5 Meals You Can Make from One Pasture-Raised Chicken

If you’ve ever felt like feeding your family is a never-ending chore, this post is your new best friend.

A single pasture-raised chicken gives you flavor, nutrition, and value that grocery store birds can’t touch—but it can also stretch surprisingly far.

The average 4–5 lb chicken provides:

• 1-2 family dinners

• 1-2 lunches

• Bone broth for soups, stews, or freezer meals

• Enough meat for 6+ individual servings

  
  

The key is using it intentionally.

Step 1: Roast the Chicken

Use your favorite method—or try my simple herb-roasted recipe

Meal #1: Roast Chicken Dinner with veggies

Meal #2: Chicken & Rice Bowls with lemon, herbs, and roasted veggies

Step 2: Pick the Meat Clean

You’ll end up with roughly 3 cups shredded or chopped chicken.

Use that meat for:

3. Chicken Quesadillas

4. Creamy Chicken & Veggie Skillet

5. BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

6. Chicken Pot Pie Filling7. Chicken Salad Wraps

8. Chicken & Egg Fried Rice

Step 3: Make Bone Broth

Add leftover bones, a splash of vinegar, some onions, carrots, maybe some celery, and simmer for 12–24 hours on your stove top.

Use broth to create:

9. Chicken Noodle Soup

10. Chicken & Dumplings or any cozy winter soup

Why Pastured Poultry Makes This Even Better

Pastured birds have:

• Higher omega-3s

• More vitamin E

• Better mineral density

• Cleaner fat profile

• Richer flavor

• Firmer texture

• No factory-farm water weight

  
  

It means your meals aren’t just stretched—they’re actually nourishing.

The Takeaway

One chicken can feed your family all week. It saves money, reduces stress, and puts real food on the table. And when that chicken is local, pastured, and raised with care, the difference shows up in both flavor and health.

This is homegrown food done simply—and purposefully.