7 Chicken Fat Recipes Worth Keeping a Jar Around For

Unfortunately, chicken fat is one of those ingredients that gets used once and then sits in the back of the fridge for three months. The jar is still good! The problem is not the fat. The problem is that nobody told you what to do with it after the first recipe. Here are seven ways to fix that, starting with tomorrow morning's breakfast.

Each recipe below is an easy framework: measurements, steps, times. Not a full-blown recipe card with life stories and pop-up ads. If what chicken fat is and how it compares to schmaltz is still an open question, start there. If the jar is already in the fridge, keep reading.

Breakfast: Chicken Fat Scrambled Eggs

Melt 1 tablespoon of chicken fat in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Crack 3 eggs into the pan (or more if you're hungry), season with salt. Stir slowly with a spatula, pulling curds from the edges toward the center. Remove from heat while the eggs are still slightly wet. They will finish cooking on the plate. Top with fresh cracked pepper.

The eggs come out with a roasted-chicken-skin richness that is hard to explain until you taste it. Try it once. That is the whole pitch.

Chef tip: Finish with flaky salt and fresh chives. Toast a slice of sourdough in the same pan while it is still warm. Five minutes, start to finish.

The Weeknight Win: Chicken Fat Fried Rice

This is the recipe most likely to become a habit.

Heat 2 tablespoons of chicken fat in a wok or large skillet over high heat until the fat shimmers. Add 3 cups of day-old rice, press it flat against the pan, and let it crisp for 2 minutes without stirring. Push the rice to one side, crack 2 eggs into the open space, scramble them quickly, then toss everything together. Season with soy sauce, a few drops of sesame oil, and white pepper. Ten minutes, one pan.

Chicken fat has a smoke point around 375°F, which handles the searing heat that good fried rice requires. And it leaves behind a background meatiness in the rice that vegetable oil never will. The rice tastes like it was made with homemade stock, even though it was not.

Variation: Dice a chicken thigh and sear it in the fat before adding the rice. Finish with scallions and a drizzle of chili crisp for a one-pan dinner.

From the Oven: Chicken Fat Biscuits

This is where chicken fat surprises people.

Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 4 tablespoons of cold chicken fat using a pastry cutter or two knives, the same technique used for butter biscuits. Stir in 3/4 cup cold buttermilk until just combined. Do not overwork the dough. Pat to 1 inch thick, cut rounds, and bake at 425°F for 12 to 14 minutes.

Chicken fat works like lard or shortening in baking: high fat content, low water content, which means tender, flaky layers. The difference is that chicken fat adds actual flavor. Butter biscuits are rich. Chicken fat biscuits are savory, with a subtle depth that pairs with fried chicken, a bowl of soup, or just a smear of honey.

Chef tip: Brush the tops with melted chicken fat before they go in the oven. The crust turns golden and glossy.

The Pantry Move: Chicken Fat Confit Garlic

This recipe gives you two ingredients for the price of one.

Peel 2 heads of garlic and leave the cloves whole. Place them in a small saucepan and cover with 1/2 cup chicken fat. Cook over the lowest heat possible for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cloves are soft, golden, and sweet enough to spread with a butter knife. Cool everything in the fat. Store in a jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.

The confit garlic goes on bread, into mashed potatoes, stirred through pasta, tossed with roasted vegetables. The garlic-infused fat left behind is its own ingredient: use it to sauté greens, fry eggs, start a soup. A full week of flavor from 45 minutes of patience.

The Side Dish: Chicken Fat Roasted Root Vegetables

Toss 2 pounds of root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, whatever is in the drawer) with 3 tablespoons of melted chicken fat, salt, and pepper. Spread on a sheet pan in a single layer with space between the pieces. Roast at 425°F for 30 to 35 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the edges are golden and crispy.

The result is the same crispy-outside, creamy-inside finish that duck fat delivers, but at a milder flavor. The vegetables taste like themselves rather than like the fat, which is what you want when the carrots and parsnips are doing the heavy lifting.

For potatoes on their own, our duck fat roasted potatoes post goes deeper on technique and timing. For a mixed sheet pan of whatever is in season, chicken fat is the move.

The Sauce Starter: Chicken Fat Roux and Quick Gravy

Melt 2 tablespoons of chicken fat in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the roux turns golden and smells nutty. Slowly whisk in 1.5 cups of warm chicken stock, a little at a time, to avoid lumps. Simmer for 5 minutes until the gravy thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.

The roux smells like roasted chicken before the stock even hits the pan. That flavor carries through to the finished gravy.

The demi-glace upgrade: Stir 1 tablespoon of chicken demi-glace into the stock before adding it to the roux. The collagen adds body and the concentrated flavor turns a weeknight gravy into something closer to a restaurant reduction. Same bird, two forms, one pan.

The Snack: Chicken Fat Popcorn

Heat 2 tablespoons of chicken fat in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 cup popcorn kernels, cover with a lid, and shake the pot occasionally until the popping slows to one pop every few seconds. Remove from heat, toss with fine salt and a pinch of garlic powder.

The fat coats every kernel as it pops rather than pooling at the bottom of the bowl the way melted butter does. The result is popcorn that tastes faintly of roasted chicken, which sounds strange and is genuinely excellent.

Variation: Toss with grated parmesan and black pepper for a savory-umami version that disappears faster than you can make a second batch.

One Jar, Seven Nights

Each recipe above uses 1 to 3 tablespoons. One jar lasts for weeks, and the fridge is where it belongs anyway. Our chicken fat comes from pasture-raised chickens from New York farms. One ingredient, nothing added. That is what we make, and the recipes above are what we use it for.