How I make 18 Meals from One Whole Chicken

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When you see a whole chicken how many different dishes do you imagine? In this episode Mike shows you how to create 18 different meals using simple techniques all from one chicken. With meal prep you can set your week up for delicious success.

00:00 Intro
01:07 Chicken Breakdown
04:04 Roast Chicken Stock
05:56 Chicken Salad
09:33 Dry Brined Thighs
11:35 Shredded Chicken Adobo
16:17 Meals for The Week

Follow me on instagram @lifebymikeg for behind the scenes action

All music provided royalty free by Epidemic Music

-Video Credits-
Creator and Host - Mike G
Co-Editor and Producer - Hayden H @haydenhoyl
Blog Writer - Alex C @threhungrybellies

[kmorri]

Congratulations on the new baby!

My oldest (she's 7) was watching this with me and was amazed when you said the first noodle dish didn't work out. She said that whenever she watches youtube cooking videos with me, the chefs are always saying how delicious everything is and she was excited to hear that that's not always true. The concept of learning from mistakes is something we're always working on with our kids, so we appreciate your honesty!

[ArjunApproach]

Watching Brothers Green from my broke college days to now seeing you grow your family, it feels great to have followed your journey over some 8 years. Congrats on the new addition!

[justinatest]

I was able to get whole chicken for $2.00/lb up here in Canada (not a bad price, and things are turbulent) so after having watched videos like yours for a while I took the plunge and bought 3 chickens. I spent an evening butchering them. I have no skills, and a barely passable knife, but I managed no problem.

I got my 6 beautiful breasts with skin and bone-in (they looked amazing, proud of the cuts), 6 thighs, 6 drums, and 12 wings (they were my treat for the effort, delicious). I took all the excess skin and rendered out a cup of fat, which went into an ice cube tray. The main back bones became two stocks. I roasted them with mirepoix, and made one stock for 6 hours. This is a "quality stock", for soups etc. I then turned around and put the bones back on for 36 hours, and got everything out of those bones that I could. I'll use those stocks for things like spicy rice dishes where the quality isn't as important to me.

I have very little in the way of experience cooking, let alone butchering. It was easy, except for the clean up. Slimy, sticky fingers are not cool. Highly recommend though.

[curtishelsel]

Congratulations on the new addition! I have a whole chicken that I've been meaning to butcher since Monday but since I didn't have a plan for tonight I was just going to roast it. Your video gave me so many ideas for my next whole chicken purchase.

[greenecrayon]

I know it sounds strange, but in your chicken salad, consider adding grapes cut in half, or some cubed up apple. It adds some of that crunch, but also a little sweetness. Cranberries are also a good option because of the tartness.

[perymachado]

Two tips from culinary school that have stayed with me all these years:
1) remove the wishbone first. It's a bit more fidly to do but when you cut the breasts you'll get more meat, as a lot will stay on the wishbone and will make it easier to cut the breasts off.
2) along the joints of the legs and thighs (even when attached to the carcass) there is a line of fat that acts as a natural divider along the joints, so you can use that as a guide for where to cut instead of having to feel your way around to find the joint. Otherwise, good job!

[Dontmakemereregister]

Hope kiddo #2 is doing well, I get inspired every time you do these multiple meal videos, keep them coming!

[susimwolfe]

One chicken does give a lot of meals. I do this all the time...I also get a chicken fried rice out of mine in addition to some of the things you did here. I have never used the skin...thanks for that idea and also making the stock right out of the roasted bones (I just save the bones and then make soup)

[brianking]

I take the skin off the breast, crisp them my in a saute pan and then chop them into crumbles to use on my chick salad sandwiches or as a crumble onto my salads/ tacos I make. Complete game changer! And when it renders I get extra smaultz to use later too 🤤 great breakdown great work!! Love your videos

[majoroldladyakamom]

A HEARTY CONGRATS for your new addition to the family!! Nothing like a new baby in the house, their skin, the smell of a new life', their tiny fingernails, and sleep deprivation beyond College Exam finals...

BEST EVER.

Much love, prayers and blessings to you and your loved ones, from your eternal sister in Christ somewhere near Seattle.

⚘🙏❤🙏⚘

[GG-dqdx]

Excellent! I am inspired. Much more economical to purchase a whole chicken and step up my home cooking skills. The variety! The flavors! The satisfaction!

[LogansInnerChef]

Cooking whole chickens can really be intimidating to new cooks. You broke it down perfectly. Great recipes utilizing the chicken too 🍻

[bierbrauer]

“When was the last time you made a really good chicken salad?”
Today! After the main cuts from our Costco chicken are done (legs/thighs/breasts) I use the rest of the carcass for chicken salad! Usually I go Mayo, Dijon, onion, dried cranberries, pecans, and a healthy several cranks of black pepper. I’ll have to give your version a go!

[laurag]

I love making Dominican stewed chicken with chicken breasts. I’m one of those ppl who inspects chicken to make sure it’s not pink inside but also prefer it boneless and The end product is always well cooked but juicy, and basically falls apart!

[pocketminxuk]

My Mum taught Me when a pre teen, how to de feather, clean the insides out, save the giblets, butcher and cook a chicken. 💕
Great ideas for modern times a d tight budgets. Thank you for sharing this video

Edit
Mazeltov👶🏼

[hollyI]

Thank you. With the rising cost of frozen bagged chicken I decided to buy two whole chicken. I’m so glad I found this video. It was extremely helpful. I have the stock going already and, asking a few other meals as well.

[postcardsfrommysister]

THANK YOU so much for this inspiration.
-I have stock slow cooking
-two jars of teriyaki sauce made
-chicken adobo on the stove, just about done
-thighs and breasts dry brining for tomorrow (for teriyaki)
I LOVE your simple prep and THE MISTAKES! It's nice to see the imperfections.
New subscriber!

[rlwalker]

These video clips are great. I actually enjoy any mistakes that happen along the way and then see how you make the best of the recipe.
I also like what I perceive as a tendency to:
1. See what you have
2. Create a recipe that utilizes them.
We get to see the principles behind what you are doing and then get to adapt the recipes to what we have.
Well done.

[luhsea]

This is so useful! Recently got some whole organic chickens for super cheap and they're waiting in my freezer to be used - now I know what to do with them.

[jonathanlatta]

Ive been doing this for almost a year now! So excited to try how you do it, I've been doing essentially the same prep for months.