You must keep a recipe for slow cooker shredded chicken in your recipe book. The chicken can be frozen if necessary and used in a variety of recipes.
Many emails and messages have asked me how to prepare basic shredded chicken for use in other recipes that call for cooked chicken. You can make the type of poached chicken that some recipes call for by using your crockpot!
The chicken stays moist from the added butter (just a touch) and chicken broth, it is tender and shreds up easily if you have a recipe that calls for a shredded or cut-up rotisserie chicken, and it will work perfectly.
The Ingredients
What Type of Chicken is Best for Shredded Chicken?
Here are my ideas and recommendations for selecting the ideal chicken for slow cooker recipes because there are so many varieties and so little time:
Boneless vs. Bone-in Chicken.
To make shredded chicken, you can use both bone-in and boneless chicken.
Skin On or Off.
Although you can cook your chicken with the skin on, it will probably get soggy. It is best to remove any skin before you start cooking for this recipe.
How long to cook chicken breasts in the crock pot?
Prepare yourself. What I’m about to say will either shatter your slow cooker dreams or greatly enlighten your soul.
Except for larger recipes (8+ servings or more), it only requires 2 ingredients. 5-3. In the slow cooker, boneless, skinless chicken breast needs to be fully cooked after 5 hours on LOW.
I kid you not. While writing our cookbook, From Freezer to Cooker, we have been methodically testing chicken breast recipes by taking the internal temperature with our trusted meat thermometer (pic below) at different points during the cooking time.
We have discovered that chicken breast registers at 165° F (the FDA-recommended safe temperature) in about 3 hours when cooked on low. Depending on the size of the breast or other ingredients in the slow cooker, there may be less or more breast.
It can take 4-6 hours to cook a larger chicken recipe, according to our research. But that’s it!.
FAQ
Is it better to cook crockpot chicken on high or low?
For the best results, always cook your boneless, skinless chicken breasts on low heat. Even if you check it early in the cooking process, I do not advise cooking boneless chicken breast on HIGH because it will become very dry. The chicken comes out drier on high; I consistently get the best results using low.
Can chicken cook in crock pot in 3 hours?
Except for larger recipes (8+ servings or more), it only requires 2 ingredients. 5-3. In the slow cooker, boneless, skinless chicken breast needs to be fully cooked after 5 hours on LOW.