For years, I was ignorant about just how useful a whole chicken could be. We would routinely throw away the bones, skin (never delicious, crispy skin, obviously), fat, and even leftover chicken that we didn’t finish on our plates.
Ever since we got chickens and started a garden, however, we’ve been waaaayyy more conscious about our food waste. We have learned that pretty much everything you can raise in your backyard or grow in your garden is completely consumable. Nothing has to be thrown in the trash. Especially chicken.
Read on to find out how you can use up every last bit of a whole chicken.
The Humble Chicken and Its Versatility
If you aren’t already buying whole chicken and cooking it yourself, you’re missing out on the possibilities for stretching that chicken to the max. I’m talking every.single.part of the chicken is being put to good use. It’s mind-boggling and so satisfying.
Why Buy a Whole Chicken?
You can obviously buy a whole chicken already roasted at the grocery store or even some chicken drumsticks and still be able to use up every part of what you buy.
I advocate buying a raw whole chicken and cooking it yourself, though, because you’re starting with a blank canvas. The possibilities are endless. Nothing has to go to waste. You will end up using a raw whole chicken in many more ways than you can with just drumsticks or a rotisserie chicken.
Why Use Every Part of the Chicken?
What’s the big deal? Why even worry about using up every last bit of your succulent chicken?
For one thing, the cost of pretty much everything we eat is increasing in price. Whether you grow or raise it yourself or purchase it at the grocery store, you are probably paying quite a bit more for food than you were just a year or two ago.
Next, it is so important to find ways to improve the world we live in, and this is just one small way you can make a difference over time. The less you contribute to the landfill, the better.
Finally, we owe it to the chicken that gave its life so we could eat it. I totally admire the respect that vegans have for animals. I’m personally not vegan, though, because I believe that animals were put here on this earth for humans to benefit from. Part of that is for our own consumption, and if we’re throwing away any part of an animal because we aren’t intentional in using it, it’s not very respectful of the animal’s life.
5 Ways to Use Every Last Bit of a Whole Chicken
Saving money, bettering our world, and respecting the animal’s life are all pretty great reasons to be more intentional when we bring a chicken home from the grocery store. So what does that look like in real life? How do you take a raw whole chicken and keep any part of it from entering the landfill?
There are 3 main uses, including eating the meat, using the drippings, and repurposing the bones. Meat, drippings, bones.
Repeat after me: meat, drippings bones. Again. Meat, drippings, bones. Good.
Now, let’s get into the specifics. Introducing my recommended ways to use every last bit of a whole chicken.
Roast Whole and Eat the Meat
So basic. So simple. Yet, so so delicious and easy. As easy as buying a roasted grocery-store chicken? Obviously not. But there are many benefits to roasting it whole yourself. First, you are in control of everything you add to that chicken. Second, who doesn’t love crispy chicken skin??! If I could come up with a way to package crispy chicken skin and sell it, I would. Wouldn’t that be just the best snack ever? Also, cooking a whole chicken at home is something you can totally brag about. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing that you prepared and cooked that beautiful chicken in the center of the table. When your in-laws come over for dinner, you will wow them with your chicken cooking skills. Maybe. Depends on your in-laws, lol.
In this first way you can use up an entire chicken, you will be eating the skin and the meat of the chicken for dinner. If you have a small family, chances are you’re going to have some leftovers. Otherwise, you will be left with some lovely bones and chicken drippings in the pan where you cooked the chicken.
Drippings
I have to be honest. As I was writing this post, I realized that we don’t actually use 100% of the chicken we cook. When I roast a whole chicken, I normally throw away all the drippings that fall to the pan below. How disgraceful, right?? I did some research and realized there are a lot of ways to use this delectable liquid. Just add it to stock, gravy, rice, soup, potatoes, and even pasta. Now I can’t wait to roast another whole chicken! So many yummy possibilities!
Piece the Chicken
Did you know you can buy a whole raw chicken and turn it into 3-4 meals for a family of 4? While you can totally do this by roasting a whole chicken first, the variety of meals you can make are even greater when you piece the chicken into individual parts.
We did this for a couple years when our kids were young. It’s really not hard, and it’s one of the most cost effective ways to buy chicken. When you buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts, for example, you are paying quite a bit more per pound than when you buy a whole raw chicken. Sometimes I will buy 2 whole raw chickens and piece them apart. Then I take the 4 chicken breasts that I end up with and freeze them. After another 1 or 2 times of doing this same process, I have plenty of chicken breasts to use how I like. And it costs quite a bit less than buying a large package of boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Back/Bones for Stock or Soup
We make chicken stock 1-2 times a week. I used to buy chicken stock/broth in the cans and cartons, and then I realized it was almost free to make it at home. Not only that, but chicken stock is amazing for the gut.
Bones for Other Uses
Once I make chicken stock with the bones, I like to throw them in a pot with some water and boil them for 6 hours to soften them even more. Once they are super soft we either give them to our dogs or I can use some for dehydrating and grinding into bone meal fertilizer for the garden.
Isn’t it Better to Eat Pasture-Raised Chicken??
Now, let me address the elephant in the room. We would love to eat pasture-raised chicken, but it’s just not part of our budget right now. We have some space in our backyard to raise our own chickens for meat, but it would likely cost the same or more {after building a chicken tractor and buying the chicks, feed, and butchering tools} as purchasing from a local farm.
I can’t cite any studies that compare the health benefits/costs of eating pasture-raised chicken versus grocery store chicken, but I can tell you that more than likely the chicken stock and broth you buy in the cans and cartons are not made with pasture-raised chickens.
Therefore, we’ve made the choice, for now, to make chicken stock with store-bought chicken bones and not worry about it.
Chicken is such a wonderful meat. After eating the chicken and its deliciously crispy skin, the drippings and bones can be used intentionally for more meals as well as nourishing your dogs and garden. Nothing is wasted. How freaking cool is that???
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