Poached shredded chicken in the crock pot

by Katie

I am really, really terrible at cooking chicken. Well, that’s not entirely true. Roast chicken? I make a killer roast chicken. Chicken soup? I can make it with the cold-busting best of them. And I have one reliable recipe for yogurt chicken on the grill.

But anything involving baked or pan-cooked or sauteed chicken breasts? DISASTER. I’m afraid of undercooked poultry, so I always end up overcooking it leaving the thinner parts rubbery, and the whole thing kind of sawdust-flavored, and...yeah, it’s not pretty. Which is a shame, because chicken is a nice easy widely-available source of protein, excellent for putting on salads and whatnot. But apparently I‘m just not cut out for it.

Except, I realized recently, when I do it in the crock pot. That salsa verde chicken I make with chicken breasts all the time, and my favorite chicken soup recipe also relies on the low-and-slow heat of the slow cooker.

Photo from: For The Love Of Cooking

So! Lightbulb! What if I made basic poached chicken in the crock pot, shredded it, then had it on hand for salads and pizza topping and burrito filling and so on?

(You geniuses out there probably knew this already, and are like "whoa, Katie, for a reasonably smart person you’re kind of slow." Which: hush. Let me have my moment.)

So I did, and it worked, and now we always have chicken on hand and my meal-planning life has gotten much better, the end.

Basic poached chicken in the crock pot.

(this is more of a technique than a recipe- feel free to double the quantities, add herbs of your choice, substitute vegetables if you don’t have celery in the house, whatever. it’s very very flexible.)

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 bay leaves (optional, but nice)

1-2 tsp kosher salt (I leave it out because I feed this chicken to the baby and like to keep her food less salty; but if you’re not concerned about sodium it definitely adds flavor)

4 cups water plus 1-2 packets chicken stock concentrate, or 4 cups chicken stock

Place chicken in the crock pot. Throw in vegetables. Fill with cold water or broth to cover by an inch or so, then add the bay leaves, herbs, salt, and stock packets (if you’re using water). Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove from liquid and shred. It will shred like butter, and keeps for several days in the fridge.