Today we’re covering one of the most basic cooking skills every home chef should know how to do, poaching chicken breasts. What if you have a recipe that calls for shredded chicken? If you don’t have any on hand and you don’t happen to have a rotisserie chicken chilling in the fridge you can easily poach chicken breasts to make the shredded chicken needed for your recipes. This easy to do method produces tender juicy chicken breasts that can easily be shredded and used in any recipe that calls for shredded chicken.
Money Saving Tip: When chicken breasts go on sale, pick up a large family pack; poach and shred it. Portion it out into 2 cup servings place in freezer bags and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Freezing the meat flat, in a thin layer rather than in a clump will shorten the amount of time needed to thaw it and saves space in your freezer.
Place chicken breasts in a saucepan. Add enough water to the saucepan to completely submerge the chicken under at least an inch of water.
Add salt and cover the pan with a lid. Turn heat to high and bring the water to a boil.
Once the water boils reduce heat to medium and maintain an even simmer. Simmer breasts for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, remove one breast and check the temperature with an instant read thermometer to make sure it has reached an internal temperature of 165℉.
If it has not reached 165° return it to the water in the pan and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes. Continue to check for doneness every five minutes. The length of time it takes to cook the breasts depends on their size; the larger the breast, the longer it will take to reach an internal temperature of 165°. The goal is to cook the chicken to a safe temperature, keeping it nice and juicy but not to overcook it. Overcooking the meat will result in dry-as-sawdust, gummy, flavorless chicken. We’re going for moist and tender, not dry and flavorless.
Once the meat reaches 165℉, remove all the breasts from the water using tongs and place them on a cutting board.
Use two forks to shred chicken.
Use the cooked meat in any recipe that calls for shredded chicken.
Store any extra cooked meat sealed in a ziplock bag in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Learning how to poach chicken is a basic cooking skill that will serve you well on your cooking journey. Not only is it a technique you will use often, but it produces moist flavorful chicken that’s both easy and economical to make.
Step it up a notch by adding herbs, spices or seasonings such as taco seasoning, pepper, cumin, paprika, parsley, minced garlic, chopped onion, lemon slices or cilantro to the cooking water when poaching the breast meat to infuse them with different flavors.
My all time favorite recipe to use this poached, shredded chicken? This creamy and delectable Chicken Pot Pie recipe tops the list. It’s da bomb! It’s hands down, the king of all comfort food! Is there a more perfect meal to serve up on a cold winter evening? Go ahead, I’ll wait while you try to think of something…
How To Poach Chicken Breasts
Equipment
- sauce pan with lid
- instant read thermometer
- Tongs
- forks
Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- water
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in a saucepan.
- Add enough water to the saucepan to completely submerge the chicken under at least an inch of water.
- Add salt and cover the pan with a lid.
- Turn heat to high and bring water to a boil.
- Once the water boils reduce heat to medium and maintain an even simmer.
- Simmer breasts for 15 minutes.
- Remove one breast and check temperature with an instant read thermometer to make sure it has reached an internal temperature of 165℉.
- If it has not reached 165° return it to the water in the pan and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes. Continue to check for doneness every five minutes.
- Once the meat reaches 165℉, remove all the breasts from the water using tongs and place them on a cutting board.
- Use two forks to shred chicken.
- Use meat in any recipe that calls for shredded chicken.
- Store any extra cooked meat sealed in a ziplock bag in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
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Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35