6 Ways to Use Pre-Cooked Chicken

One of my absolute favorite cooking short cuts is using pre-cooked chicken to make delicious gourmet meals.  Using pre-cooked chicken is a great way to save time without sacrificing the quality or flavor of the dish.  Below I have included six different recipes, which demonstrate how versatile pre-cooked chicken can be.

1) Chicken Curry

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of: The Domestic Front 

I like that this recipe requires very few ingredients and all things that most of us already have in our kitchen such as, butter, onion, garlic, chicken broth and milk. I thought it was interesting that this recipe incorporates apple into the curry, which I would definitely be curious to try. 

2) BBQ Chicken Salad

This was a recipe I came up with. I had leftover BBQ sauce, which I decided to use with Trader Joe's pre-cooked "just chicken".  The chicken is cubed, which was perfect for this salad. I heated up the pre-cooked chicken and coated with the barbecue sauce. I used romaine lettuce, avocado, corn and shredded Mexican cheese blend and added the BBQ chicken and the end result was a delicious salad. 

3) Chicken Enchiladas

Photo & Recipe courtesy of: Leaving The Rut

I was first introduced to the concept of making enchiladas with pre-cooked chicken back in college when my friend Anna and I had a cooking night. This is a different recipe than we used, but its basically same concept and consists of: tortillas, rotisserie chicken, enchilada sauce and shredded cheese. This recipe says to spread a little cream cheese into the tortillas before adding the chicken filling, which was pretty much the only difference from the chicken enchiladas I have made in the past.

4) Chicken & Shrimp Paella

Photo & recipe courtesy of: eRecipeCards

Paella is always a crowd pleaser so try this easy recipe for a special weeknight dinner.  This would also be nice to serve if you are having guests over for dinner. 

5) Vietnamese Style Chicken Noodle Soup

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Eat at Home 

Chicken noodle soup is another great use for pre-cooked chicken. I like that this soup has an Asian spin and incorporates green onions, soy sauce and hot sauce. 

6) Chicken, Spinach and Cannellini Bean Quesadillas

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Other Side of Fifty 

This quesadilla recipe sounds incredible.  I always love the combination of spinach and cheese. Add some cannellini beans and pre-cooked chicken and you have a delicious quesadilla filing. This would be nice served along with a bowl of black bean soup.