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How to use up the mushy leftover meat from making broth or stock. Don’t throw it out as it is a valuable source of quality, complete protein!
Whether your preference is homemade bone broth or the quicker (lower glutamate) version for sensitive digestion known as meat stock, a large amount of leftover meat is the order of the day!
If you make roughly a gallon a week like our household, the amount of excess, seemingly unusable meat might seem overwhelming at first.
Sadly, our modern society is programmed by conventional dietary authorities to seek lowfat cuts of meat as the pinnacle of complete protein.
When premium meat is misguidedly viewed as expensive, skinless, boneless chicken breast, the newbie traditional cook often has literally no idea what to do with a pile of mushy meat from making broth or stock.
Since wise frugality is an important characteristic of an ancestrally-inspired kitchen, knowing how to properly use this type of leftover meat is important.
With that, let me share with you the top ways I’ve found over the decades to use up this valuable protein source known in our home as “broth meat”.
Soups
The easiest way to use up meat that has been simmered for hours…and is consequently quite tasteless and mushy (but still an excellent source of protein)… is to add it to homemade soups.
You can either leave the meat as-is in the soup or blend it for puree style.
Check out my favorite homemade soup recipes for ideas that incorporate this type of traditional food methodology.
Chicken Salad
Leftover chicken meat is excellent to use for chicken salad.
Then, put a dollop atop salads or use for sandwiches.
Chicken salad also pairs well with a few celery sticks for a keto-style lunch.
Here’s my recipe for turkey salad…simply substitute chicken meat if that’s what you have to use up.
Baby Food
When my children were toddlers, leftover broth meat was a simple baby food that worked well.
It is very soft from the long, slow cook and infused with rich broth, so chopping it into small bits was the perfect consistency for little hands and mouths.
Just be extra careful that no bits of bone are in the meat after you remove it. That’s an important caveat to watch out for!
Quesadillas
Quesadillas are a great way to use up leftover broth meat of all kinds, whether it’s from beef, chicken, turkey, etc.
Simply place the amount of meat you want on one sourdough tortilla (this is the brand I use), and place slices of cheese on top of the meat (I use cheese blocks from this company for cooking).
Place another sourdough tortilla on top and bake at 350 °F/ 177 °C for 12-15 minutes.
Serve with homemade sour cream, guacamole, and chopped tomatoes.
Tip: Never ever buy presliced commercial cheese as is is processed with aluminum salts. Hand-sliced cheese ONLY.
Tacos
I typically use fish from a finished batch of fish stock to make incredible fish tacos!
Chicken and turkey also work well (beef, not so much).
Broth meat is already quite shredded when it is removed from the bones.
Thus, to use it to make tacos, all you have to do is gently pat the meat dry with a clean cotton towel, put it in a medium pot, add a bit of extra virgin olive oil and taco seasonings, and warm it up.
I serve tacos on these sourdough (or sprouted) tortillas with some sweet chili sauce as a condiment.
Pet Food
While homemade pet food is ideally 100% raw, you can certainly mix in some of the leftover broth meat with the raw cuts to bulk it up.
The mushy meat infused with rich, gelatinous broth is helpful for pet digestion too!
