Lately I’ve been talking with a lot of my friends about food…go figure… One of the things that invariably comes up is my love for the Costco roasted chicken and what a bargain it is! It’s a rule in our house – if we are going to Costco we get a roasted chicken. It is literally, the best bargain ever.
If you put the Chicken into the Fridge with meat still on the carcass – I can almost guarantee you won’t eat all the meat…
I hear that people get tired of looking at the carcass in the fridge and sometimes toss it with meat still on it. That is sad. If you pull the chicken straight away – you will have many more options for the chicken meat and it will be less intimidating. I had one friend say she buys the smaller and more expensive chickens from other stores – because she doesn’t like to throw away food and can’t get through a Costco chicken in time. (Yikes!)
Pulling the Chicken
I know this isn’t the most favored task in the kitchen but I have found the easiest way to remove the meat from the bones is to leave the chicken on the counter after you get home from Costco, until the chicken is totally is cool. If you put it in the fridge and then pull it out – it will be much harder to pull.
If it is hot – or warm even – it is also harder to pull. You stick your fingers into the thickest parts of that chicken and start pulling it away from the bone and yikes – it can still be really hot in the center! That lil chicken had been roasting for about an hour…and can be very hot in the center.
You need to let that little ol chicken rest on your counter till cool. Trust me on this.
OK – your chicken is cool ?? The very next thing to do is : Get out your Apron. Sure hope you have one. I find I always make a mess when I don’t have my apron on – and never make a mess when I’m wearing an apron…. so on it goes!
Removing the meat from the bones: I always start with the legs. 1) Literally, pull them off – and get the meat off the bones. Toss away the bones and any ick and the skin (or save the skin with the chicken if that’s your jam).
I’m not judging here…I love the chicken skin…I snack on it with my doggos (separately, of course) while I pull the chicken. My doggos know for sure they will be getting a bite or two of chicken when they smell it coming through the door. (I mean who can resist those cute as a button faces?). But after we snack on some chicken with a bit of skin – the best bet for our waistlines is to throw the rest of the skin away and remove all future temptation!
Ok – so the legs are pulled and you’ve made a decision on what to do with all the skin, then 2) onto the wings and thighs. 3) Breasts – yep get a sharp knife and cut away the large breast portions from the backbone of the chicken. 4) Turn that chicken carcass over. Remove the skin on the bottom and find the chicken oysters. 🙂 Sometimes called the chef’s bite ? There are two spots on the bottom middle-ish where all the juices run and it’s darkish meat and it is moist and delicious. Don’t forget those two bites! 5) Remove any remaining chicken left elsewhere on the bones.
When I pull the chicken I typically get about 2 lbs of meat. The chicken was $4.99 which makes roasted pulled chicken about $2.50 a lb. That’s a deal for sure !
Then what to do ? First Night:
Typically I try to use the meat from the chicken – as the first nights dinner. Assuming, of course, I don’t already have something planned. I’d serve it with some starch maybe – and some veggies. It could be as simple as roasted chicken and frozen (microwaved) veggies. We all have nights like that! No judgement… Roast chicken with mashed potatoes? Yeah – your just short some gravy – which you could whip up with some chicken stock, butter, flour and spices.
Quick Chicken Gravy : Make a roux – using 1/4 C butter, melted. Add 1/4 C flour – whisk for a minute or two. Slowly add in 2-2.5 C chicken stock – continue to whisk till thick. Add some poultry seasoning and tase. Add some S&P. If you are feeling adventuresome – add some onion / shallot to the pan (first) saute in the butter before the flour and stock is added and consider fresh herbs…. Any which way you have chicken gravy + mashed potatoes + veggies. Quick healthy cheap dinner. What else could you ask for ?
Then what to do with the Rest ?
Then I package the remaining chicken into two or maybe three packages and freeze the chicken! YES! We freeze everything around here – something my Mom taught me long long ago – as we had a HUGE freezer in the basement when we were growing up. If it was on sale, we bought it and froze it. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
If you don’t have a vacuum sealer – you can use zip lock bags and do your best to remove all the air. Be sure to write the date on the chicken so you know when it went in and can eat it before it gets freezer burn.
OK OK – I froze the chicken – then what ?
So so so many options…
Chicken salad – just need some mayo + celery + onion + spices – maybe a nut or an apple ? Chicken salad on bread, chicken salad on salad greens …. chicken salad with a fork?
Chicken – added to your favorite salad? See a Rif on Ina Garten’s Cape Cod Salad… or make your own favorite green salad and add Creamy Balsamic Salad Dressing.
Any recipe that calls for cooked chicken. How about Southwest Pot Pie?
How about Chicken Tacos ? Use some of your Taco seasoning and warm up the chicken, as you would with ground beef…. consider cooking up or use raw veg from your drawer (onions / chile or poblano peppers?) – and add some chipotle sour cream, maybe some cheese and a tortilla!
You could always make some soup with your chicken – and even make some stock with the carcass and bones! That would for sure extend the value of your Costco Chicken!
I only have 50 posts as of now (June 2024) and was able to think of more than a handful of things to do – just using my site. So there must be about a million things you could do with your portions of chicken later ! 🙂
Add to your Costco List : Roasted Chicken!
And let me know how you handled it, how the pulling went – and what you made with the balance, OK?
