In many areas chicken is one oif the cheapest meat options. Chicken can be farther stretched into multiple ways for an even better bargain.

Share your chicken dish recipes and how you make more than one meal from it.

My stretched meals depend on what I have on hand and need to use up. Give me a chicken and a list of ingredients to use and I can stretch that bird into multiple meals using what ingredients I had to work with. That's the best wayt to stretch, then you are making good use of both the chicken and all other foods you have on hand.

One all time win though is using the bones/carcuss for bone broth/soup. That is one "for sure" way I can always utilize a smart stretch.

1st meal, roast chicken.  Sometimes whole chicken is the cheapest, but sometimes chicken thighs or chicken leg quarters are the better deal.  If I'm not cooking a whole chicken, I cook one piece per person eating (unless they're leg quarters, then I'll cook one quarter per 2 people eating) plus extras for future meals.  It uses almost the same amount of electricity to run the oven to cook 10+ pieces as it does 5, so why not?

All chicken scraps (bones, skin, meat bits, pan drippings) are saved.  After dinner, all bits of chicken that can be salvaged are picked off of the bone (there's a surprising amount of meat on the back, and that often gets forgotten).  Chicken meat put in the fridge, and all the scraps and bones put in a pot, veggie scraps from the freezer (if I don't have any in the freezer, I'll just cut up some onion, carrots, and celery to add to the pot) added along with other reserved bones (if I have any), covered with water and a splash of apple cider vinegar, and simmered to make chicken stock.

It's important that the chicken be served with lots of sides to help stretch the meal.  Roast vegetables along with the chicken to make them extra tasty and to conserve oven power.

2nd meal: Something like chicken & dumplings can be bulked out with veggies added to the stew, plus veggies on the side.  For people who have no issues with potatoes, it can also be served on top of mashed potatoes to help stretch a little further.  Mashed cauliflower or other veggies could also work just as well.  Use the chicken stock to help make this too.

You could instead try making chicken pot pie or chicken shepherd's pie.  Again, lots of veggies is key.

3rd meal: white chicken chili?  Stretching the meat with beans also helps to bulk up the meal, plus the chicken stock contains a lot of the goodness from the chicken.

4th meal: chicken soup -- chicken noodle, chicken rice, chicken barley, chicken vegetable, whatever your family likes.

There's almost always soup or a serving of one of the other dishes for another meal for someone.

We usually get at least 3 meals out of a chicken ... not counting using the bones used as broth.   First meal is usualy roast chicken; 2nd and third meals vary.   Can be stir fry, chicken & dumplings, chicken Pho, Padd Thai, occasionaly something like chicken burritos or chicken pot pie.  If it's not a roti chicken, the liver gets baked and fed to the younger cats over a couple of meals.

A blog post I found on stretching chicken (she says 22 meals, but I think it's more accurate to say 22 servings).

1 Chicken, 22 meals, $49

Obviously we can find cheaper chicken than that, but it's still a good post.

Another post I found: 1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo.  It has some ideas I hadn't considered, such as piccadillo.  Again, it should more accurately list as 17 servings rather than 17 meals. 

Boy, chicken is the best!

Fried, baked, boiled, steamed, poached, stir-fried, grilled, in salads, in casseroles, in soups, roasted, sliced, diced, shredded, minced, chopped, hot or cold.

The recipes for chicken are endless. You can dress it in white sauces, red sauces, sweet and sour sauces in broth or under a pastry cap. Spiced or plain it tastes great with rice, barley, potatoes, pasta, fruit, vegetables grains. And at the end you can make stock out of the boness.

Where can one stop???? 

Spider, GREAT links. I love the visuals and ideas. I second the chicken chili idea as it's super frugal to make and most folks already have that stuff on hand at home.

I know Brandy has been looking for some creative new recipes/ideas for her basics at home. You always give really good feedback. I am sure these links will give some new ideas too!

I have a roti-chicken planned for Friday to use for Fiesta Friday... chicken soft taco night... I will use the leftover bones/carcuss for a nice savoury bone broth to use over the weekend in a fresh slow cooker soup. Saturday is Italian and Sunday is PHO... if all goes as planned... most likely will need it for Saturday/Itaian.

 chicken noodle soup,  chicken alfrado,chicken salad, chicken cassarole, and chicken roll us I get about 4 meals out of it for me by myself I buy chicken more and more since I see organic chicken at krogers now that I donnot have to go to the butcher anymore and its a tad less cheaper this way for me.