16 Weeknight Dinners You Can Make with a Rotisserie Chicken

This versatile ingredient is the perfect base for countless dinners, from tacos and pastas to soups and salads. It takes just a little work to pick all the meat off the carcass, but then you’ve got a pile of chicken ready to be added to whatever you feel like making. It saves the time of roasting a bird yourself, allowing you to make a satisfying homemade meal quickly. 

Here are some ways to make rotisserie chicken work for you.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

This recipe is a fresh spin on chili, pairing the familiar chili spices with buffalo flavor and all the things that go well with it: celery, blue cheese, and chicken.

Chicken and Rice Soup with Ginger and Scallions

This quick, simple soup that starts with store-bought chicken broth packs flavor with the addition of freshly grated ginger, scallions, and fragrant cilantro. Some shiitake mushrooms and long-grain white rice bulk it up.

Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup

When you’re seeking something bright and fresh but still ultracomforting, this Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup is the way to go. The egg yolk–thickened broth provides the comfort while the lemon, chives, and thyme add the freshness.

Spicy Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

A rotisserie chicken, a few pantry ingredients (coconut milk, rice vermicelli, and chili-garlic sauce), and some fresh vegetables combine for a fragrant, delicious soup that’s ready in just 30 minutes.

Apricot-Basil Chicken Salad

Apricots, basil, and lemon juice add bright notes to this colorful chicken salad. Stirring them together with some mayonnaise and Dijon mustard creates a dressing that clings to the chicken. A bed of Bibb lettuce is the perfect way to serve it all up.

Chicken and Cellophane Noodle Salad

Carrots and cucumber quickly pickled in vinegar and tossed with a soy dressing add a fresh vibe and a welcome crunch to this easy salad of cellophane noodles and rotisserie chicken. 

Whole-Grain Mustard Chicken Salad

Yes, you can absolutely grab a bag of salad mix and a rotisserie chicken and toss them together with some dressing, but if you pick up a few other things and spend just a few extra minutes, you can have a truly excellent salad. This one features tender-crisp sugar snap peas and juicy red grapes tossed with the chicken, lettuce, and a quick whisk-together mustard dressing.

Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake

Chicken Parmesan is undeniably a great dinner choice, but pounding and breading chicken and then frying it is time-consuming. This casserole takes the components of the dish—the chicken, the crumbs, the sauce, and the cheese, plus the side of pasta—and turns it all into a no-fuss one-pan meal.

Risotto with Chicken, Lemon, and Basil

Risotto calls stirring to mind. Lots of standing over the stove and stirring. But here, the rice gets a head start in the microwave, so the labor is greatly reduced. While the rice cooks, you simply sauté onions and garlic in butter and add chicken broth. Then the hot rice goes in and only needs 5 minutes of cooking and stirring. And the chicken gets added at the end to warm through for a minute. Once the rice is done, all it needs is some basil, lemon zest and juice, and Parmesan to finish it off.

Skillet Chicken, Zucchini, and Cheesy Rice

A weeknight meal that’s packed with chicken, vegetables, rice, and cheese? Sign me up. This casserole gets its creamy consistency from shredded zucchini, which cooks down a bit before the chicken and broth get added. A few minutes later, in go cooked rice and cheddar. Everything gets topped with a snowstorm of grated Parmesan and popped under the broiler to brown. Yum.

Buffalo Chicken Calzones

Store-bought pizza dough plus rotisserie chicken is a perfect match in these Buffalo Chicken Calzones. Just be sure to have some Franks’ Redhot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce and plenty of mozzarella cheese on hand to make the filling.

Chicken-Avocado Salad Sandwiches

Avocado replaces mayo here to make a light fresh chicken salad. Simply mix up the avocado with buttermilk, olive oil, lime juice, and salt and pepper to make a lively dressing. Stir in the chicken and then spoon it over some toast. Top with lettuce, tomato, and another piece of toast and enjoy this fast, fresh dinner.

Easy Chicken and Salsa Tacos

Whenever I’m thinking of a quick dinner, tacos come to mind. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. These easy Chicken and Salsa Tacos trend toward simple, using store-bought salsa plus some seasonings to flavor the chicken. A topping of lettuce, cheese, and a quick sour cream–based sauce is all they need.

Mediterranean Chicken Wraps

For this recipe, rotisserie chicken gets mixed with feta, yogurt, olives, roasted red peppers, and a few other ingredients to make a Mediterranean flavor–inspired chicken salad. Then the chicken salad gets layered on top of a bed of arugula that’s arranged on top of a flour tortilla, and everything gets rolled up together into a mouthwatering wrap.

Quick Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Red Cabbage Slaw

Yes, you can make barbecue pulled chicken sandwiches on a weeknight. You just need to turn to the trusty rotisserie chicken. Shred it and toss it in a quick vinegar-based sauce, layer it on some buns, and top it with an easy cabbage slaw. Done.

Tomatillo Chicken Tostadas

For a crunchy, satisfying dinner, you can build these tostadas in just 30 minutes. Simply cook an onion, add store-bought tomatillo salsa, and stir in the chicken to heat through. Then microwave some refried beans and layer the beans and chicken on the tostadas. Top with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cilantro, or your favorite toppings. Simple and delicious.

Be sure to save this list and keep it handy for the next time you feel short on energy to make dinner. As long as you’ve got a rotisserie chicken and a few other ingredients on hand, you’ll be able to put together a dinner that will make you (and your stomach) happy in no time.