chicken - what can I cook & freeze?

boredjellybean

Hi there,

I'm planning my meals for next month & in a bid to be more organised, economical & less wasteful I'm trying to do a massive shop after pay day & cook & freeze as much as possible, however looking at my list/meal planner this is mostly all mince or sausage based dinners

Can anyone suggest some dished I can make & freeze using chicken?

Many thanks

Sarah x

Tiglath

I'd roast it whole, pick off the wings and parson's nose as cook's treat because I love them with crispy skin, serve the legs as a roast, cut up the breasts for curry/stirfry/fajitas/tomatoey pasta sauce, strip any other meat bits off for soup, and boil/strain the carcass for stock. Chicken wings on their own are cheap - coat in a BBQ sauce and serve with rice.

andygb

An alternative to the roasting (which we use as well - loads of meals from that), is to joint the chicken, so that you end up with portions of useful meat. So, we would remove the legs close to the body - find the joint and cleanly cut through, but do not splinter the bone. Then remove the breasts, by moving the knife along the backbone (I think it is the backbone anyway), and sliding it down close to the carcass. You should be able to remove the breasts without breaking any bones, including the little wishbones. You are now left with the main carcass and wings, which would be great for stews. I cut the breasts into good sized chunks and marinate in spices and yogourt for chicken tikka. The legs can be stewed or roasted.

boredjellybean

thanks for the replies - are there any ideas of meals I can cook up & freeze - that way I can just defrost & it's all ready, I have 5 people to cook for plus a baby so any time/money saving is great, I try & do a big batch cooking session after pay day so that when money gets tight at the end of the month there are meals already put away

rachbc

various curries; spanish style with toms, peppers, olives and paprika; in white sauce as a pie filling with various veg; cacciatore with bacon,wine and toms; with tarragon and cream sauce; chicken stew with carrots, parsnips and gravy; in barbeque sauce. or you can freeze raw chicken in mariandes that can then just be grilled/ oven baked - garlic, olive oil and lemon; chilli, lime and ginger; soy and honey...

Anything where the chicken is cooked in a sauce will freeze well.

missmucksmum

Stirfry chicken cubes (or chunks of cooked chicken) with onions and peppers and a jar of value sweet and sour (27p) good to have in the freezer x

D&DD

I usually do a chicken day when having a bake up and my faves are
Chicken curry
Cajun Chicken
Chicken pot pie
Macaroni chicken

The carcass gets chucked in the slowcooker for soups.
Thriftlady I think posted a really good tip re freezing liquids in ziplock bags and standing them up like library books in the freezer and thats how I freeze mine now,works for soups etc

Once a month cooking sites are great for ideas as they usually have a chicken plan,mince plan even veggie plans