We bought a 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters for $5.98. I made 9 meals (not counting leftovers) for our family out these chicken quarters. We are a small family with only 2 adults and one toddler eating.
This is how I divided up the chicken quarters.
8 chicken leg quarters:
Chicken legs = 2 meals
Chicken skin = 1 meal
Chicken thighs = 4 meals
Chicken bones = 2 meals
I cut all the drum sticks off. 8 drum sticks makes 2 meals for us. I can grill the legs or roast them. They can be marinated for extra flavor.
I took the skin off of the thighs. The skins will make one meal. I fry them like bacon, and can make breakfast for dinner. I will save all the fat that renders out of the skins as they fry (almost 1/2 cup). The fat goes in a jar in the refrigerator for cooking and baking later.
I de-boned all the thighs. I chopped the thigh meat up and put two thighs worth of meat, a piece, in freezer bags. I can use the chopped thigh meat for stir-fry, sweet and sour chicken, and refried rice.
The bones are thrown into a pot for making broth. I strain the bones out of the finished broth and pick any meat off the bones for soup. I make soup with the broth. I can make many various soups depending on the ingredients I have on hand.
What types of meals would you make with 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters?
We eat a lot of chicken leg quarters. They are super affordable and very flavorful. Sometimes when we buy chicken leg quarters I make fried drumsticks and thighs. Chicken leg quarters make really good chicken cacciatore, too. I have also cooked the legs quarters in the crock-pot all at once. I pulled the meat off of the bone and used it in several Mexican style dishes and BBQ sandwiches. I usually make our chicken salad out of dark meat, too. I probably would not serve it to company just because most people are accustomed to chicken breast in their chicken salad, but we like it made with thighs. The dark meat goes really good in chicken tetrazzini, too.
Tell me in the comments what you make with chicken quarters! I'd love to hear from you!
That's sounds like you are quite creative with your chicken. I enjoyed reading your post! I love chicken salad and grilled chicken drumsticks. I recently purchased a whole grass fed chicken from Aldi, and boiled it. Once it was fully cooked, I de-boned it, and boiled the bones to make a delicious broth. I plan to make chicken noodle soup tonight with the broth, and leftover chicken. Bone broth is so healthy, and it's nice to make nutritious meals for the family!
ReplyDeleteYour dinner sounds delicious! Bone broth is really good for you. I am sure your pastured chicken broth will be much better for you than my brotth from typical commercial chicken.:) I don't think it would be possible to buy pastured poltry for 59¢ a pound.
DeleteYou did a good job making creative meals with the chicken you bought! We usually only buy whole chickens and chicken breast. I prefer dark meat myself, but it’s not much of a deal here in Canada.
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