Let me paint an idyllic picture: a warm summer night with fireflies flickering, enjoying a glass of wine on the patio, kids running giddily through the lawn. What’s NOT included? Cooking dinner. Cleaning up dinner. Washing dishes. Scrubbing pans. Putting away dishes.
You get the picture.
One of my favorite solutions to the no-cook-summer-evening vibe that I tend to rock is rotisserie chicken. You can do so much with one delicious, pre-cooked (hallelujah), juicy bird. And there are so many different varieties, depending on what you prefer. Jumbo-sized versus free-range organic versus Cajun seasoned versus low sodium. Whatever your little poultry-loving heart desires, Kroger or Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme or Walmart has got you covered.
And the things you can do with it are almost limitless! Bring it home, carve it up ahead of time, and store it in the fridge, ready to go whenever you are.
Below are just four of my favorite ways to “cook” a Rotisserie-centered summer dinner.
- Caesar salad with roasted chicken – This one is my tried-and-true, lazy girl dinner. One bag of pre-washed Caesar salad kit, two chicken breasts sliced and carved from my handy rotisserie chicken, and some sliced fruit on the side. Voila! Easy, healthy dinner with extremely little effort on my part. Carving a chicken can be tricky (thank goodness for YouTube tutorials), but getting the breast meat off is hands-down the easiest part.
- Chicken tacos – Again, super easy (sensing a theme?). One Kroger run for soft tortillas, a jar of salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, a head of lettuce, and, of course, a rotisserie chicken yields a filling and hearty dinner. Remove and shred the chicken, mix it with the salsa and two tablespoons of sour cream, and microwave that mixture. Top a tortilla with the chicken mixture, shredded cheese, and lettuce, and enjoy! I do tons of different spins on this. Sometimes I’ll shred the chicken and mix with salsa and cheese, roll up into tortillas, top with enchilada sauce and bake (but then there’s a casserole dish to scrub). Sometimes I make a taco salad with it. Regardless, try using your chicken for a Mexican-inspired dish and get creative.
- Pasta with veggies and chicken – This is a one-pan dish that always makes my family ask for seconds. I use my heavy, enameled ceramic pan to boil pasta al-dente. I strain the pasta and set aside. In the same pan, I sauté some veggies, literally whatever I have on hand with some garlic (pre-diced, stored in the fridge makes this even easier) and carved rotisserie chicken. Broccoli and brussels sprouts or squash and mushrooms or tomatoes and spinach. I throw the pasta back in, add some more olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe red pepper flakes if I’m feeling fiesty, and top with parmesan cheese. The best part of this dinner? One pan. And maybe a cutting board. But that’s it. Eat it in a big bowl while you sit on the porch and enjoy a summer sunset.
- Chicken and brown rice power bowl – This is one of my favorite, protein and healthy-fat packed ways to use up a rotisserie chicken, and, again, requires very little actual cooking. Slice up an avocado, red onion, and about a cup of cherry tomatoes. Grab a bag of frozen, microwaveable brown rice and “cook” it (bless you, microwave). Mix the brown rice with chopped lettuce, spinach, or kale. Top the mixture with the sliced veggies and chicken, and then drizzle the whole thing with ranch dressing and buffalo sauce. There are a ton of different varieties you can do with this, too. Don’t like spicy? Fine. Swap out the avocado, buffalo sauce and ranch with feta cheese, kalamata olives, and greek dressing.
Do you have a favorite way to jazz up store-bought rotisserie chicken? Leave ideas in the comments!
