Leftover chicken with rice recipes can be made in a flash and are delicious, comforting and filling. If you have leftover meat from that Chinese roast duck dinner, leave it to the chefs on YouTube to come up with new a dish to make chicken with rice memorable.

No matter what your taste you may be craving some healthy easy recipes using leftover chicken and rice. I have rounded up some of the simplest, most delicious and unique leftover chicken with rice recipes on the internet.

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Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

This nostalgic dish evokes the Old School casseroles your grandmother used to make—but in easy mode to make it quick, delicious, and great for a weeknight. Rotisserie chicken and precooked rice (or leftover rice) are combined with easy-prep veggies and baked with a flour-thickened broth that has a little sour cream added for creaminess.

Recipe Summary

Prep: 20 mins

Total: 40 mins

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 4 cups sliced mixed mushrooms (10 ounces)
• 2 shallots, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups shredded chicken, from a small rotisserie chicken
• 2 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

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Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add mushrooms and shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until mushrooms are tender and browned 10 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the flour. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.
• Step 2 Add chicken broth, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Add chicken and rice and return to a simmer. Stir in peas, parsley, and sour cream; season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish. Top with breadcrumbs.
• Step 3 Bake until the top is golden brown and the mixture is warm for 15 to 20 minutes.

LEFTOVER CHICKEN AND EGG FRIED RICE

An easy, quick and family-friendly meal, Leftover Chicken and Egg Fried Rice is perfect for a busy weeknight and a great way to use up your roast chicken leftovers…No leftover chicken? No problem. Read on to find out how to ‘create’ some leftovers…

Hands up who loves a good chicken roast dinner? Me, me, me!! It’s definitely one of my favourites…especially my latest favourite Greek Roast Chicken or my ever popular Classic Roast Chicken with Homemade Gravy.

But inevitably with a roast chicken, there are always some leftovers (especially if you are like me and deliberately create some leftovers!) and then there’s the dilemma of what to make with it.

Of course, you could make chicken sandwiches or have cold meat and salad…but if you want to try something a bit more interesting, why not give my Leftover Chicken and Egg Fried Rice a go?

This recipe makes good use of leftovers, turning them into a really easy, family-friendly weeknight dinner.

What’s more, by using a pack of ready-prepared rice and easy veggies (hardly any chopping!), it’s quick too – this recipe takes just 15 minutes from start to finish – perfect for when time is tight, but you still want to eat well.

No leftover chicken? No problem – simply pan fry two chicken breasts for about 6-7 minutes on each side on medium heat, leave to rest for 5 minutes, shred using a couple of forks and then continue with the recipe below.

To make this meal a little healthier I have used brown rice, but it will work just as well if you use white rice.

I have used pre-cooked rice to make this dish really quick and easy, but if you prefer to cook your own rice, do that first – you will need about 170g of uncooked rice to produce 500g of cooked rice.

When you have cooked your rice, you must cool it down first before starting this recipe – warm rice will not work as well! I find the quickest way to do this is to drain my cooked rice in a sieve and then run the cold tap over it until it is cool.

Finally, I leave it to sit over the pan it cooked in until it has dried out a little bit. Alternatively, leave your rice to cool to room temperature, then put it in a plastic box in the fridge until you need it.

This recipe will also work really well with leftover pork, ham, bacon or pre-cooked prawns. Alternatively, to make a vegetarian version, you could use tofu or Quorn chicken pieces. This recipe is naturally dairy free and if you make sure you use gluten-free soy sauce (tamari), it is gluten-free too. 

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LEFTOVER CHICKEN FRIED RICE

Put your leftover roast chicken to good use and make this delicious Leftover Chicken Fried Rice! This classic Chinese-style recipe is very easy, and delicious and takes just 20 minutes to make.

Don’t you just love a roast chicken dinner on a Sunday? I most certainly do!

I have to admit that I look forward to the leftover chicken almost as much as the roast dinner!

There are so many different ways you use up leftover chicken – sometimes I’ll throw some in this crustless quiche, or I’ll make a creamy chicken and broccoli pie which I could quite happily eat every day!

But the most requested, most popular recipe that uses up the remains of a roast chicken in my house is my husband’s favourite chicken fried rice.

My husband used to be the chief fried rice cook in my kitchen – but I decided to have a go at making it one day.

And guess what he said? “That’s much better than mine – you’re going to have to make it all the time now.”

Damn it!! 

So don’t leave those chicken leftovers sitting unused in the fridge – make this simple but delicious fried rice for a quick, economical mid-week meal!

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MY TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST CHICKEN FRIED RICE

This a simple tip, but make sure your pan is nice and hot before you add your ingredients.

Frying the chicken at the start rather than adding it near the end and heating through gives amazing flavour to the fried rice.  The chicken turns beautifully golden, and crispy and I’ve burned my mouth several times because I can’t resist sneaking some straight out of the pan!  Adding a few shakes of soy sauce to the chicken will give it that Chinese takeaway-style flavour. 

HOW TO MAKE LEFTOVER CHICKEN FRIED RICE

(ingredient amounts and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)

• The first step to making chicken fried rice is, of course, cold-cooked rice!  You’ll need about 400g of rice for 4 people.  
• I usually make the rice a few hours before I need it – after cooking, drain the rice and try to get it as dry as possible  Then spread the rice out evenly on a baking dish or tray to cool. As soon as the rice is cold, place it in the fridge.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable or sunflower oil in a wok.  When the oil is hot, add the shredded chicken pieces and fry until the chicken is golden and starting to crisp up – about 5-10 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. 
• Pour 2 beaten eggs into the pan and cook until scrambled. Remove from the pan.
• Add the cooked rice to the pan and stir fry for about 5 minutes before adding peas, sweetcorn (defrosted in boiling water and drained well if frozen), sliced spring onions and scrambled egg, along with a little soy sauce
• When everything is piping hot, golden and crispy, remove from the heat and serve.  I like my fried rice with lots of spicy Sriracha!