A sort of Mumsnet chicken problem...

[BertrandRussell]

I thought I was feeding a lot of people last night so I put a big chicken in the oven. Turned out it’s next Wednesday - and it’s actually just me until Sunday. So I have a large roast chicken and a big pot of mashed potatoes. No problem with the potatoes-fish cakes for the freezer. But what would you do with the chicken? I don’t particularly want to eat it for the next 6 meals.....

I’d like to turn it into freezable stuff.

[AwdBovril]

You could do pie with the meat that's less easy to use up. Chicken & leek in white sauce, or chicken & ham, or with mushrooms in gravy. I do batches of pies /suet puddings & freeze them.
For the breast meat etc, I usually just do sandwiches etc - mayonnaise, lettuce or cucumber, & roast chicken on nice bread - yum. Or put aside for salad, etc.
If you want to be very frugal, rather than trying to get every scrap off the carcass, just remove all visible skin, & chuck it in a pot, all the bones & bits. Boil up for soup. Or stock, & make a risotto sort of thing with it. Strain the stock with a seive & pick off the meat while still warm, pretty easy, although a bit messy.

[AwdBovril]

I would simmer the stock until it's reduced right down, to take up less freezer space, BTW.

[BertrandRussell]

Oh, i’ll definitely make stock!

I’ve never frozen a pie- baked or unbaked? If I did that I could give it to them next Wednesday- that would be brilliant.

[INeedNewShoes]

You can freeze it in slices, just as it is (I've never done this but a friend regularly cooks a chicken in order to portion it up in the freezer). Then you could take bits as and when you want some to make a pie/risotto/pasta or just reheat in slices in a pan of gravy for a quick mini roast.

[Sweetooth92]

I would make the pie filling & pop in pastry to bake next week-will keep it from going soggy x

[AwdBovril]

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=178573

Personally I usually freeze before cooking. Shortcrust pastry is pretty brittle & cracks very easily when frozen.

[AwdBovril]

Good idea from @Sweetooth92 - it would take less freezer space as well, as you'd just need to put the filling in a tub rather than finding a safe space to store a pie without risk of bashing it...

[Laska2Meryls]

here is a bbc recipe chicken pie with puff pastry and freezing instructions .. easy and impressive with the puff pastry which you can buy ready made

or with filo pastry you can make the pie filling and freeze in dish then defrost and add filo just before you want to bake it

[FlaviaAlbia]

I think you should resign yourself to being an experiment. If a chicken can feed a family of 5 for a week, how long can you survive on it?

If you don't want to be an experiment, I carve it and freeze it in a bag if I've extra, then add it into curry when I'm making it next or just do another chicken dinner. If you have the jelly from the bottom I'd put some of that in the bags too, makes it much tastier when you reheat it.

[mrspotatohed]

Make a curry indian or thai and portion and freeze. Make a chicken vegetable and pearl barley stew and freeze in portions

[Coconutbug]

I like this recipe, we've chucked in the freezer and my husband takes it to work. It's yummy

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-mushroom-hot-pot

[Loopytiles]

I use roast chicken that’s been frozen for chicken and bacon risotto, with veg in, delicious!

[BertrandRussell]

Thank you. I don’t think i’ve ever had enough leftover roast chicken for more than a couple of sandwiches before, so it threw me a bit! Pie filling it is.

[Chugchugtraintrain]

Just shred or sluice and freeze in portions. Defrost as needed. Use in curry, with rice or cous cous or pasta, either warm or cold, in sandwiches, with salad..

[Disfordarkchocolate]

We freeze cooked chicken in slices with gravy, it works well. Love the look of the hot pop, may try that. I'd be making some chicken pies with a mashed potatoes top and freezing them.