A lot of chicken recipes call for the chicken to be already cooked and shredded/cubed. What are the best ways to cook the chicken prior to using in these recipes?
I'm sharing my two favorite ways today!
Method One: In the Crock Pot
(aka my most favorite method ever)
Obviously for this method, you need a crock pot. If you're living and cooking in India, I would totally recommend spending the money to invest in a Crock Pot - total, total life saver. And since Amazon.in has revolutionized what's available in India, you can actually find several different models. Just do a quick search on Amazon.in for crock pots and there are lots to choose from.
Instructions:
Put your chicken in the crock pot (I usually put mine in straight from frozen). Pour in enough (filtered) water to mostly cover the chicken breasts. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours (if the chicken is thawed, you could prob reduce the cooking time by an hour or two).
You can cook the chicken in just straight up water, but you also have a great opportunity to add flavor by cooking it all day with seasoning. I always at the very least throw in two to three chicken cubes to make the water chicken broth.
No need to dissolve the chicken cubes in the water before hand - just plop them right in and they'll dissolve as it cooks all day.
You can also add in any kind of seasoning that will pair well with your recipe - I most frequently add fajita seasoning to use in Mexican dishes, but you could also add a packet of taco seasoning, or you could add some Italian seasoning, or lemon pepper, or some rosemary/thyme/oregano...go crazy with it! I typically cook the chicken in the seasoning and then also add just a little bit more to the chicken after I've shredded it.
After the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the Crock Pot and shred. If I only have a couple of chicken breasts, I'll just shred it with two forks, but if I'm doing a lot of chicken, I love to shred it in my KitchenAid mixer.
Does the job in like less than a minute! I usually add a couple spoonfuls of the water from the Crock Pot in with the chicken when I shred it in the mixer. You can also use a hand mixer for the same results.
Like I said, this is my favorite way to cook chicken, because you throw it in the Crock Pot, forget about it for hours, and come back to very moist, well seasoned chicken ready for your recipe!
Method Two: "Boiling"
I put the word boiling in quotation marks, because really it's better to not fully boil chicken, because it makes it turn out tough (I know this because of Google...mostly everything I learned about cooking came from my mom, the Food Network, and Google. When you don't know something, just Google it). You want to gently "poach" it instead.
Instructions:
Bring a pot of water to boil (add in some chicken cubes if you want extra flavor). Then gently drop your THAWED (not frozen) chicken breasts into the water. Turn the heat down to where it's more of a simmer vs. a rolling boil (a few bubbles should pop up to the surface here and there, but not a rolling boil like you use with pasta). Cook for about 12-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and not pink when you cut into it. You may need more time if you're doing more than just 2 or 3 chicken breasts. Or you can cut them into smaller pieces to cook more quickly.
Remove the chicken and either shred it or cut it into cubes.
The other bonus of these two cooking methods is that if your recipe calls for chicken broth, you can use the liquid you cooked the chicken in instead of boiling a chicken cube in water (or cracking open a can of chicken broth in the U.S.).
That's it friends! Perfectly cooked chicken ready for your favorite recipes.
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