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Rotisserie Chicken Shopping, Buying and Storage Tips

Nothing beats a hot, juicy, rotisserie chicken for dinner on busy nights. Available at many local grocers, it has become a go-to quick and easy meal plan that feels more like home cooking than a pile of burgers and fries. Learn how to shop, buy, and store rotisserie chicken.

Love trying new kinds of salads? For a limited time, Momma’s 10 Best Salad Recipes are available in a gorgeous mini-Cookbook. Grab your FREE copy here. 

Rotisserie Chicken Shopping, Buying and Storage Tips

What is rotisserie chicken?

Rotisserie chicken is a dish cooked on a rotisserie. The rotisserie turns to roast the meat using a direct heat source. This method makes a juicy chicken as the rotation allows the juices and drippings to stay on, maximizing flavor. 

Chicken on rotisserie wheel for shopping for juicy chicekn.

Where can I buy rotisserie chicken?

You can find rotisserie chickens at meat markets, grocery stores, and local eateries. Boston Market made rotisserie chicken very popular in the 1990s, and now over 900 million rotisserie chickens are sold by foodservice outlets and stores in a year.

The most popular food stores in our area of Southern California are as follows.

  1. Costco 
  2. Walmart
  3. Sprouts
  4. Vons
  5. Wholefoods

You can find them at smaller meat and ethnic food markets. These are very flavorful and often have a variety of spices.

Juicy rotisserie chicken carving to find the best chicken.

How to pick the best rotisserie chicken.

  1. Pick the heaviest chicken available. They sit under a clamshell plastic container or bag under a heat lamp and end up cooking longer. This can dry out a smaller bird. Purchasing the plumpest chicken you can find gives you better odds of having a juicy bird to take home for dinner.
  2. Check the skin. You want a bird that has an even golden brown. The color may be different depending on the seasoning. The chicken skin should be plump and taught. If not, the chicken may have been sitting under the heat lamp too long.
  3. Get to know your store. Ask the deli or meat market attendant how often they cook the chicken throughout the day and the best time to buy.
  4. Consider buying a natural bird instead of heavy seasoning. Sometimes the seasoning contains unwanted chemicals. This is another thing you can ask the market attendant. Ask what seasoning is used and if ingredients that cause a reaction to anyone in your family is cooking into the bird.  Whole Foods and Sprouts both sell the natural flavored whole chickens. 

Love trying new kinds of salads? For a limited time, Momma’s 10 Best Salad Recipes are available in a gorgeous mini-Cookbook. Grab your FREE copy here. 

Learn how to remove meat from whole chicken to store in refrigerator or freezer.

How many days does rotisserie chicken stay fresh in refrigeration?

Properly stored rotisserie chicken can last three to four days in the refrigerator. I err on the side of caution and use the meat by day two and then freeze the leftovers.

Can I freeze the chicken meat? 

Yes! You can freeze the meat from the rotisserie chicken. Remove skin and meat from the bone. Chop, cube, or shred the meat and freeze in airtight containers or freezer bags.

Shredded chicken tacos made from rotisserie chicken.

What recipes can I make?

Eating the chicken right from the store is awesome. But, you can make several kinds of yummy meals from rotisserie chicken. 

Each chicken yields around 3 to 3 ½ cups of meat. 

You can use the meat for casseroles, tacos, soups, salads, and even lasagna!

Rotisserie Chicken Shopping, Buying and Storage Tips 

I hope you have enough information now to find, choose, and enjoy a nice juicy rotisserie chicken. I would love to hear where you buy your whole cooked chickens in your town!  Shoot me a message on Instagram or comment below. 

Love trying new kinds of salads? For a limited time, Momma’s 10 Best Salad Recipes are available in a gorgeous mini-Cookbook. Grab your FREE copy here. 

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One Comment

  1. I always wondered how long it could be kept. Of course the ones around here aren’t very big and we usually eat it all the first go around, LOL!

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