How to Boil Chicken Tenders

Boiled chicken tenders are perfect for those recipes and dishes calling for pre-cooked chicken. We're starting raw chicken tenderloins and our recipe for perfectly cooked juicy chicken is ready in just 15 minutes. Either fresh or frozen chicken will work great!

These are the best boiled chicken tenders!

Whether we're boiling chicken breast on the stovetop or using fresh or frozen chicken tenderloins, there is always a need for meat that is ready shred or dice for our variety of soups, stews, and casseroles. We sometimes cook these in our Instant Pot too.

If you're here only to find out how long to boil chicken tenders, they cook up in just 12 minutes from start to finish. We recommend you keep reading to get our tips, tricks, and seasoning ideas.

If there is one thing our home goes through a lot of, it's pre-cooked chicken. We almost always keep a bag of frozen chicken on hand in the freezer. It's a great way to turn any salad into a high protein main dish recipe or just to get dinner on the table fast.

What you'll need

• uncooked chicken tenderloins - boneless, skinless, fresh or frozen
• water - or you can use chicken broth or stock too.
• (optional) seasonings- freel free to add salt and pepper, fresh herbs, or whole garlic cloves

How to Boil Chicken Tenderloin

Step 1: Place 1 lb raw chicken tenders (tenderloins) in a pot. Cover with cold water until the water covers the chicken about ½-1". Place the lid on the pot. Bring the water to a boil on high heat.

You can add optional seasonings like salt and pepper and fresh herbs like we did below. We often skip this since the chicken is mostly getting used in other recipes.

Step 2: As soon as the water starts to bubble, turn the stovetop temperature down to medium-low. You are technically making poached chicken tenders and you aren't cooking them at a full boil.

With the lid on, continue to cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes until they're cooked through and the internal temperature is 160-162 F (it'll keep cooking after you remove it).

Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes to cool before using it in another recipe. Enjoy!

Cooking chicken from frozen

• To cook the chicken tenderloins from frozen, add the chicken to a pot and cover with water. Cover the pot with a lid and bring the liquid to a boil.
• Once boiling, reduce head to medium-low and simmer your frozen chicken tenders for 4-5 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 160F.

Helpful tips

• For best results, we recommend using a digital meat thermometer to check for doneness.
• Fat bits will float to the top and that's perfectly normal, this is easy to remove. Just gently brush it off the chicken as desired.
• Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in the fridge or you can freeze them for up to a month
• If you have a stand mixer, you can shred chicken in less than 30 seconds! Use two forks if you want a chunkier shred or diced meat.

What to do with cooked chicken

We love to meal prep chicken for the week and almost always have a bag of frozen raw chicken in the freezer or we batch cook chicken and freeze it to use later.

Here's some of our favorite ways to use pre-cooked chicken:

• Shred and use it in salads, sandwiches, or to make buffalo chicken dip
• Make chicken tacos
• Add to soups at the end of the cooking time
• Use it in casseroles like our popular sour cream chicken enchilada casserole or green chili chicken casserole.
• Slice and add to stir-fries, pasta, and grain bowls.
• Use them to add protein to pizzas and flatbreads.
• You can even serve the chicken tenderloins with a side of vegetables and a dipping sauce for a quick and healthy dinner!

Recipe FAQs

More chicken tenderloin recipes

• Keto Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
• Healthy Baked Chicken Tenders
• Air Fryer Chicken Tenderloins
• Pan Fried Chicken Tenderloin
• Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Tenderloins
• Frozen Chicken Strips in Air Fryer

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