Hot take: I thought I could stretch a single chicken for a week of dinners

I got a whole chicken on sale for $5 at the Food Lion in my town, and I figured I could make it last for five different meals. The problem was, after I roasted it and made soup with the carcass, I only got three decent meals before it was just scraps, and that whole process took me like three hours of active work. I mean, maybe it's just me, but does anyone have a better system for truly maximizing a cheap protein like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_clark1mo ago

Man, I saw a thing online about this exact problem. It was a video where this person didn't just make soup with the bones, they boiled the heck out of them for hours to make a super strong broth, then used that as a base for a rice dish. Like, cook the rice right in that chicken broth so it soaks up all the flavor and stretches further. @taraross, I also make a mess cutting raw chicken, so now I roast it whole first, it's less slippery. Then I pull all the meat off and divide it into little bags before I even start cooking meals. That way I can see exactly how much I have for a casserole, tacos, and maybe to throw on a salad. The key is planning the meals before you even touch the chicken.

the_susan1mo ago

Right? The "picked-over skeleton" is the worst part. You gotta go full grandma mode. Boil that carcass until it falls apart, then pick every last bit of tendon and gristle. Mix those tiny scraps with a ton of rice, beans, and cheap veggies. It's not glamorous but it's another full meal.

taraross1mo ago

Ugh, I feel this so hard. My grandma could make a chicken feed an army for a week, but when I try it, I'm just left staring at a sad, picked-over skeleton after two days. I tried that thing where you cut it up raw to get more parts, but I just made a huge mess and got chicken juice everywhere. Honestly, sometimes the cheap rotisserie chicken feels like less hassle, even if it costs a bit more.