Aussie chefs share their favourite way to use a supermarket hot chook
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Hot chook, rotisserie chicken, bachelor’s handbag: whatever you call it, there’s no denying this grocery staple has woven itself into the fabric of Aussie life.
In many households, a roast chook is the ultimate ‘can’t be bothered cooking’ dinner, and its popularity is reflected in the numbers: around the country, our supermarkets sell around 90 million of them a year.
All hail the "bachelor's handbag". iStockphoto
From the tear-off-and-tuck-in meat to the moreish stuffing and skin – not to mention the luscious juices at the bottom of the bag – there’s a lot to love.
Hot chooks might be the ultimate saviour for reluctant home cooks, but they also have plenty of fans among the pros.
“It’s one of the best value convenience foods around. You can turn one chook into multiple meals,” chef Vincent Yeow Lim tells nine.com.au.
The sky is the limit when it comes to turning a hot chook into dinner, so we’ve assembled three chefs – Lim, Brendan Pang and Andrew Ballard, who are part of the lineup of the Good Food and Wine Show for 2026 – to share their favourites.
Vincent Yeow Lim
A few extra ingredients can take your chook to the next level.
Chef and restaurateur Lim, aka Dimsimlim or ‘The Wolf of Wok Street’, loves to shred a roast chicken through fried rice with leftover rice, eggs and veggies.
“The chicken is already cooked and seasoned, so dinner comes together in minutes. Sprinkle a bit of YumYum Umami Seasoning on top and you’ve got one of the best meals ever,” he says,
Vincent Yeow Lim says the hot chook is "one of the best value convenience foods." Supplied
Brendan Pang
Cook, author and Masterchef alum Brendan Pang says the hot chook belongs in your supermarket trolley for its ease and versatility as a meal base.
“Someone else has already done the hard work, so you can create soups, noodles, salads, fried rice or sandwiches in no time,” he says.
Pang’s go-to dish is a quick chicken and corn soup, using the shredded meat.
“By the time you’ve added garlic, ginger, spring onion, eggs, corn and stock or water, you’ve got a meal that tastes completely different from the original roast chicken and is on the table in such a short amount of time.”
Brendan Pang shreds his supermarket chook and turns it into soup. Supplied
It's "a meal that tastes completely different from the original roast chicken." iStock
Andrew Ballard
“The supermarket roast chook exists for the exact moment when the cupboards are bare, the fridge is giving nothing, and everyone in the house is acting like dinner is somehow your fault,” says chef, event leader and culinary strategist Andrew Ballard.
“Even people who love cooking have those nights where the energy has left the building. That’s when the bachelor’s handbag becomes less of a joke and more of a public service.”
We couldn’t have put it better.
Ballard’s suggestion for how to use a hot chook is one we bet you’ve never thought of, making use of the meat and that famous stuffing.
Andrew Ballard says the hot chook is a saviour on empty-fridge, empty-pantry days. Supplied
The first step is to shred all of the meat from the bones while your chicken is still hot. (If you’ve ever tried to do this to a fridge-cold chook, you’ll understand.)
“Then get into that delicious, mysterious stuffing – no one really knows how it gets that flavour, and honestly, maybe we’re happier not asking too many questions,” Ballard says.
“Mix the chicken and stuffing with a tin of cannellini beans and a good hit of sriracha. Tip it into a small pan, make a little divot in the top, and crack an egg into it.
“Into a medium-hot oven it goes until the white is set and the yolk is still runny. Then pull it out and absolutely disrespect it with Kewpie mayo and more sriracha.
“It’s basically Aussie-style huevos rancheros, just with less mariachi and more supermarket rotisserie energy.”
Honestly, the bachelor’s handbag has never sounded so good.
The Good Food & Wine Show (GFWS) will be held at the PCEC in Perth from July 17-19, with more events to follow later in the year.
