All About Rotisserie Chicken Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to make a rotisserie chicken taste better? ›

Make a Rub

Just because the chicken is already cooked doesn't mean it can't benefit from a rub. Before reheating, make a custom blend of your favorite spices like paprika, cayenne, onion or garlic powder. Mix in dried herbs or a bit of sugar for beautiful caramelization, then sprinkle it evenly over the skin.

One of the key secrets to achieving juicy and flavorful rotisserie chicken lies in the art of brining. Brining involves soaking the chicken in a saltwater solution infused with herbs, spices and aromatics. This process not only enhances moisture retention but also imparts depth of flavor to the meat.

This Costco hack couldn't be easier. Simply place a warm rotisserie chicken in a gallon-sized zip-top bag (there's no need to pull the chicken apart or do any other prep), seal the bag, and begin to gently massage the chicken. The drumsticks, breast meat, and thighs will very quickly separate from the bones.

I am sharing how I take one Costco Rotisserie Chicken and turn it into 5 meals for my husband and me. That's FIVE MEALS, not five servings! Plus, I use my InstantPot to make a delicious chicken soup from the bones, so technically that's SIX meals! And no, they aren't chintzy, starvation diet-sized meals.

Thanks to the fat, the chickens develop a fantastically intense flavor. Basting also prevents the meat from drying out and is a key factor in developing the rotisserie chicken's trademark brown hue.

The white stuff coming out of chicken as it cooks is simply extra protein that dissolves in water and is forced out of the meat by heat. Food scientist Topher McNeil, PhD, explains, “The [chicken] muscles themselves actually contract and squeeze out the liquid that's in between muscle cells.”

The reason Costco's chicken is so juicy is because of a salt solution pumped inside, which is basically like super-brining. That makes the meat moist and evenly seasoned every time, delivering a consistent—though there has been some Reddit uproar about weird-tasting chicken lately in some states—tasting chicken.

As the bird freezes and then thaws, it sometimes causes pigment to leach out of the bone marrow and accumulate as a deep red color around the bone. You'll also likely notice it in the meat right next to the bone.

Indeed, Costco's rotisserie chickens include phosphate among a laundry list of other ingredients with very long names. And while ideally consumers shouldn't be able to taste phosphate, Thippareddi said, some are more sensitive to the chemical than others.

What does Costco inject into their rotisserie chicken? ›

At Costco, where you can buy a rotisserie chicken for $4.99, even with inflation running amok, the chickens are injected with a concentrated saline solution to give them their distinctive taste that customers know and love. And while some customers have discovered off-tasting chicken, not all have.

For starters, "our bodies are meant to eat all the macronutrients — proteins, fats, and carbs — on a daily basis. If we were to eat only rotisserie chicken, we would be surviving off of fat and protein, but no real carb," Meshulam says. "Our gut health relies on carbohydrates (specifically fiber) to survive.

Room temperature falls into the danger zone for food safety, which is 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit. Bacteria growth increases rapidly under these temperatures which is why the Meat and Poultry Hotline says to “never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours.” This includes cooked chicken such as rotisserie chicken.

Even with additives, a rotisserie chicken is a far healthier choice than a fast food run, says Allers. “It's still lower in fat and calories than fast food. It's serving its purpose – it's fast, but it can still help you create a balanced meal.

Add a touch of spice to your chicken breast by combining paprika, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, ginger, garlic and olive oil to create a paste. Then cover your chicken breast with the paste and pat down to secure.

Add liquid or sauce: To prevent the chicken from drying out, you can add a small amount of liquid or sauce to the pan. This can be chicken broth, a splash of water, or even a marinade of your choice. Reheating time: Place the chicken in the skillet or pan and cook it for approximately 3-5 minutes on each side.

Remove the rotisserie chicken from the packaging and place it in an oven-safe dish. To keep the chicken moist, pour a cup of chicken broth into the bottom of the dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Let the chicken roast for approximately 25 minutes.