Leftovers

4 Chicken Dinners You Can Turn into Lunch

March  8, 2016

Eating leftovers shouldn't have to be a chore, but meals can be less-than-appealing when you've had the same reheated dish three days running. Enter chicken, the leftover superhero. It's a blank slate that pairs well with any and all flavors and gracefully transitions from main event to salad-topper to sandwich. Through all that, it still manages to taste like, well, chicken.

Photo by James Ransom

Here are four chicken dinners that double as tomorrow's lunch:

1. Roast Chicken

For lunch: Use your roast chicken on top of salads (the mayonnaise kind and other, leafier, varieties), tacos, and lettuce wraps.

2. Breaded Chicken

For lunch: All the best sandwiches start with breaded chicken. Try it with caponata and pesto, black beans, jalapeños, and avocado, or in a classic Parmesan sub (you can have those meatballs another time!).

3. Grilled Chicken

For lunch: Sandwich your grilled chicken between a crusty roll and an out-of-this-world Green Goddess dressing, shred it with cold noodles and crunchy vegetables for spicy salad, and slice it to crown a Caesar salad that won't compare to your corner store's grab-and-go version.

4. Chicken Kebabs

For lunch: Stuff a pita with your chicken (we still love you, koftas) and Tzatziki sauce, or pile your bite-sized chicken pieces over a Mediterranean vegetable or grain bowl. Don't forget hummus!

What are your favorite ways to repurpose your chicken dinners? Enlighten us in the comments!

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Annie Crabill

Written by: Annie Crabill

1 Comment

dymnyno March 8, 2016
What timing! I just posted my favorite chicken salad with dried cherries and apricots. Instead of roasting chicken breasts for the recipe, you can use left over chicken and reinvent the bird!