20 One Dish Dinners to Make With Leftover Rotisserie Chicken - unOriginal Mom (2024)

FAQs

What are the negatives of rotisserie chicken? ›

While it's generally considered healthy, it also comes with significant drawbacks—including high sodium content and some questionable additives.

The sodium content of a rotisserie chicken can vary significantly depending on the preparation. Some chickens may be brined or soaked in a saline (salt) solution before cooking to make them juicier. Others may use a rub or seasoning that contains a lot of salt on both the skin and the innards of the bird.

I turned Costco's $5 rotisserie chicken into five easy meals for two people. I like using the chicken to make quesadillas, burrito bowls, and pasta dishes. The chicken is also good to add to baked potatoes and the bones can be used to make a tasty broth.

Even with additives, a rotisserie chicken is a far healthier choice than a fast food run, says Allers. “It's still lower in fat and calories than fast food. It's serving its purpose – it's fast, but it can still help you create a balanced meal.

Salt is a mineral we all need, but in excess it can cause problems for people with high blood pressure who have to watch their sodium. It's a prominent ingredient in nearly every store-bought rotisserie chicken. “Salt provides flavors and it's also a critical component to the flavor of food products,” said Dr.

Rotisserie chicken is much lower in calories due to being oven-roasted.

Although rotisserie chicken makes a convenient, high-protein meal, it can also make you sick. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), bacteria in food can multiply rapidly when it's left in the "danger zone," an environment between 40- and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

The bottom line

If your chicken is slimy, has a foul smell, or has changed to a yellow, green, or gray color, these are signs that your chicken has gone bad.

If you didn't already know, since 1997, the European Union and the United Kingdom banned the importation of U.S. chickens. The issue? The standard practice in the U.S. poultry industry is to wash the carcasses in chlorinated water to kill bacteria.

No matter how many remain unsold, Costco doesn't typically throw away any of its whole, fully-cooked, perfectly edible but not-quite-ideal chickens. Publicly committed to cutting down on food waste chain-wide, Costco uses unwanted but still edible materials as a starting point for other ready-to-eat food items.

Can I eat rotisserie chicken everyday? ›

"Eating chicken every day as your sole protein source could result in some nutrient gaps," says Burgess. "For example, since skinless chicken breast contains very little fat, consuming it every day may lead to a lack of essential fats in your diet."

Cooked chicken, can be left out for two hours at the most unless it's kept warm—above 140°F. Any cooked chicken left at room temperature for more than two hours should probably be thrown out. This includes rotisserie chicken.

Roasted chicken is a healthy choice, especially compared to fried chicken. The rotisserie method drains the fat, while fried chicken absorbs it. To make rotisserie chicken even healthier, remove the skin and stick to white meat.

Information. Chemical changes occur during cooking. Oven gases in a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give it a pink tinge. Often meat of younger birds shows the most pink because their thinner skins permit oven gases to reach the flesh.

Sorry to Tominsky, but she suggests not eating the entire rotisserie chicken solo. "Ideally, we are eating the chicken with some non-starchy veggies (think: broccoli, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, etc.) and a little bit of slow, fiber-filled carbohydrates (like roasted potatoes or quinoa)," she explains.

Rotisserie chickens are full chickens cooked over a direct heat source like an oven, fire or campfire. Unlike crispy chicken or other types of meat, rotisserie chicken is healthy and low in fat, especially when you eat the white meat. Plus, these chickens can serve an entire family for relatively cheap.