and asparagus to bulk it up.

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Gỏi Gà (Vietnamese Shredded Chicken and Cabbage Salad)

Gỏi gà (translated to “chicken salad”) couldn’t be simpler: shredded cabbage and chicken, mixed up with julienned veggies, all tossed in a vinegary dressing cut with sugar and fish sauce. The dish requires very little cooking (and can actually be made with rotisserie chicken!).

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Avocado Chicken Salad

Juicy pieces of chicken, fresh corn, and ripe avocado are tossed in an herby lemon vinaigrette.

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Dak Naengchae (Korean Cold Chicken Salad)

Say what you will about leftover cooked chicken breast, this cold Korean chicken salad with a toasty sweet mustard dressing is greater than the sum of its parts.

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Chicken Casseroles

Cozy casseroles like chicken pot pie casserole, chicken divan, or French chicken casserole are the perfect weeknight dinner – especially when you’re using leftover chicken.

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Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Store-bought buttery biscuits bake over chicken and veggies in a rich, creamy sauce.

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Cheesy Enchiladas Suizas

Baked in creamy salsa verde sauce and topped with gooey Oaxaca cheese, these chicken enchiladas are unbelievably delicious.

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Chicken Divan

This retro recipe for chicken and broccoli casserole is ultra-comforting.

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Poppy Seed Chicken

This simple, creamy poppy seed casserole is perfect for nights when you just can’t. Use leftover cooked chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or a combination, or shred a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

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French Chicken Casserole

Layer buttery mashed potatoes over French-inspired chicken pot pie filling for the ultimate comfort food.

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Dump Chicken Pot Pie

With a handful of store-bought ingredients, no planning ahead, and one single, solitary casserole dish, you can make a totally cozy dinner at home in no time.

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Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

An easy casserole recipe made from boxed stuffing, canned cream of chicken or mushroom soup, and a bag of frozen veggies.

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Chicken Parmesan Biscuit Bake

This weeknight-friendly chicken Parmesan biscuit bake is held together by two staples — and smart supermarket shortcuts — for an easy meal the whole family will love.

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Easiest-Ever Chicken Enchiladas

In the canon of weeknight dinners, none is more apt at using up leftovers in a way that is flavorful, cozy, and easy than enchiladas. Tender chicken gets dressed up with spicy, piquant enchilada sauce, covered in shredded cheese, then wrapped in tortillas and baked until warm.

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