When you walk in the door with a fresh rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, it’s natural to feel like dinner took care of itself. It’s hot, it’s ready, and it smells like comfort. But before you even think about diving in or stashing it away for later, you need to do something important. Take the chicken out of the plastic bag or container you brought it home in. Immediately.
Most store-bought rotisserie chickens are covered in a clear plastic dome or bag. That’s fine for the trip home, but they’re not built to keep your food safe after that. Leaving it in the bag can be a food safety risk. Those bags aren’t designed for storage, especially not for hot food. When you put a hot rotisserie chicken in that plastic, steam builds up. That trapped moisture, combined with heat, is a toasty and inviting spot for bacteria to grow. There is also concern that plastics can leach chemicals into food when it is heated. That’s the last thing you want soaking into your dinner.
The safest move is to put the chicken in a food-safe container as soon as you get home. Your best option is a container made of glass with a tight-fitting lid. If you don’t have glass available, BPA-free plastic is fine as well. Once it’s transferred, let it cool slightly before putting it into the fridge.
Getting the most out of your rotisserie chicken
Once your rotisserie chicken is safely tucked into a better container, timing becomes important. Don’t leave it sitting on the counter for hours while you scroll on your phone or figure out dinner. The USDA recommends that you never leave cooked food out for over two hours. Any longer than that and the bacteria multiply extremely fast, especially if the chicken had been hot when you got home. So let it cool from steaming, and then refrigerate it right away. Your rotisserie chicken will stay fresh for three or four days. Leave it on a shelf in the back of the refrigerator where temperatures remain most constant. Don’t leave it by the door where things warm up every time someone grabs the milk.
During those few days, you have all kinds of possibilities for turning your chicken into many meals. Shred it and use it for delicious chicken adobado street tacos, add it to a pasta salad, or make a variety of rotisserie chicken sandwiches. Now, if you know upfront that you won’t finish it all within a few days, go ahead and freeze what you won’t use. Remove the meat from the bones and freeze it in airtight freezer bags or containers. You can also save the bones to make homemade stock later. Rotisserie chicken is a grocery store MVP, but it still needs the right care once you bring it home.
