One-Pot Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta, a quick and easy chicken dinner recipe for the whole family. Transform your leftovers into a spectacular dish that will have everybody asking for seconds. It's cheesy, it's delicious, a great midweek dinner no matter the season.
Roast Chicken always makes its way on our table whenever there is a big celebration. And on most days when we fancy a little feast without breaking the bank. It's quicker to cook than any other meat, it's easy, and kids rarely say no to it. Plus, it's proper delicious.
But, as it happens, a whole chicken rarely gets to be eaten up, and leftovers are inevitable. No need to waste all that excellent roast, especially when the good old pasta can come to the rescue.
Pasta is another dish that disappears quickly with us. It's the ultimate comfort food no matter how you cook it. And you only need a few simple ingredients to make it into a fabulous quick dinner.
My leftover chicken pasta is made in one pot, which means less mess, less stress. And it's ready in well under 30 minutes. It can't get any better than that!
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STEP-BY-STEP photos and instructions
Since the chicken is already cooked, all we have to worry about is making the tomato sauce. Nothing fancy, super simple, this tomato sauce is the easiest to make, and also super delicious.
You add a jar of ready-made sauce if you wish, but making your own sauce is well worth it, plus you know for sure it's sugar free, and a lot better.
- sautee the onion and garlic, add the chopped tomatoes, and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes until some of the liquid is reduced
- add Italian herbs, or any dried herbs you like with a sauce, and that's your sauce done
Now, all that's left is adding the leftover chicken, which I just shredded roughly, but you can also chop it if you like.
- In goes the pasta too, with either water or chicken broth.
- Cover the pan with a lid and leave to cook until the liquid is absorbed, and the pasta is cooked through.
If you like your pasta cooked really well, add some more liquid if that's already been absorbed.
- Add the parmesan, season to taste, and add plenty of fresh parsley, or basil. And that's our fabulous chicken pasta done!
Variations
Use any leftover meat you have from your Sunday roast, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other celebration - they usually equal plenty of leftovers.
This easy one-pot pasta can be made with any of these: leftover ham, leftover lamb, leftover beef, leftover turkey, leftover pork, or any other leftover roast you have. Or even a combination of the above.
Expert tips
By all means, you can cook the meat if you don't happen to have leftovers, just cook it separately, before adding it to the pan, and follow the exactly same steps afterwards.
It's an easy dish that kids love, my little girls really liked it, and were super happy to have a large portion. And trust me, I know what fussy kids are like!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can. Just make sure that you leave the meat to cool completely before refrigerating, and that it is stored in an airtight container or a foil. Once you add it to the dish, make sure it's heated well, and there are no cold spots in the middle.
I don't like freezing pasta, as once reheated, the texture changes and it becomes mushy. I prefer to cook fresh pasta every single time I need it.
Other leftover chicken recipes
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One-Pot Leftover Roast Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g, 13 oz)
- 2 cups leftover roast chicken (shredded)
- 3 ½ cups water or chicken broth
- 2 cups fusilli pasta
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat up the oil in a large pan.
- Add the chopped onion and garlic, and sautee for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is transluscent.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, herbs and seasoning, and leave to simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced.
- Add the cooked chicken, water or chicken broth, and pasta.
- Leave to cook with the lid on until the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is cooked.
- Mix in the parmesan, then garnish with parsley.
- Remove from the heat and serve hot with more parmesan if you like.
Marsha
How many ounces in the chopped tomato tin
Daniela Apostol
It’s 13.
Caron
My husband, who is a novice cook, said this was very easy to put together. The only problem we ran into was that we had penne rather than fusilli pasta. For those that don’t know the difference, in addition to being a corkscrew shape, fusilli is a bigger pasta. We added about 1/4 cup extra penne, but should have added 1/2 cup extra (21/2 cups total dry). Also, we added 1/2 cup white wine and used 3 cups chicken stock. To add a little extra pop, we added crushed red pepper and fresh basil. Yummy and would make it again!
Daniela Apostol
That sounds delicious!
R.J. Rice
Very good, very easy. I added a bay leaf and a thinly sliced bell pepper. Fantastic dinner.
Daniela Apostol
I am glad you liked it!
Kristine T
Thank you. This was flavorful so it hid the Mexican flavor of the chicken. I had made fajitas the night before so I needed something that would mask the Mexican flavor of the chicken. I used a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes (didn’t have a smaller can) and used penne pasta.
Karen whalan
Great recipe my husband loved it and me as well, so easy for left over roast chicken “Great recipe” will definitely have this again 👍
Daniela Apostol
I am glad you like the recipe!
Fran
This is a great recipe and easily adaptable to ingredients on hand. I added Pepperocini from Italy, fresh basil and rosemary from my garden. I would have also topped it with fresh mozzarella if I had some. Thank you for sharing it.
Daniela Apostol
Glad you liked it!
Devi
Very easy and I loved the use of only 1 pot. I tend to use a lot of dishes when cooking and hate cleaning up afterwards. Never thought about being able to cook my pasta in the actual sauce/broth so this was a new inspiration for me. Normally, I would boil the pasta in water. Then, I add everything together but this is much faster and simpler. The only difference and additions were using penne pasta and adding cream of mushroom for a creamy tomato base. Google search brought me here. Glad I stopped by!
Daniela Apostol
I am glad that you enjoyed the recipe!
Jo Christianson
I found this recipe easy to follow though I wasn't sure what size 'tin' of tomatoes to use. Thank goodness I went with a 14 oz. can as this recipe was quite runny. I would definitely cut way back on the broth if I made it again.
K
I’m so glad I came across this recipe today; it was delicious and the family loved it. I used vegetable stock, crushed tinned tomatoes and casarecce pasta. I can’t wait to try another one of your recipes. Thank you
Daniela Apostol
I am glad you enjoyed it!
Evie Turk
The best for leftover Costco roast chicken. Added some red pepper flakes and it was delicious. Will add to dinner rotation!
Jackie
It was great. I am in a wheelchair and my husband is the cook but he needed my help as he is more of a roast guy. We both enjoyed it.
Audrey
Getting ready to make it now! Going to steal some tips from others comments such as adding thinly sliced peppers, a cream soup etc because I have them and, ‘why not?’👍😁looking forward to this thank you!
Janet Carter
Love this recipe! I made sure to cook down the tomatoes, and I added about 3 cups chicken and 3 cups pasta with 4 cups broth. I brought the sauce to a boil before adding the pasta and the consistency is perfect. Delish!!
Daniela Apostol
I am glad you enjoyed it!
Joni Griffiths
I made this tonight as I was looking for something quick and needed to clean out some leftover chicken. Super easy!
I added a bay leaf, sautéed some on their last legs mushrooms
And a little red pepper which I had left. We enjoyed!
Daniela Apostol
Amazing! I am glad you liked it!
Angela
Yum!!
Andrew
I am Male so a little bit of pity please. Do I simmer with lid on. I might have missed it but can not see what temp for the hot plate.
Daniela Apostol
You can put the lid on while it cooks, that's absolutely fine. It can be cooked on a medium heat.
Noel Paine
Should tin of tomatoes be 400grams or 800grams. Haven’t made anything yet. Keen to make One pot meals.
Daniela Apostol
400g is enough for this dish.
Mary
Made this today and it is just excellent. Thanks.
Daniela Apostol
That's great, I am glad you liked it!
MWT
Sorry If I was so HARSH Last time. Does one "TIN" mean 14 oz or more?
Daniela Apostol
I edited the recipe to specify that a tin has 400 g or 13 oz - all the tins in the UK have the same size, so I assumed everybody would use the same and would know how much there is in one tin.
Andrew choiw
nice and quick surprisingly delicious. thank you, save the day
Suzanne Meserve
Thanks for a great recipe, made this tonight for dinner using leftover chicken breast. I pulled from my pantry and used a 28 Oz can of crushed tomatoes, actually had to add an equal amount of water as well. So good and easy!!