Any ideas on cooking a whole frozen chicken, about 4-5 lbs.? I thought about starting a soup with it and a bunch of veggies. I was wondering if there were any other ideas out there.
By PAshell from Bradford, PA
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
You can bake the chicken with veggies instead of making soup, good luck.
I love doing a whole chicken on a vertical roaster, as it comes out looking and tasting like a rotisserie chicken. I can get really good deals where I live, like whole Perdues for .99 lb, so I stock up when I see a sale. Mix some garlic, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, grated ginger and a splash of soy sauce, and run it under the skin of the breast and all over the outside of the bird.
If you want to cook your whole chicken frozen without thawing then soup would probably be the only way to go and I don't recommend it. Thaw out the bird and you have lots of options.
Don't cook it without thawing it. You want to remove thw gizzards and liver which is usually in paper wrapping and wash the inside of the bird of any blood that might be in it. Then you can boil it for soup or bake it with stuffing or cook it on a roasting spit on the grill.
Definitely thaw in refrigerator first for health reasons! For that size chicken it will take a day and a half to two days.
I can't for the life of me find my recipe for mashed potato and bacon stuffed chicken but I do remember the mashed potato stuffing had crumbled bacon and chopped celery added to it and it was really good :-) The times I prepared too much stuffing to stuff the bird I just baked it, covered, in a separate baking dish at the same time ;-)
My husband just roasted an unstuffed chicken yesterday. After a dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and vegetables, I took all of the rest of the meat off the bones to use in soup or a casserole. It may also get used for chicken salad. I will probably make chicken rice or chicken noodle soup. Another thing you could do is chicken pot pie or chicken stew with dumplings.
I have a recipe from "The Tightwad Gazette" to create a casserole:
1 cup main ingredient (tuna, cubed chicken, turkey, ham or seafood)
1 cup second ingredient (thinly sliced celery, mushrooms, peas, chopped hard cooked eggs)
1 to 2 cups starchy ingredient (thinly sliced potatoes, cooked noodles, cooked rice)
1 1/2 cup binder (cream sauce, sour cream, can of soup)
1/4 cup goodie (pimento, olives, almonds, water chestnuts)
seasoning
topping (potato chips, cheese, bread crumbs)
Thoroughly mix all ingredients. If it seems dry, add 1/2 cup milk or stock. Place in a buttered casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 45 minutes.
This is a very good way to use up leftovers. By the way, I'm in Port Allegany.
There are lots of great things you can do with a whole chicken. The leftovers have wonderful potential as well. I just got done making a whole series of chicken meals that I found on this website: cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/
Some ideas for the leftover chicken: 1. simmer in salsa (we prefer Pace) and it's wonderful in wraps or with rice; 2. stirfry some vegetables with some ginger and a few dashes of soy sauce and add the cooked chicken when almost ready to serve; 3. dice the chicken, add diced celery, some mayonnaise and whatever you like (sliced grapes or dried fruit?)to make chicken salad.
Thaw
Bake with salt and pepper inside and out.
Serve with mashed potatoes gravy, biscuits and veggie
When cool - pick remaining meat off of the bird.
Second day - make a casserole with some of the chicken meat, and the leftover gravy and veggies, top with leftover mashed potatoes as for shepherds pie style.
Third day - Saute' the rest of the chicken meat with some onions and garlic, celery, carrots, whatever you have and add to it 3/4 cup rice, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water and 1-2 tbsp soy sauce, asian spices optional such as ginger or five spice. Simmer until rice is fluffy -- fluff up with a fork or whatever and serve with a salad.
Fourth day - Boil the carcass for two hours and remove.
Add whatever you like to the soup.
Suggestions:
Salt, pepper, more chicken bouillon, parsley, onions, celery, carrots, peas, noodles.
Carly's ideas are excellent. if you DO happen to have any more chicken meat left over, you can always shred it and put it on top of homemade pizza dough mixed in with the sauce. add some frozen corn and peas, top with grated cheese, and you have another meal.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
