Too much shredded chicken, now what?

[aussiewonder]

I have an EXCESS - think catering tray's worth - of shredded chicken leftover from a party on Saturday. I just made a double batch of Mexican Chicken Tortilla soup and a Pot Pie with some of it but still have plenty left. Other than chicken soups, any Hounders have other suggestions? I already gave some away to friends but i'm floundering here.
Thanks!

[mcel215]

The Pioneer Woman's Chicken and Spaghetti Casserole, also comes to mind.

[missfunkysoul]

Chicken salad: diced celery, mayo, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, capers, fresh parsley, fresh dill, salt + pepper is my favorite. I could eat a pound of this, with a spoon, from the fridge.

Or throw some in quesadillas, on top of nachos, in a curry....

[lotech]

I agree, missfunkysoul. However, I use lemon juice instead of vinegar and use white pepper and just a dash of Tabasco.

[Caroline1]

If you ever do tea sandwiches, here's one of my originals:

1 cup of shreded chicken
1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp orange marmalade (maximize rinds)
3 tbs pine nuts (toasting optional)
salt

Cut through the shredded chicken enough to ensure there won't be any long threads. Combine chicken, sour cream, marmalade and pine nuts. Stir to combine. Season with salt. Taste and adjust any ingredients you think need adjusting. When using this chicken salad for other purposes, such as stuffing tomatoes or in full sized sandwiches, you can add a little chopped green onion for variety. I use the middle part where it's transitioning from white to green.

With or without the chopped green onion, it also makes an interesting filling for cherry tomatoes for a cocktail party. Garnish as you wish, but sometimes I dip the filled cherry tomatoes face down in more pine nuts. But then, I'm a pine nut freak. And I don't see any reason the recipe wouldn't work with walnuts. You can also replace up to half of the sour cream with mayonnaise if you want more tang.

[momjamin]

I ended up making this recipe last night, since I also had a couple leftover Italian sausages, leftover spaghetti, and some opened red wine. Very nice, especially for a clean-out-the-fridge dish!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[urbnmns]

Great ideas - I'll have to try some. My fave shredded chicken dish is pretty lazy (esp. if you've already done the shredding!) - toss into pasta with equal amounts chicken and shredded salty cheese (e.g. fresh parmesan, or better yet, something like haloumi for the bounce).

[DiveFan]

Try the classic - Tetrazzini! http://life-eos.blogspot.com/2007/10/...

[DeppityDawg]

My suggestion: Moroccan pastilla.
http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Disp...
(There are simpler recipes out there, but this one has lots of photos.)

[rebs]

i made enchiladas with my leftover thankgiving turkey meat and they were delicious, as well as a great way to use up the leftover meat.

i used this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo... but used manchego instead of monterey jack. i also added a square of chocolate to the enchilada sauce. i'm sure subbing chicken for turkey will be just as good.

[Moots]

Man I say keep it simple. A little roasted garlic chicken salad.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Sounds great. Can you provide a few detials?

[kpzoo]

I love Dave Lieberman's Mexican chicken stew recipe - it'd be perfect with leftover shredded chicken:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

[BellaDonna]

I would want to put leftover shredded chicken in something with liquid since it's already been exposed to air and might be a little dried out.

Chicken soup
Chicken enchiladas
Green chile chicken stew

[Homero]

I like to make a "mexican lasagna" with shredded chicken. In a casserole dish layer corn tortillas, then shredded chicken that has been tossed with Salsa Verde (Mexican, not Italian) then a thin layer of crema ( use sour cream as a substitute) and then shredded cheese (asadero or oaxaca if you can find it. Plain shredded Mozzarella works fine.) Repeat till the casserole dish is filled to the top. Takes about 2 to 3 layers. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melty, bubbly and brown around the edges.

[Den]

Why corn tortillas and not flour tortillas?

[Sam Fujisaka]

Flour tortillas could get quite water logged from the salsa and crema. If you make a drier batch, flour might work as well.

[Homero]

What Sam says is correct. For me its just a taste and texture preference. I think flour tortillas would work just fine too.

[Sam Fujisaka]

In a quick curry; in creamed chicken; 30 seconds on heat in teriyaki sauce and served with rice; in empanadas; with ramen; in numerous quick pasta sauces; in enchiladas; in tamales; served as is with hot Asian dipping sauce ...

[kmh]

here here!!!
or iss it hear hear!
either way.

even just toss through some hokkien with beansprouts, spring onions (scallions) soy, sesame... (whatever's in the fridge really)

[Sam Fujisaka]

kmh, yes! Exactly!

[mcel215]

I would definately freeze it in batches.

But, when you do want dishes to try:

Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with biscuits
Ina Garten's Chinese Chicken Salad
Giada's Chicken Tetrazini
Ina's Chicken & Grape Salad

Or just go to www.foodtv.com, and hit the search for chicken recipes.

[danhole]

Vacuum seal and freeze some for future use.

Also quesadillas, chicken salad, soft tacos . . . I wish I had this problem!

[aussiewonder]

Do I need some special 'gizmo' to vacuum seal? I was thinking about freezing it if i made sauces/soups etc...but wasn't sure if i could just freeze the shredded chicken meat before it went into a recipe. i'm only one person, so there's really only so much shredded chicken I can eat in one week!

[danhole]

You could use a special gizmo, but if you just lay it flat and squeeze all the air out if it, when you put it in your freezer bag, that would work as well. I have seen people suck all the air out of the bag with a straw, but I'm just not that coordinated! I use a foodsaver, but when in a hurry I just do the squeeze method.

[tlegray]

I'll put a meals worth in a storage bag and then put several of these bags in a freezer bag taking out the air as mentioned in the above response. I've never had problems when defrosting.

[jnstarla]

Pulled chicken sandwiches - mix with bbq sauce and serve on kaiser buns (or slices of white bread if that's how you roll).

[jfood]

Jfood made his favorite chicken pot pie this weekend with chicken left over from a couple of pots of chicken soup.

Left over chicken
1 onion diced
6 T butter
1/ 3 C flour
2 ½ C chicken broth
1 16oz pkg peas, carrots, corn and beans
Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (One sheet)
Salt & Pepper
Pennzy’s Old World Seasoning

· Begin to defrost the puff pastry. This will take about 40 minutes
· Heat stock in a pot until simmering
· Melt butter in sided 10-12” pan and cooked onions over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
· Add flour and continue to cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until you obtain a blondish color.
· Add simmering stock in several batches to mixture, whisk after each until smooth. Season with ~1teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon Old World Seasoning
· Remove from heat and add chicken, and vegetables. Mix completely.
· Place in Pyrex baking dish
· Place Puff pastry on top of a baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam
· Bake at 350 degrees on two differetn shelves in the oven for 40-45 minutes until pastry is golden brown

[kmh]

Vietnamese spring rolls!!!

san choi bao

thai chicken salad

laksa

(there's a bit of a theme here isn't there?)

[aussiewonder]

u are so clever. I didn't even think of Laksa! Perfect and just in time for the New Year - sort of works :)

[kmh]

I'm glad you like!!!
absolutely works. nonya cuisine for the malay chinese NY!

works well in pho too.

also spring rolls (the fried ones)

on top of a gado gado...

this theme is persisting isn't it?

[The Dairy Queen]

I just posted this recipe for "Smokey Chipotle Chicken and Quinoa" hotdish in another thread. This recipe just won the "hotdish" recipe for St. Paul's winter carnival festival. I modified the "winning" recipe to use only 1 TBSP olive oil instead of 3 and to use fat free cheddar and fat free sour cream (to make it weight watchers friendly), but you can easily unmodify it. We really liked it--even with the modifications I made--and I think it would be fantastic with REAL cheese... And, yeah, you'd want to at least double the recipe I posted...

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/47339...

Good luck.

~TDQ

[Honey Bee]

Bonnie's Buffalo Dip call sfor shredded chicken. I made it for a SB party yesterday and it was well received.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/276045

[momjamin]

Very timely. I had extra shredded chicken left over, which is why I came to this thread. Mine is extra from making buffalo dip (very similar recipe) ;-)