Rotisserie chicken substitutes

Raw chicken gently simmered in salted water or stock, then pulled apart with two forks.

Best for

chicken soup, chicken salad, enchiladas, casseroles, tacos, pot pie

The most reliable substitute and it takes about 20 minutes. Slip the chicken into barely simmering well-salted liquid, cover, turn off the heat and leave it 15 to 20 minutes, then shred. Use a mix of breast and thigh if you can, since all-breast shreds drier. What you lose is browning and seasoning, so salt the poaching liquid properly and add a pinch of paprika, garlic powder and pepper to the shredded meat.

Chicken you roast yourself at high heat until the skin browns.

Best for

enchiladas, casseroles, soups, salads, sandwiches, tacos

The closest match by a distance, because roasting is what the rotisserie was doing. Rub the bird or the thighs with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder and roast at 425F, then shred. This is the only substitute that gives you both the browned flavour and the drippings, and the drippings are worth saving for the sauce. The cost is an hour of oven time rather than a trip to the counter.

Meat pulled from a roasted turkey, dark and light mixed.

Best for

soups, casseroles, pot pie, enchiladas, salads, sandwiches

Works almost invisibly in any dish where the chicken is shredded and sauced. Turkey is slightly firmer and more savoury than chicken, so a creamy casserole tastes a little more assertive, and the dark meat is noticeably stronger. Because it is already cooked and salted, add it near the end and taste before salting the dish.

Pressure-cooked chicken breast sold shelf-stable in cans or foil pouches.

Best for

chicken salad, quesadillas, quick casseroles, soups, dips

Fast and genuinely useful in the right dish, but be honest about the texture: it is soft, uniformly fine and slightly wet, with none of the long shreds or browned edges of a roast bird. In chicken salad or a hot dip it disappears; in a pot pie it can read as mushy. Drain it well, then dry it on paper towel and fry it briefly in a little oil to firm it up and add some browning.

Pre-cooked seasoned chicken breast strips from the freezer aisle.

Best for

tacos, quesadillas, pasta, salads, wraps

Convenient and already browned, which puts them ahead of canned chicken. They are all breast meat and tend to be firmer and springier than hand-shredded chicken, and they carry their own grill seasoning that may fight your recipe. Chop rather than shred them, thaw before adding to a sauce, and taste before adding salt since they are usually well-seasoned already.

The meat-free routes to shreddable, savoury bulk.

Best for

enchiladas, tacos, salads, casseroles, sandwiches

Jackfruit shreds convincingly and is the better structural match, though it is faintly sweet and needs draining, rinsing and hard browning with plenty of spice before it stops tasting of tin. Chickpeas hold their shape and are more satisfying but do not shred. Neither has any savoury depth of its own, so add soy sauce, smoked paprika, cumin and enough salt, and use more oil than you would with chicken.