Easy, Quick Meal Ideas for Shredded Chicken
/I know, I know. You don’t have time to cook healthy meals every day of the week. They take too long, right?
Or maybe you despite your best efforts you either forgot to plan ahead, or you got busy and didn’t meal plan for the week. Or you did plan ahead, but life got in the way, and now the time you thought you’d have to make dinner tonight no longer exists!
It’s happened to all of us (and if it hasn’t, well, good for you… gold stars, move along).
Fortunately, there’s a superhero food that can save you in a meal-time crunch. Shredded chicken.
Are you underwhelmed yet? I know it sounds boring, but stick with me here.
The thing about shredded chicken it needs virtually no “hands-on” time. EVEN IF YOU FORGET TO DEFROST IT. It’s like magic. Put the chicken in your slow-cooker, set the timer, come back hours later and you’ve got shredded chicken for whatever meal your heart desires. For you Instant Pot/Pressure cooker fans, you can have your chicken even quicker.
Not only that, but you can make a huge batch of chicken one day, and have a variety of meals options for the week. Granted, my go-to is generally to throw the chicken on top of a green salad with whatever I happen to have in the house (other veggies, fruits, nuts, etc.), but a salad is far from your only option. In fact, shredded chicken is so versatile, that some of my clients include it in their meal plan EVERY WEEK.
Need meals for one or two? Shredded chicken is the chameleon that will allow you to keep your nutrition on track, but keep variety in your life. Seriously. Your meal plan could easily look something like this:
No, you don’t have to have chicken every day of the week. (Even I would get bored with it eventually) But what I’m saying is that you CAN. It’s fast, easy, affordable and healthy. And it doesn’t have to be bland and boring.
Take some inspiration from these 15 meal ideas:
Dinner Salads So many options here from a simple Caesar salad to a fancier Thai Chicken salad, to whatever you have in the house on greens salad!
Tacos If the chicken is cooked, these take practically no time at all. You can even speed the process up by buying your toppings prepared as well (Though it seriously takes less than 5 minutes to chop an onion, tomato, rinse some beans and pull out the cheese and salsa!).
Enchiladas Okay, so these will take a big longer to cook, but the hands-on time is minimal if you’ve got the shredded chicken on hand!
Chicken Salad Great for sandwiches wraps, on greens, or alone.
Buffalo Chicken I love eating this with chopped veggies like celery or English cucumbers, but you can also use it in wraps or on greens.
BBQ Chicken Same, same. In a wrap, on greens, or get “fancy” and put it on a bun!
Chicken Soups Put together a soup in a snap if your chicken is already cooked! I love a good tortilla soup, but you can’t go wrong with a classic chicken soup either.
Stir-Fry Ridiculously easy. Stir-Fry is one of my go-to meals on nights when we need dinner fast!
Egg Scramble I’ve always been team breakfast for dinner, and this is no exception. Scramble up some eggs with whatever veggies you have on hand (onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, etc.) and throw in the chicken as well for a quick, but filling dinner full of protein.
Quesadillas Yup, they’re fast. Should you eat them every night? Probably not, but we’re not talking every night.
Pasta Salad Chicken with pasta is another meal you can put together quickly. BONUS- your pasta doesn’t have to be pasta! Use zoodles or other veggie “pasta” noodles. You can buy them premade for an even quicker meal.
Burritos If you want to get a big fancier than a taco
Baked Potatoes Baking the potatoes (or sweet potatoes!) may take some time, but not a lot of “hands on” time. Also, you can always microwave the potatoes to get dinner on the table faster. Try topping your dinner potatoes with things like chopped tomatoes, green onions, cheddar cheese, broccoli, red pepper, bacon, and sour cream as well as chicken!
Loaded Nachos Again, the sky’s the limit! These may not be an ideal dinner, but loaded nachos are a fun treat every once in a while
Pizza Almost everyone loves pizza, even if they don’t agree on toppings. Make a pizza for the family with a store bought crust or let everyone make their own individual pizzas on tortillas or portabella mushrooms!
Okay, I gave you 15 starter ideas, but the possibilities are endless. That dinner salad could be done countless different ways- it’s all up to you, your tastes, and your nutritional needs. And that’s just the salad!
no more excuses. You DO have time to get dinner on the table.
Time Crunch Hack: While you get bonus points for throwing the chicken in the crock-pot sometime before lunch so your shredded chicken is ready to go, if you didn’t, that’s okay too. Most grocery stores have rotisserie chickens you can pick up for a last minute meal. If that’s the case, pick up a veggie while you’re there (if you’re super short on time, bagged salads can be a win!) then use the leftover rotisserie chicken for one of the suggestions above!
