Pantry recipes using canned chicken or salmon?

Is someone inviting me to dinner?

SwanInWA wrote:

bcsdguy wrote:
SwaninWa, could you provide amounts on the chili powder, cumin, and garlic?

I generally just eyeball it, but I'd say roughly 1 TB chili powder, 1 tsp cumin and 2-3 cloves of garlic. A little smokey paprika doesn't hurt either. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

thank you. :)

Some great ideas.

Chicken and rice. Classic southern recipe. I call it "redneck risotto".

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 packet onion dip mix (this can be sprinkled on top after mixing or mixed in - I prefer mixed in)
1.5 soup cans of milk (2 if use brown rice or larger qty white)
1 to 1.5 cups rice (white or brown - brown cook longer)
Add chicken - thighs or canned fine - the additional salt of the canned chicken will enhance the recipe which usually requires additional salt at serving

Bake at 425 F in a casserole tin or dish for 60 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil, check at the 15 minute mark and 30 minute mark. 90 minute total cook typically.

For a tougher rice, you can simply turn off the oven and continue to let it sit for a while.

Next day leftovers are awesome too.

Gdetrailer wrote:
Me and DW don't like fish fresh or canned, never cared much for it and never acquired a taste for it.

Beef, chicken, pork, turkey is more like it for us..

But, for taste and texture, you can freeze those meats after cooking and it generally does not have much effect on texture and taste.. The downside is you do need a lot of freezer space.

DW's company gave her a 19 lb turkey for Christmas, we already had a ham so we finally got around to cooking that last weekend.. I made up 9 plates of turkey "dinners" on heavy coated paper plates.. Covered them in plastic wrap to freeze them overnight then once frozen we vacuum packed them..

Still ate turkey the entire week but we now have quick turkey dinners in the freezer that can be reheated in about 4 minutes in the microwave.. The upside is they should be less than half the sodium than store bought frozen dinners!

:c Hope you found the time to make some turkey carcass soup too!

The Princess (AKA DGD) spent the day with us unexpectedly and when evening came realised what we'd planned for dinner wouldn't do for her. Took a leaf out of this thread and made tuna and black bean fritters served w/ a green salad.

This is how I did it. Need to write it down since I'll nevah remember the exact how to otherwise, LOL.

2 cans of tuna packed in water (staying at my mother's house for the minute so have a different pantry to navigate)

1 whole egg and 2 egg whites (the whites were leftovers)

3" of a frozen baguette, run through the food processor to make breadcrumbs. Could have used a 4 sided grater instead.

1/4 cup of minced green pepper; same amt of minced shallot
1/8 cup of minced celery. Celery leaves have more flav than stalks; would have used 'em if I didn't need them for soup making.

10-12 leaves w/ stems of parsley, chopped

1/3 can of black beans; leftovers. Would have use a touch more if any was available.

2 TBS mayo

about....1-1/2 tsp of fajita seasoning

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes; could hold overnight. Mixture didn't mold well so I added approx 1/8 cup of crumbled cornbread and returned to fridge. Would have added 1/2 the contents of a vacuum packed small can of corn if I'd had one on hand.

Place about 1/4" of olive oil in skillet over medium heat and after 3-4 minutes add tuna mixture to pan using 1/3 cup measure. "Smush" mounds down and cook each side 2 minutes. You should be able to fit 4 mounds in a 12" skillet.

Serve and top with tomato based salsa. Yield was 12 cakes/fritters. Still mulling whether remainder (about half the mixture) can be frozen; will let you know what I decide.

The man pronounced them "tasty" which is about as high a critique I can get from him after his many years in Long Island:B. He also longs for Howard Johnson's style meatloaf every August but I digress.

Me and DW don't like fish fresh or canned, never cared much for it and never acquired a taste for it.

Beef, chicken, pork, turkey is more like it for us..

But, for taste and texture, you can freeze those meats after cooking and it generally does not have much effect on texture and taste.. The downside is you do need a lot of freezer space.

DW's company gave her a 19 lb turkey for Christmas, we already had a ham so we finally got around to cooking that last weekend.. I made up 9 plates of turkey "dinners" on heavy coated paper plates.. Covered them in plastic wrap to freeze them overnight then once frozen we vacuum packed them..

Still ate turkey the entire week but we now have quick turkey dinners in the freezer that can be reheated in about 4 minutes in the microwave.. The upside is they should be less than half the sodium than store bought frozen dinners!

Gdetrailer wrote:

NYCgrrl wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


Just do be aware that canned chunked chicken DOES have a lot of sodium (salt) so if you are on low salt diet it may not be for you.. In that case you can sub in freshly cooked chicken that you control the salt in the cooking process..

That's my problem and solution for canned chicken. Had it once whilst on an Atkins' diet and decided I'd rather gain weight, LOL.
Hopefully there's a lower sodium available besides what I bought that time since canned meats certainly have their uses.

"Canned" anything will have considerable amount of sodium, can't be helped, just the nature of the beast when it comes to canning/food preservation..

While you can often find lower sodium versions of vegetables and tomato based canned items, but canned meat items not so much.

While I am not on a low sodium diet, I do try to watch the sodium due to high blood pressure (and am already on BP meds which have some annoying side effects and I would rather not take any more than the one I am on).

We grow our own tomatoes, cook them down and freeze the sauce using less salt than canned tomato sauces.. Allows for more control..

We do buy a lot of frozen vegetables, they are low or no sodium added.

You can also precook chicken break it up then freeze it to substitute it for the canned version.. Makes for a quick meal and you control the sodium..

Many meats also can be precooked and then frozen, we smoke our own version of pulled pork using pork loin.. Less grease/fat and we control the sodium over store bought versions. Smoke then pull and add some BBQ sauce (yeah, haven't figured out my own BBQ sauce yet :( perhaps some day) then freeze..

New favorite thing is a vacuum sealer we bought recently, these new ones sure have made vacuum packing extremely easy..

Yeah those canned meats are tricky, sodium and texture wise. Nowadays, I try to stock up on imported jarred tuna which has about 8% sodium which is a nice bit less than canned tuna's 10-13%.

No idea what the brand or sodium count was for the canned chicken I bought that time; not a lot of choices on my end.

I wuvv my vacuum sealer; one of the best purchases I've ever made for food preservation. Here's a neat trick for when the seal won't hold. Soak the rubber gasket in water and then re-install.

NYCgrrl wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


Just do be aware that canned chunked chicken DOES have a lot of sodium (salt) so if you are on low salt diet it may not be for you.. In that case you can sub in freshly cooked chicken that you control the salt in the cooking process..

That's my problem and solution for canned chicken. Had it once whilst on an Atkins' diet and decided I'd rather gain weight, LOL.
Hopefully there's a lower sodium available besides what I bought that time since canned meats certainly have their uses.

"Canned" anything will have considerable amount of sodium, can't be helped, just the nature of the beast when it comes to canning/food preservation..

While you can often find lower sodium versions of vegetables and tomato based canned items, but canned meat items not so much.

While I am not on a low sodium diet, I do try to watch the sodium due to high blood pressure (and am already on BP meds which have some annoying side effects and I would rather not take any more than the one I am on).

We grow our own tomatoes, cook them down and freeze the sauce using less salt than canned tomato sauces.. Allows for more control..

We do buy a lot of frozen vegetables, they are low or no sodium added.

You can also precook chicken break it up then freeze it to substitute it for the canned version.. Makes for a quick meal and you control the sodium..

Many meats also can be precooked and then frozen, we smoke our own version of pulled pork using pork loin.. Less grease/fat and we control the sodium over store bought versions. Smoke then pull and add some BBQ sauce (yeah, haven't figured out my own BBQ sauce yet :( perhaps some day) then freeze..

New favorite thing is a vacuum sealer we bought recently, these new ones sure have made vacuum packing extremely easy..

Gdetrailer wrote:


Just do be aware that canned chunked chicken DOES have a lot of sodium (salt) so if you are on low salt diet it may not be for you.. In that case you can sub in freshly cooked chicken that you control the salt in the cooking process..

That's my problem and solution for canned chicken. Had it once whilst on an Atkins' diet and decided I'd rather gain weight, LOL.
Hopefully there's a lower sodium available besides what I bought that time since canned meats certainly have their uses.

Just in case you didn't get enough chicken recipes..

BBQ Chicken sandwiches..

Can of chunked chicken (drained)

Favorite BBQ sauce (ours is Bullseye Original or KC Masterpiece Original which ever we can get and that is getting hard to find now days).

Onion, chopped or rings, your choice

Burger buns

Combine chick and BBQ sauce in pan, heat until warm.

No measurements, I eyeball the sauce to chicken ratio to my taste.

When hot, serve on bun add onion to suit taste!

Optional, Pepperjack cheese on top of the chicken and onions and place in broiler to melt the cheese..

Just do be aware that canned chunked chicken DOES have a lot of sodium (salt) so if you are on low salt diet it may not be for you.. In that case you can sub in freshly cooked chicken that you control the salt in the cooking process..

Chicken sandwiches (my childhood favorite)

Canned chicken (drained)

can of condensed cream of chicken soup

Plain potato chips

Burger buns

Combine canned chicken with cream of chicken in sauce pan, heat with low heat, crunch up several hand fulls of potato chips (thickens and adds flavor). Do not add water or milk to the cream of chicken!

Serve on burger buns when hot..

Optional is black pepper to taste..

Then there is Chicken salad sandwiches..

Can of chicken (drained), pickles (sweet or dill, your choice, chopped), onion (finely chopped), walnut pieces and Miracle Whip or Mayo (your choice)..

Lightly salt, pepper and garlic to taste!

Chill and serve on bread to make sandwich..

Don't have recipe per say, I just eyeball the ingredients and experiment to taste.

On edit, chill the chicken salad overnight for best taste!

Thought of another one..

Homemade Chicken noodle soup..

one can of chunk chicken (don't drain)

two cans of chicken broth

3 cups of water

8 oz of Klusky noodles (these are thicker than normal noodles)

Combine chunk chicken, broth and water, heat until boiling then add noodles. Boil for 16 minutes..

Add salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste.