These super easy leftover chicken recipes are perfect for lunch or dinner, absolutely delicious, kid-friendly and pretty healthy too!
With a few magic tricks, you can turn that cooked leftover chicken into a tasty soup, salad, spicy chicken wraps or even pasta! Something your family will love. You’ll need between 10-30 minutes to do so. Not a ton of cleanup either.
You can make the meals on this list using rotisserie, roast or leftover shredded chicken, thighs or breast – any kind of cooked meat. When you give them a try, you’ll want to make them again and again and again for a quick and easy lunch or dinner.
Easy Leftover Chicken Recipes
Chicken recipes like these are the very reason I love having some rotisserie chicken at home. Last year, we went through a period where we were buying rotisserie chicken quite often. While it’s super delicious with some hummus, tzatziki, bread, and salad on the first day, the day after, you just crave something else.
What? I cannot possibly tell you, right now. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for at that moment. But whatever your cravings are, here you’ll find the inspiration you need. Make sure to save this list of leftover chicken recipes for whenever you’re hungry, got some cooked chicken to use up and not a ton of time!
1. Anti-Inflammatory Cauliflower Chicken Soup
Isn’t it just wonderful that you can cook this healing chicken soup in about 30 minutes by using leftover shredded chicken? I think it’s pretty great. And it’s especially great when you’re craving homemade comfort food when the weather is gloomy and you just want to hide at home and hibernate like a little bear.
Made with cauliflower and healing spices this homemade chicken soup makes a great weeknight dinner idea that you will love. You can pack leftovers for an easy hot lunch as well! Recipe here.
2. Greek Leftover Rotisserie Chicken wraps
This Mediterranean recipe is made with leftover rotisserie chicken, tzatziki as well as fresh and roasted vegetables. Sounds (and looks) good, right? This easy recipe is pretty healthy, versatile and what’s even better is that you can make these tasty chicken wraps in about 20 minutes using what you have at home. The recipe is here.
3. 10-Minute Healthy Chicken Pasta
Yes, you can make a healthy kid-friendly leftover chicken pasta and you can do so in about 10 minutes. The ingredients you’ll need include quick-cooking macaroni, cooked chicken, dill, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. You’ll love this easy meal, as it’s filling, super tasty and perfect for a quick dinner that doesn’t require a ton of effort! Recipe here.
4. 15-Minute Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla
The ingredients for this amazing cheesy quesadilla recipe include leftover chicken, cream cheese, garlic and jalapenos. All you need to do is mix the quesadilla filling ingredients, then spread them on 1/2 of a tortilla, cheese on top, fold the tortilla in half and toast on both sides until golden brown and the cheese is melty. You’ve got yourself the most delicious dinner and it took you about 15 minutes and some leftovers. Plus it tastes divine! This chicken dinner is definitely a winner. Recipe here.
5. Chickpea, Feta and Chicken Salad
The easiest way to use up leftover chicken: throw everything into a bowl, toss and you’ve got a quick and healthy salad! Perfect for lunch or dinner, this super filling salad recipe is made with fresh and roasted vegetables, chickpeas, feta and cooked chicken in about 10 minutes. You can find the recipe here.
6. 15-Minute Quinoa Fried Rice With Chicken
Transform leftovers and make this delicious, healthier, quick dinner using cooked chicken, cooked quinoa, soy or tamari sauce and whatever vegetables you have at home! Cabbage, onion, garlic, and carrots are all a good choices here. If you’re not a fan of quinoa, you can also use leftover cooked rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option. This is so much better than takeout! Recipe here.
7. Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad
Mash one avocado with garlic, add some cooked chicken, onion, herbs and some more chopped veggies for texture and serve this salad on a slice of bread. Or eat it with a spoon. You can even serve it as lettuce wraps or a part of healthy lunch bowls alongside some rice or quinoa as well! It’s fresh, easy and super healthy! Ready in 10 minutes, you can find the recipe here.
8. Parmesan Pesto Leftover Chicken Wraps
Having some leftover chicken in the fridge is great if you love wraps for lunch or dinner! Especially if you’re not in the mood to cook a big meal. These particular parmesan chicken wraps are ready in about 10-15 minutes and made with pesto, garlic, cooked chicken, vegetables and mozzarella. Add in some spinach, shredded mozzarella and olives if you wish. I always love to toast my wraps before serving, since I love that crispy texture, so I highly recommend you do it too. You can find the full recipe here.
9. Chicken Salad Sandwich Melt
Not your typical chicken salad, but the filling for this sandwich is so good! Super flavorful, seriously melt-in-your-mouth and crispy on the outside, I could eat this every single day. You can find the recipe here.
10. Pesto Chicken Cauliflower Rice
If you’ve never had cauliflower rice before, the time has come! This chicken and cauliflower rice recipe is so delicious and super easy to put together using some pesto, tomatoes, cheese, cooked chicken and cauliflower. Recipe here.
11. 10-Minute Spicy Feta Chicken Quesadilla
I know, it sounds like a leftover makeover gone crazy, but this version of chicken quesadilla is super good! Make it in about 10-15 minutes with whatever food you’ve got at home, it is perfect for quick lunch or dinner. The recipe is here.
12. 10-Minute Beans and Chicken
If you’ve got a can of white beans, an onion, herbs, spices and some leftover rotisserie chicken, you can make this healthy dish for dinner in about 10 minutes. It’s packed with flavor, yet super easy to put together on busy nights. I recommend you serve this meal with a salad and maybe some tzatziki sauce to add something creamy and garlicky. You will find the recipe here.
13. 15-minute Quinoa and Chicken
This is another option if you already have some leftover chicken and cooked quinoa. This is a more Mediterranean-style quick dinner idea with mozzarella cheese and lots of vegetables. If you don’t have the quinoa, you can make this leftover chicken recipe with cooked rice as well. Recipe here.
14. Leftover Spicy Avocado Chicken Wraps
If you love spicy food, chicken and avocado, you need to make these delicious spicy leftover chicken wraps. Filled with nutritious vegetables like spinach, basil and zucchini, these wraps make a healthier recipe for lunch or dinner that is ready in about 15 minutes. You can find it here.
15. Shredded Chicken Tacos
Leftover chicken, veggies and taco shells – these are the main things you need for this easy dinner! Recipe here.
16. Pesto Chicken Sandwich
If you don’t have a ton of cooked chicken to use up – make a sandwich! The filling for this one combines red pesto, chicken and garlic. Top with cheese, toast and your lunch or dinner is ready! Recipe here.
17. Chicken Breakfast Egg Bake
Let’s finish the list of easy leftover chicken recipes with a high-protein breakfast idea. This is a very easy meal prep breakfast with eggs, cooked chicken and vegetables. The egg bake is lower in carbs, higher in protein, stores well in the fridge and tastes really good! Recipe here.
How To Store Leftover Chicken
As with almost any other food, store your cooked chicken in the fridge in an airtight container. If you do have cooked chicken that you do not want to eat in the next 3 days, you can also portion the leftovers out in containers and freeze.
The chicken will stay good for about a month and can be used in the chicken recipes after defrosting for about 5-10 minutes. I always like to heat up chicken leftovers before using in salads, that’s just a personal preference. I do this on the stove, microwave or in the oven.
More Easy Chicken Recipes:
- Healthy Rice And Chicken Dinner Skillet
- 15-Minute High-Protein Spicy Chicken & Chickpeas
- One-Pan Rice, Chicken And Spinach
I hope you love these leftover chicken recipes and got some new ideas, inspiration on what to do with that rotisserie chicken in your fridge!
This post was originally published in September 2021 and updated in October 2025.