Chicken is the most popular meat in the UK. With growing interest in sustainable eating, chefs can take advantage of this by using whole birds rather than selected cuts. This approach reduces waste, stretches your spend, and allows for a broader, more varied menu – especially valuable as customers move away from traditional roast dinners in summer.
Making the Most of Every Part: Honouring the Whole Chicken
Whether you’re buying free-range, sustainably fed birds or working with tighter budgets, it’s respectful and responsible to make the most of each chicken. Apart from the beak and gall bladder, nearly every part is edible. Chefs like Lee Tiernan of F.K.A.B.A.M. are leading the way with offal, showing how once-dismissed parts can be used creatively.
Customers are increasingly conscious of sustainability. Data from Sodexo’s 2024 Sustainable Food Barometer confirms this trend: UK diners want affordable, tasty meals that don’t harm the planet.
So What’s the Best Way to Do a Whole Bird Justice?
Here are a few summer-friendly whole chicken ideas that step away from roast dinners and show how to use lesser-known parts.
Chicken and Chips Reinvented: Authentic Piri Piri Chicken
Move beyond bland roast chicken and chips. Try an authentic Piri Piri style:
- Mash garlic and chilli into butter
- Add white wine vinegar, salt and pepper
- Rub all over the chicken before roasting
- Add flatbread slices to the tray near the end to soak up spicy fat
Serve with CHEF Assured skin-off fries, premium ketchup and mayonnaise.
Peruvian Style Chicken
Spatchcock the chicken and season with CHEF Assured Chicken Seasoning. Roast and serve with Aji Verde – a mix of green chilli and coriander blended into sour cream or thick mayo. Add chips, rice, grilled corn or sweetcorn fritters.
Georgian Style (Chicken Tabaka)
Fry a spatchcocked chicken in butter, pressing down with a weight for 25 minutes each side. Serve with vegetables and a plum sauce (tkemali) or tomato and walnut sauce.
Poached Chicken: Hainanese Chicken Rice
This dish is popular across Southeast Asia:
- Fry chopped chicken skin until it releases fat
- Toast washed rice in the fat, then cook in chicken stock
- Poach the chicken, then plunge into ice to firm the skin
- Serve with rice, broth, and condiments: garlic-spring onion, chilli, and sweet soy sauce
What to Do with the Carcass
Use the bones for soups:
- Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup)
- Tortellini al Brodo (Italian broth with stuffed pasta)
Other Chicken Parts to Use
Schmaltz
Rendered chicken fat is perfect for sautéing, baking flatbreads, or spreading on toast. The Empire Café in Leeds uses it under rotisserie chickens to crisp potatoes. Schmaltz toast with salt, pepper and watercress makes a strong starter or canapé.
Chicken Skin
Roast to a crisp and use as a garnish, or blitz into seasoning with CHEF Assured salt, herbs, spices and a pinch of MSG for “chicken salt” – ideal for chips.
Chicken Hearts
Skewered and grilled, these are popular in Brazil and at UK Rodizio restaurants.
Chicken Feet
Rich in gelatine, they’re great for broth, dim sum, or deep-frying. A low-cost way to boost stock.
Chicken Liver
Use in pâtés, terrines, or for tandoori-style dishes. In Filipino cuisine, it thickens stews like Caldereta – made with beef, vegetables and CHEF Assured Tomato Paste.
Chicken Gizzards
This muscular part is great slow-cooked or fried in a southern-style breading.
Head, Combs and Wattles
Boil heads for stock. Use rooster combs and wattles in Italian dishes like Cimbella con cibreo – braised, peeled, and sometimes candied.
Chicken Ovaries
Served in Japan as Yakitori, they are delicate and valued in many cuisines.
Conclusion
A whole chicken is more than a single meal. With thoughtful preparation, it becomes a centrepiece for multiple dishes, reducing waste and offering value. Whether grilled, poached, or fried, nearly every part has a use. Whole bird cooking speaks to creativity, sustainability and the kind of seasonal variety customers want during the summer months.
