The Best Ways To Use Canned Chicken: 10 Quick Meal Ideas

Canned chicken may sound boring, but it is actually a quick shortcut to making a delicious recipe! In this post, you will find our top 10 easy canned chicken recipes to make mealtime a breeze!

Having canned chicken on hand helps you get a homemade dinner on the table in a matter of minutes, and believe it or not, it is even quicker than waiting in line at the drive-through! Canned chicken is one of our favorite pantry staples. It is a real time-saver and will help you make quick dinners that your family will love! Next time you need dinner quick, refer to this list for ten of our favorite ways to use canned chicken.

Methods for canning chicken

You can use chicken breast, thighs, legs, or anything you’d like for canning! If you’d like to can white meat and dark meat separately, you can, or you can also add them all together, it really is just a matter of your personal preference. In our home, we raw pack chicken breasts and hot pack the dark meat. Cooking the dark meat allows us to be able to remove the bones from the meat. While the USDA does approve canning meat with bones, we prefer it to be ready to dump and eat! This also allows us to make a large batch of broth with the bones to can alongside our chicken! Find our Healing Chicken Bone Broth Recipe here!

If you are new to canning or want to learn more about pressure canning meats, enroll in our canning course Yes, You Can! In this course, we will walk you through the step-by-step process and help you feel confident filling your shelves with home-preserved foods! 

Raw packed chicken

Raw chicken is added into the jar uncooked and then pressure canned. It shreds easily for tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, or chicken salad. This is most similar to store-bought canned chicken. 

Hot packed chicken

Hot packed is when you add partially cooked chicken to the jar and then pressure can. Since it involves cooking the chicken 2/3 of the way before canning, it will keep its shape and be great in a soup stew, or chicken pot pie. Fully cooked chicken can also be hot packed, but shredded chicken cannot be canned as it is too dense. The guideline of cooking chicken 2/3 (to 140 degrees F) yields an excellent product that is not overcooked after being pressure canned.   

How to use canned chicken for easy dinners

The best part about having a stock of canned meats on your pantry shelves is that they can easily be opened and added to your cooking for an easy meal. There’s no waiting to defrost or to cook it up! You can use canned chicken in any recipe you’d like, but we wanted to compose a list of some of our family’s favorite easy recipes. If you don’t have homemade canned chicken at home, that’s okay! All of these ideas are a great way to use leftover chicken, or you can also use canned chicken bought from the grocery store. If you’d like to use canned beef instead, check out our 10 recipe ideas for canned beef here!

1. Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

This is an easy dinner that the whole family will love that only needs a handful of ingredients! Throw shredded chicken, leftover chopped bacon, ranch dressing, tomatoes, and lettuce into a tortilla. We love Stacey’s Organic Tortillas from Azure. 

2. Chicken Quesadillas or Tacos

This is one of the easiest ways to make dinner on a busy day! If you are making a quesadilla, just add a tortilla to a warm skillet with cheese and canned chicken on top and heat until melted and warmed through and the tortilla is golden brown. For tacos, all you need to do is warm up the chicken on the stovetop or in the microwave. You can throw in some taco seasoning and add your favorite toppings such as guacamole, salsa, or sour cream. 

3. Chicken Soup or stew

Use hot packed chicken, broth and any veggies you love for an easy soup. Follow a recipe like Chicken noodle soup, or get creative with it! In our home, soup never tastes the same because it all matters what’s in the garden or fridge! Stew is typically thicker and uses potatoes– but we will let you make the call! 

4. Chicken and Gravy

Chicken and gravy is so easy and is a delicious way to make a tasty comfort food recipe. Make a roux by melting butter in a pan and slowly add an equal amount of flour. Then add your chicken with juice (broth!) to the pan and simmer until thickened. This can be served over mashed potatoes, or throw in some mixed veggies and put the mashed potatoes on top to have a chicken version of a shepherd’s pie! We love this version when there’s leftover mashed potatoes because it will reheat quickly! 

5. BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

The raw packed meat will shred very easily to make some delicious chicken BBQ sandwiches!

6. Chicken Salad Sandwiches

We love this simple recipe and you can eat it on top of a green salad if you prefer! We love this chicken salad recipe for a quick lunch because you can easily whip it up since there is no cooking involved. Just link to

7. Chicken Alfredo

Since we have two dairy cows, the list wouldn’t be complete without Alfredo! This is a favorite way to use fresh dairy products and cans of chicken! Mix the butter, cream cheese, and whipping cream until it begins to be smooth and thick (about 7 minutes), then add in the cheese, salt, pepper, and chicken! Throw in on top of some noodles and enjoy.

Alfredo sauce ingredients:

• 1//2 cup butter 
• 4 ounces cream cheese 
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

8. Any Chicken casserole recipe

Chicken casseroles are always great for easy dinner recipes. You can use canned chicken in any of your favorite recipes to make a delicious meal. Using canned instead of fresh chicken will knock off the step of cooking the chicken and reduce the cooking time. Just follow your favorite recipe and remember to DIY the cream of chicken soup while you’re at it! 

9. White Chicken Chili

We have an award-winning chicken chili that should hit the blog soon– so stay tuned for that! But we love how easy it is to whip up by using canned chicken. 

10. Chicken Fried Rice

Just like the leftover mashed potatoes transformed into shepherd’s pie, chicken fried rice will use up your leftover white rice! All you need are some simple ingredients and canned chicken. Scramble some eggs, add some veggies, and throw in rice and chicken. Use some coconut aminos and sesame oil to flavor it and you’ve just made a quick meal from all your fridge leftovers.