4. Orange Chicken
- This is a fun dish that I just added to my family’s meal list. I save time by starting with leftover chicken. Prepare sauce by combining the following ingredients in a small saucepan: 1/2 cup orange juice, ¼ cup sugar, 1 TBSP vinegar, 1 TBSP soy sauce, ¼ tsp fresh minced garlic, ¼ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp red chili flakes, 1/2 tsp cornstarch. Mix thoroughly and continue to stir until the sauce bubbles and begins to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Start a pan of rice cooking on the stove top.
- Then, toss bite size pieces (or even bite size clumps) of chicken into an egg wash and then coat in cornstarch or flour. Fry in batches in a deep pan with about 1 inch of oil or lard in the bottom. When chicken bites are golden brown, place chicken pieces on a paper towel and allow excess oil to drip off. Then toss chicken with the orange sauce. Reserving some sauce to spoon over rice if you wish. Green onion makes a nice relish!
Chicken salad is so versatile. Serve it on a bun, a croissant, a bagel, plain ‘ol bread, wrap it up in lettuce or eat it with a spoon. Anyway, you serve it, chicken salad is a simple make ahead main dish that’s perfect for summer. For a classic chicken salad, grab your favorite mayo, a stalk of celery, a small red onion and mustard, salt and pepper to taste.
Shred the chicken and finely chop the celery and red onion. Mix cold chicken and veggies with mayo, salt, pepper, and mustard. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days.
6. Creamed Chicken on Biscuits
- This simple comfort food is hygglig on a cold winter night! In a hot skillet, combine 2 cups roughly chopped leftover chicken, 1.5 cups whole milk, ¼ cup flour, and 3/4 cup chicken broth. To avoid lumps, reserve ½ cup milk and stir the flour into it before adding to the pan. Stir gently until the gravy begins to bubble and thicken. Add salt & pepper to taste as well as ½ cup mushrooms or peas or both! Continue to simmer until the peas and mushrooms are heated through.
- My family loves this satisfying chicken gravy served over biscuits or mashed potatoes. It is also delicious over toast, buttered noodles, or rice.
I hope you and your family enjoy these recipes! Leave me a comment to tell me which recipe was your favorite or to share YOUR favorite chicken dish!
Also, click below to snag my new cookbook, 3 Meals from 1 Chicken! I created this cookbook specifically to help you make the most of each chicken. The cookbook even includes a bonus chicken broth recipe - just in time for cooler fall weather!