30 Ideas for Turning Leftover Chicken into Dinner

Anytime you find yourself with leftover chicken, consider it a blessing. You can certainly go for a second round of last night’s dinner, but the wonderful thing about this mild-mannered meat 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 leftover from a rotisserie chicken. It also doesn’t matter how you cooked it the first time around. All it takes is a little inspiration.

If you have a whole lot of leftovers, great. But even if all you’ve got is a scant cup of leftover chicken, you’ve still got a lot of options. We’ve got plenty of ideas that will help you stretch your leftover chicken into a brand new meal. Here are 30 leftover chicken recipes to try tonight.

After chicken is cooked, it should sit out at room temperature no more than two hours before being refrigerated to slow down bacteria growth. Leftover chicken should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you think you won’t use it within three or four days, you can also freeze it to use at a later date.

Skip takeout and make a homemade version of your favorite order at home in a flash. Just stir the chicken in with the veggies to warm it.

Get a recipe: Chicken Curry in a Hurry

A warm dip can absolutely become dinner when you fill it with chicken and serve it with lots of veggies (and chips, too, of course).

Get a recipe: White Chicken Chili Skillet Dip

This might be the ultimate simple-yet-satisfying dinner. Repurpose leftovers while enjoying one of those potatoes you baked during your weekend meal prep session.

Get a recipe: Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Whether you prefer the classic creamy version or opt for herby or tangy, you can never go wrong with chicken salad.

Get a recipe: Yogurt & Dill Chicken Salad

The beauty of grain bowls is that anything goes! Pick your favorite grain, a protein (looking at you, leftover chicken), a mess of cooked and/or raw veggies, and a sauce, and you’ve got a meal.

Get a recipe: Greek Chicken Grain Bowls

Since the chicken is already cooked, it just needs to be reheated, so wait to toss it into the wok until the last minute or two of cooking.

Get a recipe: Honey-Garlic Chicken Stir-Fry

Leftover chicken is the start to the easiest taco Tuesday. Shred the meat and pile it into warm tortillas, or give the meat even more flavor by simmering it with some of your favorite salsa. You can also bulk up the tacos with beans or slaw.

Get a recipe: Rotisserie Chicken Tacos

Whether you stuff all the ingredients in a tortilla or pile them in a bowl, a bit of leftover chicken is just the thing to give your burrito a little more substance.

Get a recipe: Easy Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowls

Some chopped or shredded chicken instantly moves nachos firmly into dinner territory. This is a perfect opportunity to use up that last bit of leftover chicken, no matter how much you have!

Get a recipe: Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

This is my favorite reason to hang on to leftover chicken when there’s just a few bites or the tiniest of pieces remaining. Grab a couple of tortillas and some cheese, and that tiny bit of chicken is suddenly a meal.

Get a recipe: Cilantro-Lime Chicken Quesadillas

If you don’t love leftovers, a casserole is such a great solution for repurposing chicken into a totally different meal. This works well with chicken that wasn’t cooked with a marinade or sauce. Expect most casserole recipes to call for about two to three cups of cooked chicken.

Get a recipe: BBQ Chicken Casserole

Whether you lean towards white chili, beef chili, or one packed with beans and lentils, there’s always a place for chicken in the pot. Since it’s already cooked, stir it into the pot in the last few minutes of cooking to prevent it from drying out.

Get a recipe: Weeknight White Chicken Chili

It might not be traditional, but it certainly is delicious! Shred or cut up the leftover chicken into small pieces, mix it with the ricotta, and cook according to your favorite stuffed shell recipe.

Get a recipe: Easiest Stuffed Shells

Leftover chicken (along with your cast iron and some frozen pie crust) is the key to a creamy, comforting pot pie that’s easy enough to pull off on a weeknight.

Get a recipe: Easy Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Starting with cooked leftover chicken lets any skillet dinner come together in a fraction of the time. The example below (one of my favorites!) calls for chicken sausage, but you can swap it for whatever kind of chicken you have in the fridge. Make it easier still by using frozen broccoli in place of Broccolini.

Get a recipe: Broccolini, Chicken Sausage, and Orzo Skillet

On its own a leafy green salad isn’t always super filling, but toss in a few pieces of chicken and it’s a totally different story. Any type of chicken, regardless of how it was prepared, is fair game here.

Get a recipe: Honey Mustard Chicken Tender Salad

Turning chicken into a saucy ragù brings life to leftovers. Spoon it over pasta, rice, polenta, or gnocchi.

Get a recipe: Chicken Ragù with Bacon

Whether you’re starting with the instant stuff or making it from scratch, you won’t regret bulking up your noodle soup with some chicken.

Get inspired: 10 Quick Hacks to Upgrade Instant Ramen

Most recipes for lettuce wraps start with ground meat, but you can easily use leftover chicken as an alternative. Chop it into small pieces, then mix with the condiments, sauces, and add-ins in the recipe.

Get a recipe: How To Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Your slow cooker is used mainly as a warming device and to help the flavor of the shredded chicken and tangy sauce.

Get a recipe: Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Starting with leftovers makes this an easy no-cook dinner. All that’s left to do is prep the veggies and stir together the sauce.

The beauty of frittatas is that anything goes. Any veggies, herbs, meat and cheese you have in the fridge are all fair game, and that includes chicken, too. This versatile egg dish is a great way to stretch just a tiny bit of leftover chicken into a full meal.

Get the recipe: Frittata