Got a small amount of leftover roast chicken? Need a speedy but delicious recipe? Then this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta is for you! Chicken + bacon + peas + garlic + cream + pasta – and all on the table in under 15 minutes. You KNOW this is going to be a winner! (No leftover roast chicken? Just use ready cooked chicken from the supermarket.)
What to do with a really small amount of leftover roast chicken?
Isn’t it always the way… you cook a lovely roast chicken, thinking that you have enough for 2 meals… only everyone is a teensy bit greedy (because is was suuuuch a nice roast chicken) and you end up with an annoyingly small amount of roast chicken left over… which is not really enough to do another whole meal? But you don’t want to throw it away, right?
Enter my Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta! This speedy dinner is perfect when you only have a small amount of roast chicken. You can feed a family of 4 with this recipe, even if you only have 200-300g (7-10oz) of leftover roast chicken.
Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta
And this recipe is just so easy and super quick! All you have to do is fry off some lardons (or diced bacon) and garlic, add the chicken and some cream (chuck in some leftover gravy too, if you’ve got some – even just a tiny amount will seriously elevate this recipe), then throw in some frozen peas (no need to defrost first) and boom! All ready in less than the time it takes to cook the pasta 😀
What to serve with Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta
To be honest this is the kind of easy midweek meal I will just serve as it is – with a little grating of parmesan on top and a few grinds of black pepper.
But if you want to serve a side dish, a little green salad would go great with this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta.
What to drink with Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta
If you have any wine left over from when you had the roast chicken, that will probably be a great match for this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta too!
If not, then I recommend an unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay – something like a Chablis would be great, a Loire or NZ sauvignon blanc or a crisp Italian white like a Soave.
I don’t recommend red with a creamy pasta dish like this. Cream and red wine tend not to work very well together.
Can you reheat this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta?
Yes… you can. But be mindful of when the chicken was cooked and don’t keep this longer than 3 days after the chicken was first cooked. Place any leftovers in a plastic lidded container and keep in the fridge until required.
My best tip for reheating would be to turn the leftovers into a pasta bake. Simply grate over some cheese and cook in an oven preheated to 180C (160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F) for 10 to 15 minutes, until piping hot all the way through. Alternatively, you can reheat this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta in the microwave.
Can you freeze this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta?
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta.
No leftover roast chicken?
This Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta recipe was MADE for using up small amounts of leftover roast chicken… but if you don’t happen to have any leftover chicken, you can simply use some cooked chicken (thigh or breast – your choice) from the supermarket.
For the photos I used a box of 4 small cooked chicken thighs, which yielded about 200g (7oz) meat, once I’d removed the skin and bones.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 300 g fusilli pasta or your favourite pasta shape
- 150 g smoked lardons (or diced smoked bacon)
- 2 cloves garlic crushed or grated
- 200 g leftover roast chicken shredded (or supermarket ready-cooked chicken)
- 150 ml double cream (more if you like your pasta extra creamy! You could also use creme fraiche if you prefer.)
- 50 ml leftover chicken gravy (optional – just if you happen to have any)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 100 g frozen peas (no need to defrost)
- Parmesan to serve (optional)
- Green side salad to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Start by putting the pasta on to cook – by the time it is cooked the sauce will be ready. Cook according to the packet instructions or your own preferences.
- Put a large frying pan over a high heat and heat for 1 minute. Put the lardons straight into the dry pan (no oil needed) and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown, stirring frequently.
- Turn the heat right down and add the garlic. Fry for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add the chicken, cream, gravy (if using), salt and pepper. Then increase the heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the chicken is piping hot all the way through. Stir occasionally.
- Add the frozen peas, give the sauce a good stir, then cook for 1 more minute.
- Drain the pasta when cooked and add to the sauce along with a little of the pasta cooking water – just enough so the sauce is to your preferred consistency. Stir through to combine thoroughly.
- Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan grated on top and/or a simple green salad on the side.
Video
Notes
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Louise Fairweather says
You are right, there is always less chicken left over than I had planned. This looks a great dish for leftovers #cookblogshare
Eb Gargano says
Haha – yeah, I think it’s a common problem… buy a chicken big enough to do two meals… but the roast chicken is so yummy and everyone eats more than you expect… so you end up with an annoyingly small amount of leftovers… hence this recipe 😀
Chloe Edges says
You can never have enough uses for leftover chicken!
Eb Gargano says
My thoughts exactly! 😀
Liz Meadowcroft says
My family loved this recipe. I used Greek yoghurt as we didn’t have any cream and pancetta cubes instead of bacon as that’s what we had in the fridge and it worked really well. Such a speedy recipe too! Thank you for giving me another way to use up leftover roast chicken and gravy!
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear this. And really pleased to hear it worked so well with yogurt and pancetta cubes. Thanks for this lovely feedback and especially the 5* rating! Eb 🙂
James Axon says
Another favourite, quick and easy. And very tasty ☺️
Eb Gargano says
Aw, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for this lovely review 😀
Jennifer Hitz says
Just made this. I don’t know if I used too much bacon, but it just overpowers it. I think if I had left the bacon out, it would have been perfect, and I love bacon… just not in this.
Eb Gargano says
Oh I am sorry that you didn’t enjoy this with the bacon. The bacon is just supposed to add a touch of extra flavour to the sauce and a slight extra dimension to the dish. It certainly shouldn’t overpower the dish. It might be worth experimenting with other types of bacon (some do have a stronger flavour than others) or just using less. Alternatively, you could use mushrooms instead of the bacon. In any case, I am glad you liked the rest of the dish!
Laurie Bowman says
There’s nothing about how much bacon grease to leave in the pan…there’s easily 1/2 c. grease and I used center-cut bacon…!!!
Eb Gargano says
Hi Laurie, When I make this myself, using lardons, there is almost no bacon grease left in the pan (you can see this in my video), which is why I did not put any instruction. But if you do find any bacon grease left in the pan, I recommend you remove almost all of it – leave no more than a teaspoon. I am also wondering if you have your pan on a high enough heat. That will also make a difference. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂
Bradley says
This recipe is quick, easy, and absolutely delicious! I made it this evening, using a bit of chicken left over from Sunday’s roast, and there’s still some left over which I’m taking to work to eat cold tomorrow lunchtime.
I love a recipe where I almost certainly have all the ingredients in store. I am always looking for different ways to use up leftovers.
I cook a roast every Sunday without fail. The meat goes in the oven before I go to church, and friends often come for lunch after we’ve been to Mass. Even so, I can normally make the leftovers stretch until Thursday (evening meals only) or sometimes Friday.
Home-cooking has got to be one of life’s greatest pleasures, and making delicious meals from leftovers is so rewarding. Thank you!
Eb Gargano says
Aw, that’s so great to hear! Thank you for this lovely review 😀