Boiled chicken breast is the best way to get flavorful chicken ideal for shredding, sandwiches, casseroles, and more! In less than 30-minutes, we are going to help you create the perfect poached chicken that is a WHOLE LOTTA YUM every time!
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Why Boiled Chicken Breast works
Boiled chicken breast is a fabulous way to create tender, juicy chicken breast that is bursting with flavor. It's ready for any recipe that calls for a pre-cooked chicken like Chicken Chili Casserole, chicken salad, or Keto Chicken Casserole along with your favorite soups and sandwiches.
- This boiled chicken breast recipe is perfect for meal-prep days to keep your family on track and eat healthy all week long.
- With just two ingredients, we are creating flavorful chicken that is ready to dice, cube or shred into your favorite meals.
- Where over-boiling your chicken can leave it dull and dry, we are giving you the exact method to create perfectly poached chicken breast that is moist and flavorful every time!
- Our boiled chicken breast recipe is perfect for gluten-free, low-carb, paleo, keto, dairy-free, and Whole30 eaters, making this a healthy recipe for poached chicken.
Are you looking for ways you can use all (and not just parts) of the boiled chicken you are about to create? Look no further than our Buffalo Chicken Dip, Keto Chicken Taco Salad, and our Low-carb Chicken Enchiladas!
Chicken is such a versatile meat that lends itself perfectly to so many recipes and dishes! If you are looking for more ways to cook chicken you won't want to miss our instant pot Chicken Tenders, Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast, or How to Shred Chicken with a Kitchenaid Mixer.
Ingredients for Boiling Chicken Breast
- chicken breast - fresh or frozen will both work for this recipe, we used 2 lb of meat, each breast weighed about 8 oz. Bone-in chicken breast can also be used in place of boneless.
- chicken broth - store-bought or homemade. Feel free to use chicken stock or water as well. If you are following a specific eating plan, be sure the broth or stock is compliant.
- optional seasoning - depending on what you're using the chicken for, you can add in seasoning such as garlic powder, lemons, pepper, Italian seasoning, etc.
How to Boil Chicken Breasts
To make the recipe all you'll need to do is heat the liquid and boil the chicken (simmer) until it's cooked through. And then add optional seasonings like salt and pepper if desired.
1. Prep Ingredients
In a large stockpot or dutch oven, add chicken breast and enough broth to completely cover the chicken with the fill line about 1-2" above the meat. Cover.
2. How long do you boil chicken breast?
Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil over high heat.
Once the pot is boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes of simmering the chicken in water or broth, remove the pot from the heat, keeping the lid on, and let the chicken sit for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the broth with tongs and shred or dice as needed.
How to Boil Chicken Breast: Recipe Tips
- Bring your pot to a complete boil before you reduce it to a simmer. For reference, boiling has rapid bubbles in the liquid and simmer has slow bubbles.
- Be sure your chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165F in the thickest part of the meat for your chicken to turn out tender, juicy, and cooked through. You can use a meat thermometer to quickly check.
- Use a cover to ensure your broth comes to a boil quickly and during the entire cooking process to help lock in moisture.
- Allowing your chicken to rest for 5 minutes before shredding will help your chicken lock-in the flavor.
- If you are making soup or stew, you can use the broth you boiled your chicken in as the base. Strain the broth first.
- If you are boiling frozen chicken breasts, add 5 minutes to the simmer time (for a total of 15 minutes).
- What to know the secret to shredding meat the easy way? Shred the Chicken with a Kitchenaid mixer.
How to serve Boiled Chicken Breast
- Shred It: Shred the chicken and use it in tacos, sandwiches, or as a salad topping.
- Slice and Drizzle: Slice the chicken breast and drizzle it with your favorite sauce or dressing.
- Chicken Salad: Dice the chicken and mix it with mayonnaise, nuts, and veggies for a classic chicken salad.
- Add to Soups and Stews: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it to your favorite soup or stew.
- Serve with Veggies: Serve the chicken breast alongside steamed or roasted vegetables.
- Use in Stir Fry: Slice the chicken and toss it into a stir-fry with lots of veggies and a stir fry sauce.
- Wrap it Up: Use the chicken in wraps with some lettuce, tomatoes, and a yummy sauce.
How do I store poached chicken?
You can store your boiled chicken breast in the fridge in a covered container for 4-5 days making this a great recipe for meal-prep.
Additionally, you can freeze the chicken, whole or shredded, in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Boiled Chicken Breast FAQs
If you have frozen chicken breasts you can definitely boil or poach them on the stovetop. Simmer the chicken for 5 minutes longer than what the recipe calls for - so a total of 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat and let it sit with the lid on for 10 minutes until the chicken reaches 165F.
Chicken breasts will turn out tough if they're cooked too fast or even for too long. The key to perfectly moist chicken is to simmer/poach the chicken for a short period of time and then let it finish cooking in warm broth off of the heat.
Boil the chicken on a low boil (simmer) for 10 minutes cooked broth and then let sit with the lid on for an additional 10 minutes.
It’s not necessary to cover the chicken breasts when boiling since it’s such as quick cooking recipe. Simmer the chicken until cooked through. If your chicken isn’t coming to a simmer, then you can briefly cover the chicken to bring it to a boil and then turn the heat down and also remove the lid at that point.
More Boiled Chicken recipes to try!
- Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Green Chili Chicken Casserole
- Keto Chicken Taco Salad
- Low Carb Chicken Enchiladas
Be sure to join our healthy recipes email list to get lots of meal prep ideas, plus free meal planning printables. We're here to make meal time simple!
✅ Get our FREE healthy meal prep printables + meal plan! 🥑
Boiled Chicken Breast
Learn how to boil chicken for recipes like casserole, salad, sandwiches are more. Cooking boiled chicken is super fast and easy, no need to buy it pre-cooked anymore!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, fresh or frozen (10 oz for each breast)
- 1 qt chicken broth (4 cups) - or water
Instructions
- Add the frozen chicken breasts to a large pot and cover the chicken with the cold broth. It's fine to use water with salt added in place of broth.
- Bring the chicken to a boil over high heat, and turn it down to a simmer for 10 mins.
- Remove the chicken from the heat and let sit for 10 more minutes.
- Remove the cooked chicken and transfer it to a bowl. Shred it with forks, meat claws, or an electric mixer.
- Use it in a variety of recipes such as salads, casseroles, soups, and more!
Notes
Add seasoning to the broth depending on the final dish like lemons, ginger, Italian seasoning, curry, taco seasoning
Serve with rice, quinoa, or vegetables as a main dish
Use in salads, sandwiches, soups, on pizza, and casseroles
We used we had 2 packages of chicken breasts that were each 1.6 lb, one quart of chicken broth perfectly covered two packages of chicken in a dutch oven. Your chicken could take longer to cook if the breasts are a little larger, likewise, they won't need to sit as long at the end if they're smaller.
Be sure to cook the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 202Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 103mgSodium 320mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 38g
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