Chicken’s immense popularity is probably owed to the fact that it can be fixed in so many different ways. You can fry it, bake it,or even boil it if you want to make a nice homemade chicken salad.
But when you have leftover chicken in your refrigerator, is it possible to take it out of the fridge and eat it cold? If you buy a whole chicken, it’s very likely you’ll end up with some leftovers. This causes some people to wonder whether or not eating cold chicken is safe. Fortunately, the answer is fairly simple.
You can eat cold chicken without worrying about getting sick, as long as the chicken was previously cooked and stored away properly afterward. You never want to eat raw chicken or chicken that is not completely cooked, because this has the potential to make you sick. If you follow basic food safety rules and use common sense, you can eat cooked chicken straight from the refrigerator without heating it first.
What Does Cold Chicken Taste Like?
Chicken tastes the same whether it’s hot or cold, but when it’s cold it has a texture that’s a little firmer. You can easily make a sandwich with it or simply eat it as a snack. Many people claim that cold chicken tastes better. This is partly because when you cook a chicken and place leftovers in the fridge, the seasonings have a chance to develop and taste even yummier.
Benefits of Eating Cold Chicken
The main benefit of eating chicken when it’s cold is that you’re not letting any of the chicken go to waste.
Whether it’s eaten warm or cold, chicken has a lot of nutritional advantages and can be a tasty part of a healthy diet. Chicken has a lot of vitamins and minerals and can help build up your bones and muscles. Because it is so lean, you won’t have to worry about consuming too many calories. Chicken has also been proven to help with heart health and shorten recovery time when you’re recuperating from an illness.
This is indeed a high-protein meat that has numerous nutritional benefits, and they apply whether you’re eating it warm or cold.
Ways to Eat Cold Chicken
You can reheat chicken and enjoy it warm if you like, but if you choose to eat it cold, you can use it for a chicken salad, put it on bread to make a sandwich, or even shred it over nachos and enjoy them that way.
When it comes to eating cold chicken, there are tons of possibilities!
You can also use the chicken to make enchiladas, fried rice and even a stuffed baked potato. With a firmer texture and a different flavor than warm chicken, you’ll soon be thinking up lots of uses for the chicken you just took out of the refrigerator.
How to Store Cooked Chicken Safely
Dealing with raw meats and freshly cooked meats such as chicken requires a certain protocol to keep you out of the food danger zone.
Handling raw chicken means never letting the chicken touch other foods because it could contaminate them.
Once the chicken is cooked, you should let it get to room temperature, then place it in a plastic container with a tight lid. Cooked chicken should also remain in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat it, and then it should be placed back in there immediately afterward.
How Long Does Cold Chicken Last?
Many people are surprised to know this, but cold cooked chicken should only be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days before tossing it in the garbage. If it remains there much longer than three to four days, bacterial growth could occur—even if the chicken was cooked thoroughly before being stored there.
If you place a raw chicken in the refrigerator, it should stay there no longer than one or two days.
If you put a frozen chicken in the fridge, it usually takes one or two days to thaw out completely.
Of course, when cooking chicken it’s best to follow all the safety rules, which includes checking the internal temperature to make sure the chicken gets up to 165 F before considering it done.
Cooking, storing, and eating cooked chicken has to be done following basic rules or you could risk getting illnesses such as salmonella.
Are There Special Rules for Eating Chicken Cold?
The good news is that eating chicken when it’s cold is not a problem as long as the chicken was thoroughly cooked before it was placed into the refrigerator as a leftover. Even better, this applies to chicken that is cooked using almost any cooking method—including baked, roasted, and even fried.
If you’ve ever fried chicken for a picnic, you already know how yummy cold fried chicken can taste! Just make sure you follow all of the safety rules and you should be just fine.
Cold baked or fried chicken can taste great and won’t harm you or make you sick, as long as you follow basic rules. You can take the chicken out of the refrigerator and pop it into your mouth as a snack or add it to a recipe for even more enjoyment. Cold cooked chicken is a treat for many people. It won’t take you long to understand why.
Instead of eating it cold, consider breading your cooked chicken and re-cooking it.