Easy chicken hash recipe

My dad loved to cook the things he loved to cook: anything on the grill, anything with eggs, and anything that reminded him of Army food. This chicken hash falls into the third category; hash is a popular way to maximize leftovers, whether in the field, or in a restaurant kitchen. Traditional corned beef hash fills you up but also weighs you down. This version, made with leftover or rotisserie chicken, lightens the dish while retaining the single best feature of any hash: the crusty bits of smashed potato, scraped off the bottom of the pan and folded in with softer chunks of potato and meat. Delicious for breakfast, brunch or lunch any day of the year, it's the kind of dish my dad might have made for me on my birthday, which happens to be today.

Easy chicken hash

From the pantry, you'll need: frozen chicken breast, olive oil, onion, thyme, chicken stock, kosher salt, fresh black pepper.

Serves 2 for breakfast or lunch; can be doubled, or tripled.

Ingredients

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (or use 1-2 cups leftover cooked or rotisserie chicken)
1 large Idaho baking potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 tsp dried thyme leaf
2 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium store-bought
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

If you're starting with a chicken breast from your pantry, defrost it and cook by poaching, steaming, roasting or grilling. In other words, any type of cooked chicken breast will work. When it's cool enough to handle, chop the chicken into 1/2-inch dice.

Put the cut potato in a small sauce pan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce heat to low and cook for 8 minutes or until the potato is soft when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Drain, and set aside.

Heat a small (10-inch) nonstick frying pan over low-medium heat, and add the oil and onion. Cook until the onion just begins to brown, then add the chicken, potato and thyme. Continue to cook, stirring once or twice, until the potato is lightly browned. Add the parsley and chicken broth. (It will look like there is too much broth, but don't worry.) Stirring ocasionally, cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. The potatoes and chicken will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan; if they don't, give them a little encouragement by pressing down with the spatula. Turn the crusty parts over and mix into the hash. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Thyme roasted new potatoes
Chicken ratatouille
Asparagus, mushroom and sausage quiche
Italian style omelet appetizer

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Traditional roast beef hash, from Simply Recipes
Guy-friendly turkey and bean breakfast hash, from Food Blogga
Sweet potato tofu hash, from Healthy Happy Life
Corned beef hash, from For the Love of Cooking
Spring asparagus pancetta hash, from Smitten Kitchen

Easy chicken hash

From the pantry, you'll need: frozen chicken breast, olive oil, onion, thyme, chicken stock, kosher salt, fresh black pepper.

Serves 2 for breakfast or lunch; can be doubled, or tripled.

Ingredients

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (or use 1-2 cups leftover cooked or rotisserie chicken)
1 large Idaho baking potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 tsp dried thyme leaf
2 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium store-bought
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

If you're starting with a chicken breast from your pantry, defrost it and cook by poaching, steaming, roasting or grilling. In other words, any type of cooked chicken breast will work. When it's cool enough to handle, chop the chicken into 1/2-inch dice.

Put the cut potato in a small sauce pan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce heat to low and cook for 8 minutes or until the potato is soft when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Drain, and set aside.

Heat a small (10-inch) nonstick frying pan over low-medium heat, and add the oil and onion. Cook until the onion just begins to brown, then add the chicken, potato and thyme. Continue to cook, stirring once or twice, until the potato is lightly browned. Add the parsley and chicken broth. (It will look like there is too much broth, but don't worry.) Stirring ocasionally, cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. The potatoes and chicken will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan; if they don't, give them a little encouragement by pressing down with the spatula. Turn the crusty parts over and mix into the hash. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Thyme roasted new potatoes
Chicken ratatouille
Asparagus, mushroom and sausage quiche
Italian style omelet appetizer

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Traditional roast beef hash, from Simply Recipes
Guy-friendly turkey and bean breakfast hash, from Food Blogga
Sweet potato tofu hash, from Healthy Happy Life
Corned beef hash, from For the Love of Cooking
Spring asparagus pancetta hash, from Smitten Kitchen

Comments

Lydia: a very happy birthday to you and many more. Thank you for your blogs. They are quite inspiring.

Happy birthday to you!

This looks delish, but it could use some vegetables, like maybe some bell peppers?

Happy Birthday, Lydia! Comfort food is the way to go on such a special day. Can't wait to try this hash. The broth was a surprise ingredient!

Happy birthday, what a treat you got! This looks totally delightful. I never cared for hash (my dad loves it and makes it too) because of the corned beef. Now with chicken in it instead of the corned beef, it's perfect! Please pass the dish!

Your dad would be proud of you!

Happy Birthday Lydia! Enjoy your day.

Thanks for the dinner idea was wondering what to make.

Carole, thanks so much. Very sweet.

Mizzykitty, traditionally hash doesn't have vegetables, other than the onion and potato. Of course there are vegetable hashes, too, but that's something my dad never would have made!

Steve-Anna, thank you. The broth absorbs into the potatoes and chicken, and just makes it that much better.

Lyndsey, the corned beef hash is really salty, and this hash isn't -- so in addition to being less heavy, it's also just a bit easier to control the seasoning.

Susan, that's a lovely thought.

Stacy, thank you so much. This is a really easy dinner if you have a few ingredients hanging around.

Your hash sounds good. Your photos are beautiful. And I am happy to see the return of the more familiar looking template.

Happy belated Birthday, my RSS feed is always a day late and a dollar short. :0)

Making hash is one of the best ways to use any meat leftovers. That's why I can't understand people who say they "would never consider eating leftovers".

Rocquie, thanks so much. It's actually a version of the very first banner on The Perfect Pantry, more than four years ago. Can you identify the ingredients? They're all real ingredients in my pantry.

AZ, many thanks! I feel older and wiser.

Pauline, hash and soup are the two great ways to repurpose leftovers. I love them both, because the leftovers always feel completely new.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!
Ironically yesterday was my husbands!

GREAT hash recipe too!

Belated Happy Birthday. I like this recipe, I can see myself adding some other bits and pieces to it too.

I'm late reading this post, but happy belated birthday, and I hope this was delicious! Sounds great to me.