The Rotisserie Chicken Jean-Georges Vongerichten Turns To For Quick Meals

With about 70% of Americans opting to cook at home three times or more per week, per Statista, chances are, their prep time for dinner doesn't run past the half-hour mark. Whether you're single or part of a big household, there are just not enough hours in the day to evoke the spirit of Julia Child on the regular. So, it's no big shocker that more than 127 million people in the U.S. consumed frozen dinners in 2020, with that number expected to tick up past 130 million by 2024 (via Statista). We get it! There's no shame in ducking out of the kitchen when life is coming at you from all directions.

But there's a better way to get quick meals. As Child once said, "You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients." Renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten clearly concurs with this sentiment. After all, he once teamed up with Mark Bittman to write a cookbook featuring straightforward creative meals that people can easily make at home. Take it from the guy who made the simple but decadent chocolate lava cake a staple dessert on menus everywhere: The rotisserie chicken is a game changer for quick meals — whether it is for your next dinner party or a solo weeknight dinner.

"If I have to pull off a last-minute meal and I don't have time to make something from scratch, I grab an organic rotisserie chicken from Eataly. I then use the bones to make chicken soup," Vongerichten told Food & Wine. Depending upon the location, Eataly's rotisserie chickens are sourced from nearby family farms and brined for six hours before being slow-roasted over an open flame. And at $5.80 per pound (as of 2017), they're not too hard on the wallet. But with a limited number of locations across the United States, the gourmet Italian market is not exactly the most convenient choice to pick up this particular rotisserie chicken for dinner.

However, regardless of where you live in the United States, most grocery retailers sell rotisserie chickens. Costco alone sells over 100 million annually, according to The Hustle. And if you want to go the all-natural, organic route like Vongerichten, Consumer Reports says the one from Whole Foods is a great choice — just skip the skin if you're watching your sodium. Because the FDA doesn't require nutrition labels on them, you can ask your deli manager for the 411 if you're looking for a Vongerichten-approved bird for dinner — whether you want it to be the star of your plate or an add-in for your favorite go-to pasta or salad.

Now, about that chicken soup! The carcass can make a stock worthy of a world-class chef, meaning rotisserie chicken really is the gift that keeps on giving.