Leftover Roast Chicken Risotto

Leftover Roast Chicken Risotto with frozen peas and corn is the perfect budget-friendly way to use up your leftovers and a super tasty family meal.

A simple, family-friendly risotto is a perfect way to jazz up leftover chicken breasts.

If you are after a budget dinner, you can also make this Cooked Chicken Risotto with pre-cooked frozen chicken breasts, which are cheap and great to have in. 

I love risotto. It’s delicious and nowhere near as complicated to make as people think it is. 

In fact, I think people are often far too snobby with risotto.

I like the rice in my Chicken and mushroom risotto to have a bit of bite and for the grains to be separate instead of it all mushing together. 

I also like it fairly dry.

Well, not dry, moist and sticky, but not soupy or like the rice is swimming in a sauce. So that’s the recipe I’ve written. 

But if you prefer a mushy or saucier Leftover chicken and mushroom risotto cook it for longer. Make an easy risotto that you and your family like. 

Ingredients for Leftover Chicken Risotto

For my Risotto with Leftover Roast Chicken Recipe, I use:

Butter – Swap for olive oil if you prefer.

Red Onion 

Garlic 

Mushrooms – I use chestnut mushrooms, but button or basic closed cup would be fine, use what you’ve got.

Leftover Roast Chicken – Or cooked chicken breasts. I shred my chicken by just pulling it apart when it’s cool, but you should slice or dice. 

Arborio Rice/Risotto Rice

White Wine – Anything dry works well. 

Mixed Herbs

Salt and Pepper

Chicken Stock 

Frozen Peas

Frozen Corn

Grated Parmesan Cheese 

How to Make Chicken Risotto without Wine

If you are making a Budget Chicken Risotto, you might prefer to skip the wine, and that’s fine. 

To make a Creamy Chicken Risotto without wine, just add a ladle of stock instead. 

How Much Stock Do You Need for Risotto?

I make a litre of stock up when I make my cooked chicken risotto, but I rarely use all of it. There’s usually a bit left in the pan. 

I keep adding stock, ladle at a time, for 20 minutes, which usually uses most of the stock. 

If you prefer softer rice or more of a sauce, you might need to use a bit more.

You might also need a bit more if you don’t want to use wine. 

Adding Vegetables to This Leftover Chicken Risotto Recipe 

This is a recipe for Risotto with chicken and peas, as well as mushrooms and onion. 

But you could swap the peas and corn for some peppers if you prefer.

I’d dice them and add them with the mushrooms. 

You could also skip them entirely. I like a Risotto with frozen veg because it’s cheap and easy, and the peas and corn add some colour to an otherwise very beige meal. 

What You Need to Make Risotto with Leftover Chicken

When I make an easy leftover roast chicken risotto, I use a large non-stick frying pan, a large saucepan for the stock, a ladle and a spatula. (Affiliate links)

How to Cook Chicken Risotto

You can get the full instructions for my leftover chicken risotto recipe in my recipe card below, but my top tips for any risotto are:

• Keep the stock warm so that you aren’t having to warm it up when you add it to the rice. 
• Stir, but not constantly. Your pan should be fairly full, so the grains of rice will be close together, and they’ll agitate themselves as they simmer.
• Don’t rinse the rice. You need the starch for a creamy risotto. 
• Aim for an “al-dente” texture for your rice.
• When it’s ready, you should be able to run your spatula down the middle and leave an empty groove that fills slowly instead of one that fills with liquid immediately. Simmer for a little longer if it’s too watery, and add a little stock if it’s too dry. 

Storing Leftover Roast Chicken

If you are cooking with leftover roast chicken, you need to make sure it’s stored safely and is safe to eat. 

Cool your chicken quickly by removing it from the cooking pan.

Then shred it by pulling it apart (I do this on Sunday night before I put it in the fridge, but you can do it the other way around) before putting it in an airtight container.

Store your chicken in the fridge (between 1-5°) for 1-2 days. Check more guidance here, and store and reheat meat at your own risk. 

If your leftover chicken smells off, feels slimy, tastes wrong, or otherwise seems wrong, throw it away. Trust your instincts, even if you’ve done everything right. 

Reheating Leftover Chicken

When you make this leftover chicken risotto, you cook the leftover chicken slowly in stock, which gives it plenty of time to get out of the “danger zone”. Reheated food should reach 75° or above for at least 2 minutes. 

Disclaimer: While I aim to be as accurate as possible, any advice in this post, including but not limited to, cooking times, quantities, nutritional information and storage and freezing guidance is based on my own experience. Please use your own skills, knowledge and judgement, and get up to date food safety information. 

Simmering for at least 20 minutes is a fairly safe way to reheat chicken.

But make sure it’s piping hot all of the way through before serving. 

Get more tips on reheating food here. 

What Can You Make with Leftover Chicken?

Other meals that I enjoy with leftover chicken include:

• Leftover Chicken Pasta
• Pasta Bake
• Fried Rice
• Stroganoff
• Sweet and Sour
• Chicken and Chorizo Pasta
• Easy Curry

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