Yes, I’ve had plenty of these nights where dinner needs to come together in 30 minutes. Maybe it’s after sports or a long work day.
Rotisserie chicken to the rescue, with several different ideas here.
1) Chicken Tortilla Soup
Yes, absolutely. So you can take the rotisserie chicken, and it really will go with any meal. If you have a can of tomatoes, some broth, some cumin, maybe some salsa, perfect.
I’ll always add some avocados, some cilantro, maybe some sour cream on top, and maybe some tortilla chips. And then just put that rotisserie chicken in and boom. You’re ready to go with chicken tortilla soup.
2) Chicken Caesar Wraps
Oh yes. This is a repeat in our house. You just get the bag of the chicken Caesar mix at the grocery store, come home, open up all the bags, mix it all together, and add that rotisserie chicken on top. It’s a favorite for us. We like to serve it with some garlic bread on the side, if you like that.
Such a great meal. In a pinch, you’re still getting your protein, and you’re still getting all of your fiber and plenty of greens from that salad.
3) BBQ Chicken Flatbreads
So, so cute. Kind of think mini pizzas, right? You can get some naan or some flatbread and spread some barbecue sauce on top, and then you can add the shredded rotisserie chicken. You could do some red onions and some mozzarella, and then you’re going to bake this all together. It’s gonna be so good.
And you could top it off with some cilantro or some pickled jalapeños if you like a little spice. So yummy.
4) Chicken and Rice
Keeping it simple, right? So just grab some of that rotisserie chicken right off the chicken there, plop it on your plate, and maybe make some rice in the rice cooker. You could also do some quinoa if you like quinoa. I love quinoa.
If you want to jazz it up, you can mix in some scallions, some ginger, some salt. You could do some spice if you like spice, and serve the chicken over the rice all together with, of course, I’m gonna say some veggies. You know I’m gonna say some veggies because I’m the dietitian. So maybe some carrots or green beans or broccoli, whatever veggies you have handy, or maybe it’s a salad. Whatever you have handy, add something.
And there’s nothing special about veggies, right? If you have an apple and you’re like, I don’t have any veggies right now, but I need to make a complete meal, slice up the apple. It’s totally fine. It’s gonna give you lots of nutrients and fiber. Don’t beat yourself up about not having veggies. Fruit’s fine too.
5) Chicken Pesto Pasta
Oh yes, a favorite for us. We find immense joy in choosing which shape of pasta we’re having, so we usually have about five different shapes in our pantry. Choose the shape that sounds like it’s going with your vibe for today. Cooking your pasta usually takes about 10 minutes.
Then strain it and add in some pesto. I like Costco’s pesto, but you do you. Find the pesto that you like. You can also make it from home if you’re fancy like that. And then shred up your rotisserie chicken and add that in. You could add some cherry tomatoes with that if you’d like a little bit more color. Super good.
If you want to keep it low carb, you could do zoodles, zucchini noodles, instead of the traditional pasta if you’d like. Also super yummy. And you get that protein from the rotisserie chicken. Super good.
6) White Bean Chicken Chili
Super good, right? You’re going to get those delicious beans in there. You can use white beans if you’d like, and that’s going to give you plenty of fiber. Super good for you. With some broth and some green chilies, you’re going to add some chicken. You could have some cilantro, some lime, and you could serve this with tortilla chips if you’d like.
Some people like to put a little cheese or parsley or some sour cream on top of this chili if you’d like. Super good. For me, chili goes well with cornbread, so you could also make some cornbread. It’s really easy to make, especially if you get the box kit.
7) Chicken Quesadillas
Oh yes, we had this yesterday. So find whatever tortillas you like. I like the raw ones from Costco. Less ingredients. You just lightly warm them on each side till they turn color, and you know they’re ready. Then you’re going to take your favorite cheese. Maybe you have some shredded Mexican cheese or some cheddar, that’s fine. And then you can put the rotisserie chicken right down on top of the tortilla with the cheese.
You can add, of course, some veggies or some fruits if you’d like. You could do some chopped up tomatoes. A lot of times I’ll shred up carrots with a little veggie peeler or even the grater to add a little bit more veggies in there, especially if this is for a kid and you’re trying to get a little veggies in. Or you could serve some salsa or some guacamole on the side. You can make your own salsa or guacamole, it’s super easy to make too.
And I’m going to want some cilantro because I love cilantro. But you do you. And you could serve some beans on the side, or put some beans inside if you’d like a little extra fiber.
8) Greek Chicken Pitas
Oh, I love anything Greek. So you can grab pita bread if you’d like, and then you can slice those up or you can stuff the pita. Did you know you can open the pita and stuff it inside? You can.
So you can use a rotisserie chicken and some cucumbers and some tomatoes and some feta cheese. Super good. It’s going to all come together, and you can serve it all inside the warm pita. Delish.
9) Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes
So you can take the rotisserie chicken for this meal and serve that with some sweet potatoes. I don’t know about you, but I love sweet potatoes. And if you don’t love them, I question, have you tried them the way I’m going to tell you?
So what I do is I like to dice up my sweet potatoes. You don’t have to peel them. Dice up your sweet potatoes, add some avocado oil, and put them in a cast iron skillet. And then you’re going to add some chopped up fresh rosemary, oregano, and thyme, if you have it, and put that all in there. Stir it up so everything gets all coated, and bake those in the oven. Those sweet potatoes are like candy. They’re so good. Super delicious.
You can have this be your veggie. You could also serve it with something green if you like, because why not? Super good all together.
10) Chicken Fried Rice
Super easy, especially since the chicken’s already done with the rotisserie chicken. For my fried rice, I like to heat up a skillet, put a little oil down, and maybe put some ginger, some green onions, and some frozen peas in there. Then scramble up an egg, put that down, and stir it around until it cooks.
And then it’s best if you use some day old white rice. Throw that in there, and then top it off with some chicken. There you go.
11) Chicken Enchilada Skillet
Oh yes, I love enchiladas, but the rolling, for me, is really hard, and it’s hard to separate the enchiladas in the end. So if you just chop up the corn tortillas into one inch squares, it’s even easier.
Of course you’re gonna need some enchilada sauce, your rotisserie chicken, and some cheese. Put that all in. I like to add some black olives to mine, and you can do that if you like. Of course, some sour cream on top after it’s cooked. You could put a little cilantro on too if you like. Super good.
12) Chicken Ramen
Oh, there are so many things you could do with ramen, as I learned in my broke college days. So yeah, you could take some ramen. They make some fancier, nicer ramen than Top Ramen these days, so you could use one of those. My favorite is tonkotsu from Costco, but there are a lot of options out there, right?
So you can cook it according to the instructions and then add some chicken on top. Of course, I’m gonna wanna add a hard or soft boiled egg on top, sliced in half. Super good. I would add some veggies, so you could do some bamboo shoots or spinach or mushrooms, corn if you like, and voila, super delicious.
13) Chicken Pot Pie
Oh yes, I made chicken pot pie this week. Super good, and even faster if you are using rotisserie chicken, because it’s already flavorful and it’s already cooked. For my chicken pot pie, I’m gonna be using some celery, carrots, and onion, sautéing those with some oil.
You could dice up potatoes, but I like to do mashed potatoes in my pot pie. It makes it a little creamy. Add that together with some chicken broth and then add that chicken in, stirring it all up until it’s nice and cooked and flavorful. Then add that to a pie crust on the bottom with a pie crust on top, and cook that in the oven. Super good. It’s a crowd pleaser in my home.
14) Chicken Salad
Super easy. So take the rotisserie chicken and just chop it up with whatever veggies you have. You could use some celery, some tomatoes. You could add some nuts if you like, like pecans, or some grapes. Yes, some chopped up grapes. You could do some dried cranberries if you like.
You could add mayo or Greek yogurt to this because you’re gonna need some moisture in there. Super good. You can eat this with bread, like as a sandwich, or a croissant would be my favorite way to have it. Or you can eat it just as is, a high protein meal.
15) Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Yes, super good. So you’re gonna get your Alfredo noodles and cook them according to the instructions, and then get a jar or a tub of Alfredo sauce. Then you’re going to add some Parmesan cheese on top.
Then I’m probably gonna steam some broccoli, and I might even do some carrots too, and then add that all together. So you have your fettuccine noodles, your Alfredo sauce, and your broccoli. Super delicious.
16) Chicken Tacos
Yes, I love taco night, and it’s even easier when the chicken is already cooked and ready to go. So you’re gonna grab your tortillas, whether they’re corn or flour or hard. Great, wonderful. Chop up that chicken into nice little bite size pieces.
And you can go in whatever direction you wanna go for these tacos. You can do the traditional lettuce and tomatoes if you’d like, or you could do pineapple, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, whatever direction you wanna take these tacos. Super good, and a great use of that rotisserie chicken.
17) Chicken Stuffed Shells
So you’re gonna get these big pasta shells. You’ve maybe seen them in the pasta aisle and not known what to do with them. You just cook them a little bit so they’re softer, and then you make your mix to go inside. You can use ricotta or cottage cheese, you could chop up spinach, and then shred up your chicken and stuff that inside.
You’re going to take a casserole dish and put a little marinara or pasta sauce down in that. Put the shells in open side up, put some marinara on top, and then top it off with a little bit of mozzarella. Delish.
18) Chicken Cobb Salad
Oh yes, what a great use of a rotisserie chicken. You’re just gonna need some romaine, and you could do some bacon, some chopped up hard boiled egg, avocado, tomato, and blue cheese if you like it.
You could also use some blue cheese dressing or a vinaigrette dressing, and then you’re just gonna put that chicken right on top. And that’s it.
19) Chicken Pho Bowls
Yeah, pho is so good. It’s a Vietnamese soup, super good, especially on a cold day or if you feel like you’re getting sick. You can get some broth, some ginger, some fish sauce. I’m sure you can also buy a pho kit at the grocery store if that’s a little easier for you. And then just put some chicken right on top.
20) Chicken and Basil Mozzarella
So you can take your chicken and combine it with the basil and mozzarella, maybe some tomatoes if you’d like, and that’s basically it. You could add some olive oil and some balsamic glaze if you like. Super easy meal. You could serve it with some sort of carb if you want a carb with this one as well.
21) Chicken and Dumplings
Right? Such a good meal. Everyone likes chicken and dumplings, and it’s even easier if you use a rotisserie chicken, because you don’t have to spend time cooking the chicken.
So such a good meal. It has lots of veggies in there with your carrots and your celery. Of course, you’ve got the protein, and then you put the biscuits on top to complete your meal.
22) Chicken Nachos
Right? This is something I feel like you can throw together at the last second. So just get some tortilla chips and put those down on a cookie sheet, with lots of cheese, chicken, and your favorite beans. If you like it spicy, you could put some jalapeños on top. Then bake that for a little bit till all the cheese melts and everything kind of comes together.
You can top it off with some sour cream, salsa, avocado, cilantro, diced onions if you like, and diced tomatoes. Super good.
23) Chicken and Mushroom Toast
So it’s really just as easy as that. You can get some butter and some garlic, which is gonna add a lot of flavor to your mushrooms, and kind of sauté those. And then that’s it. Add the mushrooms and the chicken on top of your favorite toast. I’d probably do a sourdough toast, but you could do whatever sort of toast you prefer.
And then you could serve it with some greens if you’d like to add a little bit of color to this. I always like to add color to my meals. You could do some arugula and spinach.
24) Chicken Shawarma Bowls
I love chicken shawarma, it’s my favorite. You can use rotisserie chicken and then just add the shawarma seasoning. I typically just buy the chicken shawarma because it’s even easier. You can get it at Trader Joe’s and then just take it home and cook it. But if you’re using rotisserie chicken, it’s still just as good.
And you could add some cucumber and tomatoes with this. I like hummus, maybe some feta cheese, some garbanzo beans. You could eat this with some sort of naan or flatbread or some pita bread. Super good.
25) Chicken Corn Chowder
Corn chowder is a super good, sweet soup, and you can add some potatoes to that for your carb and some paprika for seasoning. And you can add the chicken right in there, completing this balanced meal.
26) Chicken Pizza Muffins
So cute. I did this all the time growing up. You can take your English muffins and really go to town with whatever ingredients you want on top. You could do marinara or barbecue sauce, and then put the chicken and the cheese there, and then any extra toppings that you wanna put on top of your pizza. Super good. You can cook this right there in the toaster oven if you like.
27) Chicken Pad Thai
Yes, so you could totally make pad thai as you normally would at home. Super flavorful noodles. And of course, if you make it from home, you’re gonna need a lot of different ingredients that you might not already have at home, like some fish sauce and some soy sauce. You could add a scrambled egg to this if you’d like, and some peanuts, and just adding the chicken on top makes it even easier.
28) Chicken Grain Bowl
So the grain I would probably use is quinoa, because it’s gonna give you some fiber and some protein. You could use farro, you could use any type of grain. And you could put some roasted vegetables on top and then add your chicken. You could do some lemon garlic on top for a little more seasoning and flavor. Super good.
29) Chicken Biscuit Sandwiches
So you can take some warm biscuits, maybe you make them from the can, and then slice them open and add some rotisserie chicken. You can add a fried egg in there, or you could put some honey or some jam in there as well if you’d like. It’s such a different and fun meal, adding whatever flavor you want to your chicken and your biscuit.
Of course, I would serve it with some sort of fruit or veggies on the side for extra fiber and color.
