January 5, 2013
Frequently buying a bag of chicken breasts is not only spendy, but only gives you a fraction of the nutritional bang-for-your-buck you can get when you just buy the whole dang chicken.
However, a great big chicken sitting in your refrigerator can be a bit intimidating if you don't know what you're doing. So in today's video, Jessa Greenfield shows you how to cut up a chicken, and why buying a whole chicken is actually a better deal (under this video, I tell you what we actually do with the chicken).
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After we shot this video, Jessa and I sat down to talk about what we actually use the whole chicken pieces for after we finish cutting up the whole chicken.
And as much as we'd like to say we have oodles of chicken recipes, between the two of us we could only think of 8 ways that we actually use this chicken.
Yep, we eat that simple.
But in case you were curious, here are those 8 ways we use that whole chicken:
#1. Chicken Skewers with Almond Sauce
#2. Chicken Bone Broth for Soup
#3. Roasted Chicken With Sea Salt, Garlic & Pepper
#4. Chicken Pad Thai (probably the highest carb meal we ever have, reserved for the end of a tough workout day, long day on the ski slopes, etc.)
#5. Chicken Avocado Salad
#6. Chicken Fajitas
#7. Cashew Breaded Chicken
#8: Asian-Style Chicken Skewers with Bok Choy or Mustard Greens
This post sure would be prettier if it were a Top 10 instead of a Top 8…so now it's YOUR turn. How do YOU use chicken? Are you curious if your chicken recipes are healthy? Leave your recipes or your questions about how to cut up a whole chicken in the comments section below and Jessa or I will reply!
In the BenGreenfieldFitness Inner Circle, Jessa will show you much more, including how to make bone broth from your chicken carcass, tasty chicken recipes for the meals above, and much more. Click here to check it out now for just one buck.
What a great collection of chicken recipes. We have chicken 3 -4 times a week. This is my first time trying couscous and pine nuts. Great combination of flavors.
Wow these recipes are great Ben! When I need to get out of the kitchen fast to practice my hula hooping, I cut my chicken into strips. Then I throw them in a bag with any kind of nut crumbs, non-sweetened coconut, spices (I like cur-cumin as it's anti-inflammatory, cayenne which is great for circulation with kelp salt and pepper. Lay that on a parchment paper (saves cleaning) on a cookie sheet with garlic and organic coconut oil-laced veggies. (You can prepare those in a bag too (less dishes). Put that in the oven for 30 minutes, then I go do some hoop dancing. Life is too short. We need to eat better and play more. Santé!
1. Chicken marinara over sauté spinach or broccoli
2. Chicken taco salad without the taco
3. Chicken quesadillas or enchiladas using coconut flour tortillas
4. Wraps using nori wraps, cauliflower rice and guacamole
I love how the doggies are patiently waiting for a delicious morsel to be dropped. Very well behaved! I have 2 Ridgebacks (3.5 yrs and 3 months). They're a great breed!
Chicken Strips…
We strip a chicken (skin too for added fat for my son) and blitz in the processor with veggies (onion, courgettes, carrots & broccoli), herbs (rosemary & sage work well), salt & pepper. Spread the mixture at least 1cm thick onto dishes and cook in the oven until crispy on top. Halfway through cooking, score gridlines into the mixture.
Once cooked, the pieces can be cut out and frozen for use at a later date. They make very handy snacks requiring approx 10 mins simmering or steaming to cook through from frozen.
You can also pour the juice from the dishes into a cup as a delicious chicken 'broth'.
Our 3 year old son is on a very restrictive diet due to numerous allergies and loves these (he calls it 'chicken pizza'). I'm prone to chomping a couple too whenever cooking them or heating through for my son ;-)
Gonna have to try this one with our kids, Max!
Chicken salad with homemade mayo ( I used combination of avocado oil and California olive oil.
Slow cooker: Chicken Soup. Whole chicken. I use fresh grown sprouts as the noodles!! ( Which by the way rocks as as noodle substitute for all soups)
Variations on the same type of dishes you guys make as well.
Would love to see your mayo recipe, Joel!
Sure Ben,
I use a 1/2 a cup of avocado oil, a full cup of a olive oil. I've been using Trader Joe's California Olive oil. 2 large yolks and a teaspoon of apple cider vinger, teaspoon of Penzeys Fox Point Spice. ( Penzeys is the most important element of all my cooking. Their spices are amazing. I'm running out of room in my cabinet.). Beyond that, all other ingredients are creative events. I've had some great success and some disappointments- Such is cooking creatively.
I place the yolks, ACV, spices and any other ingredients i'm playing with into my food processor. drizzle the avocado oil super slow into the mix, about two tablespoons worth. Then I pour the rest of the oils in. Spin for a few minutes and check the consistency.
If I screw up and drizzle to fast and the mix doesn't emulsify , I'll add another yolk. I like my mayo on the thick side. I bottle it up and use it for many of my traditional lunches: Chicken, Salmon, Egg, Tuna, salads. Really nothing like homemade egg salad over freshly grown sprouts for breakfast, chased with a tall glass of water, ACV, Lemon, and liguid vitamin d. Good morning!
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysf…
I have some halves in the freezer I've bought when they were a steal. No true room for "wholes" so I typically pass, but I DO buy the breasts at the local grocer when they go on sale i.e. the best sale (which is roughly quarterly) is half price, so you get ~6 breasts/3 pounds for about 7/8 bucks. Maybe nutritional values take a bit of a hit, but it's boneless, I don't have room for wholes, and it's better than nothing (and when I do buy I get 2-3 packages).
I do have another grocer that offers it a bit less, but it's one that IMO is a more lower-grade place, so I would tend to think many a time you get what you pay for unless you know where they get their stuff from (i.e. if they happen to get it local, that's like hitting the secret jackpot because it's usually never indicated!)
That being said, when I get back I slice open the packages and individually wrap each breast, then in the freezer they go. Major space saver. When I'm ready I can pull out 1 or 2, defrost in the fridge for a day, and then cook.
#9. Grilled, whether on the actual grill or a Foreman if you're in a tight space spot. But to add to it, marinade it first while defrosting…takes about a day overall but definitely can add some nice flavor. Lately I've been on a teriyaki-style marinade kick: sweet & sour sauce, soy sauce, garlic, spices, etc. Gives a nice said glaze when grilled and comes out good when done (grill at medium/medium high for about 6-7 minutes). Add a (cheap/basic) beer to your marinade to really tenderize the meat and soak that marinade through…alcohol burns off when grilling so no worries in that dept.
#10. Bake it of course. Takes a while I'm sure with a whole chicken, but if you spice it up a little, it can still come out well. Bit of a carb kick, but the old bread crumb classic still works today.
#11. For the advanced/able grill-meisters: Forget cutting the chicken and just toss it on a rotisserie attachment and let 'er rip for the afternoon. Add your favorite glaze or sauce along the way. May take a few hours but the results are WELL worth it.
11? Overachiever. ;) These look tasty Matt!