To me there is nothing easier and more economical to cook with then a whole chicken. Unfortunately, a lot of us have gotten away from cooking with whole chicken because of time and lack of knowledge of what to do with it.  I hope to prove to you that it’s easy to cook a whole chicken, it tastes better, it’s cheaper than buying the different chicken parts individually and did I mention it will taste better?

Google tells me that on average a whole chicken costs $1.28 a pound nationwide. That is high for my area; I can normally find it around .95 cents a pound. Either way, a whole chicken is a great deal because of the amount of different meals you can make with one chicken.

By buying whole chickens the cuts of meats stay more moist and juicy on the bone which makes for better meals. And it couldn’t be easier to make meals with your whole chickens. I usually buy two whole chickens at one time. However, I treat them totally different, one I boil and the other I roast.

To boil the chicken get your dutch oven out and place the whole chicken in it. Cover with water adding a little salt to the water. Place on the stove and turn to high. Cover pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook for about 90 minutes, or until chicken meat is falling off of the bone. With the boiled chicken I like to make chicken salad with the while breast meat. With the dark meat I make chicken soup. Then I boil all the bones and make a bone broth. I like to use that broth to make potato soup. Find the recipes by clicking this link.

To roast a chicken preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serve the roasted chicken  with a side of mashed potatoes. Add some of the chicken to a nice green salad, and the dark meat goes into a chicken and rice dish. Then boil the bones with veggies and make a broth. I will either put it in a gallon zip lock baggie or have it in the fridge if I plan on using it soon. If I have a lot stored in the fridge I like to can it for long term storage. Find the recipes by clicking this link.

So, if we buy two whole chickens that weigh 8 to 10 pounds using our $1.28 per pound figure we would have spent $25.60 for the protein for six meals and some gorgeous bone broth to use for future meals!

That is sweet for news for the food budget!