How to Get Three Meals with One Chicken

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Three Meals with One Chicken

Grocery List:

  • Chicken: $11.51

  • Celery: $1.79

  • Carrots: $1.95

  • Onion: $1.00

  • Garlic: $1.01

  • Thyme: $2.69

  • Parsley: $2.49

  • Buttermilk: $2.69

    Total: $25.13

This entire spread cost 25 dollars, and if you split that up into three days, that equates to $8.37 per meal, which ends up being $4.18 per person. DAMN.

Day 1: Garlic and Herb Marinade

After cutting up the chicken, I separated it into two different bowls. The first meal I made is a traditional thyme, parsley garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil marinade. I let it sit aside while I prepared my second marinade.

Then, I took the remaining chicken, salted on both sides, let the salt sit for at least 10 minutes to permeate the chicken itself, and placed it in a bowl, covering it in buttermilk, sealing it with plastic wrap, and placing it in the fridge to marinate overnight. This recipe is from my girl Samin Nostrat from her series Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix that you should totally watch if you haven’t. 

For the first chicken recipe, I preheated my oven to 425°F, set a pan over a medium high heat, added some olive oil, and seared the chicken for 3-5 minutes on both sides. Then, I finished it in the oven at 425°F until the internal cooking temperature reached 165°F. I served that chicken with some leftover couscous I had from the day before.

Day 2: Buttermilk Chicken

The next day, I made the buttermilk chicken. I preheated my oven to 425°F, placed the chicken in a pan, and cooked the chicken in the oven for ten minutes, reduced the heat to 400°F, and continued to cook the chicken until it reached an internal temperature of 165°F. I served the chicken with a kale salad that I made using ingredients in my fridge.

Day 3: Chicken Soup

Finally, I made the chicken stock. I love to make stock because it seems really hard but once you do it, you realize just how easy it is.

I took the backbone, placed it in a pot, and covered it with cold water. Make sure that the backbone is fully submerged in the water. Then, I added a couple stalks of chopped celery, one chopped carrot, half of an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, thyme sprigs, and parsley. I also added in a bay leaf and a couple peppercorns that I had in my house to add more flavor to the stock. I brought it to a boil, reduced to a simmer, let it cook for two hours. Next, I strained the solids from the liquid. I added more carrots, celery, onions, and some salt. If you want, you can add a grain to the stock to make it even more hearty.

All in all this was a great experiment and I’m so happy how it turned out. Try it out for yourself, I promise you can do it and it is absolutely worth it.

Savory, Besser's BasicsElena BesserComment