Leftover Chicken Recipes: The Complete Guide to Using Up Roast Chicken

A roast chicken rarely gets eaten in a single sitting, and the leftover meat left on the carcass afterward is one of the most useful things in a British kitchen: already cooked, already seasoned by the roasting itself, and ready to turn into a completely different meal with very little extra work.

Why leftover roast chicken works so well in other dishes

Chicken that's already been roasted has a depth of flavour that plain poached or pan-fried chicken doesn't have — the skin, the roasting juices, the slight char at the edges all carry through into whatever it's used in next. It's also already cooked, meaning most leftover-chicken recipes come together in a fraction of the time of a dish starting from raw meat, since the only job left is heating it through and building flavour around it, not cooking it from scratch.

The anchor recipe: leftover chicken pie

Of all the ways to use leftover roast chicken, a pie remains the most satisfying and the most complete use of a genuinely large amount of meat at once.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 400-500g leftover roast chicken, shredded or diced
• 50g butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 50g plain flour
• 400ml chicken stock (leftover roasting juices, diluted, work brilliantly here)
• 100ml milk or single cream
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 100g frozen peas
• 500g puff or shortcrust pastry
• 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
• Salt and black pepper

Method

Melt the butter and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 8-10 minutes until softened. Stir in the flour, cook for 1-2 minutes, then gradually add the stock, stirring to avoid lumps, and simmer until thickened. Stir in the milk or cream and mustard, fold in the leftover chicken and peas, and season well. Cool slightly, transfer to a pie dish, top with pastry, brush with beaten egg, and bake at 200°C (180°C fan) for 25-30 minutes until golden.

More ways to use leftover roast chicken

Chicken and sweetcorn soup

Simmer the chicken carcass itself in water with an onion, carrot and bay leaf for an hour to make a quick stock, then strain and use it as the base for a soup with shredded leftover meat, sweetcorn, and a splash of cream — a genuinely good way to use both the meat and the bones from the same roast.

Chicken fried rice

Shredded leftover chicken, cold cooked rice, a scrambled egg, frozen peas and a splash of soy sauce, all tossed together in a hot wok or large frying pan, make one of the fastest possible leftover-chicken dinners — ready in under 15 minutes.

Chicken and chorizo risotto

The smoky depth of chorizo pairs particularly well with the mellow flavour of leftover roast chicken; stir shredded chicken through a risotto in the final few minutes of cooking, just to heat it through without overcooking it further.

Chicken sandwiches and wraps

The simplest option of all: leftover chicken, a good mayonnaise (perhaps mixed with a little curry powder or mustard), and whatever salad is in the fridge, in a sandwich or wrap — genuinely underrated as a way to stretch a roast across an extra lunch or two.

Chicken curry

A quick curry sauce (onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder or paste, tinned tomatoes, a splash of coconut milk) simmered for 15-20 minutes, with the shredded leftover chicken stirred in for just the final few minutes to heat through, makes a genuinely different-tasting meal from the same roast.

Leftover Chicken Pie

The best way to use up a large amount of leftover roast chicken in one satisfying pie.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings: 5 servings

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 450 g leftover roast chicken shredded or diced
• 50 g butter
• 1 onion diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 celery sticks diced
• 50 g plain flour
• 400 ml chicken stock leftover roasting juices, diluted, work well
• 100 ml milk or single cream
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 100 g frozen peas
• 500 g puff or shortcrust pastry
• 1 egg beaten, for glazing

Method

 

1. Melt the butter and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 8-10 minutes. Stir in the flour, cook 1-2 minutes, then gradually add the stock.
2. Simmer until thickened, stir in the milk and mustard, fold in the chicken and peas, season well.
3. Cool slightly, transfer to a pie dish, top with pastry, brush with egg, cut a vent.
4. Bake at 200°C (180°C fan) for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Troubleshooting: why does reheated leftover chicken sometimes taste dry?

This usually comes down to overheating it for too long, or heating it without any added moisture — chicken has already lost some moisture once during the initial roast, so a second long blast of dry heat dries it out further. Adding it to a sauce, soup or risotto (as in most of the recipes above) rather than reheating it plain solves this almost entirely, since the surrounding liquid keeps it moist.

Food safety with leftover chicken

Cooked chicken should be cooled and refrigerated within two hours of roasting, kept in the fridge for no more than 3-4 days, and reheated until steaming hot all the way through before eating — chicken is only really suited to being reheated once, so plan which leftover recipe you're making rather than reheating and re-storing it repeatedly.

Storing and freezing

Leftover roast chicken freezes well for up to 3 months, either as shredded meat alone or already incorporated into a finished dish like a pie filling or curry — thaw fully in the fridge overnight before reheating thoroughly.

For more background, see the Sunday roast tradition on Wikipedia. If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like our classic honey chicken recipe.

Frequently asked questions

How long does leftover roast chicken keep in the fridge?

Up to 3-4 days, stored covered in the fridge, and it should be reheated until steaming hot throughout before eating, or used cold in something like a sandwich.

Can I use the chicken carcass to make stock even after the meat has been picked off?

Yes — the bones themselves, along with any remaining scraps of meat and skin, still make a genuinely flavourful stock when simmered with vegetables and water for an hour or more.

Which leftover chicken recipe is quickest for a weeknight?

Chicken fried rice is the fastest of the options here, coming together in well under 15 minutes since almost everything involved is already cooked.

A leftover roast chicken is less a single ingredient and more a starting point for several completely different meals — the real skill isn't in any one recipe, but in recognising how much mileage a single Sunday roast can genuinely provide.