The Relatable Reason This Is Meryl Streep's Favorite Julia Child Recipe

Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep not only played Julia Child in the 2009 film "Julie & Julia," but she's also a big fan of the famous chef. In an article for Glamour, Streep shared that, even though she claims to be a terrible cook, she still turns to Child's recipes sometimes. Her go-to recipe of Child's is the tarragon chicken — a whole roast chicken with onions, carrots, and of course, tarragon.

For anyone unfamiliar, tarragon is an herb known for its subtle licorice taste, as well as flavors of citrus and grassiness. We completely agree that it goes hand in hand with chicken — we think it's the one herb that will totally boost the flavor of your chicken salad.

Beyond its tastiness, there's one key reason that Streep loves this tarragon chicken recipe — because she can turn it into a whole week's worth of meals. In Glamour, Streep declares, "I do take a special pleasure in thrift, a talent I get from my father." After making the chicken, Streep will enjoy it on its own for one of the meals. Then, she uses the leftover chicken for a tarragon chicken salad one night and a chicken curry another night. She uses the chicken carcass, along with a collection of vegetables and herbs, to make a chicken broth, which she uses to make a mushroom risotto one of the other nights of the week. And there you have it — multiple meals for the week all using one roast chicken.

If you want an easy way to plan out meals for the week, then you need to try Meryl Streep's method of using Julia Child's tarragon chicken for multiple meals — especially if you live alone and struggle with not being able to use up leftovers. Streep has great ideas for extra chicken meals, but the possibilities are basically endless.

You can make some type of chicken sandwich, such as a tasty and fresh chicken Caesar salad sandwich. Or use up the bell peppers that have been sitting in your fridge and make stuffed peppers. Another option is to use it for an easy chicken stir fry, which is made even easier because the chicken is already cooked. You can also throw it into your favorite pasta dish for some extra protein — perhaps you can use it to make chicken Alfredo or use it to elevate a plate of classic aglio e olio.

If you want to really take advantage of the chicken, then it does make sense to use the carcass to make a broth, just like Streep does. But what you do with the broth is completely up to you. Instead of using it for risotto, how about chicken tortilla soup? And you can never go wrong with a classic chicken noodle soup. Streep also has the right idea with her chicken salad approach — but feel free to use your own favorite go-to recipe.