I bought an 8 pound (3.6 kg) chicken the other day. I partially deboned it, placing the wing tips, neck, and carcass into a stock pot with some vegetables and aromatics, and made some stock, and set aside the meat.
Dinner 1: One boneless breast, probably about 1.5 lbs (0.7 kg), got cut up into cubes to cook into a soup noodle dish (think fancy ramen, but lazier).
Dinner 2: The 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 wing drumettes, 2 wing flats were deep fried (breaded for the big pieces, naked for the wing parts) and served as fried chicken with some sides.
Dinner 3: The remaining boneless breast was cut up into cubes for a homemade kung pao, using a modified recipe from Kenji Lopez Alt. I served it with rice and a separate stir fried broccoli dish.
Each meal fed me, my spouse, my 2 young kids (who eat slightly smaller portions). I didn’t set out to be frugal with it, but I think each meal cost less than $10 for 4 portions. And I managed to pull it off on weeknights after work, after picking up my kids from school/daycare, so I’m pretty proud of that.
Honestly, just noodles (I went with some generic “Asian” dried noodle from a big box U.S. grocery store), carrots, ginger, scallions, a lot of black pepper, and the simmered meat, in the stock I had made. I basically did it countdown style: added pepper and ginger at t minus 10 minutes, added carrots and meat at t minus 7 minutes, added scallions and a little bit more black pepper as I took it off the stove. I stirred in some chili crisp for my own bowl, but the kids got a non-spicy version.