Juicy poached chicken breast made quick and easy — perfect for shredding, salads, or meal prep. Master this simple poached chicken method for tender, flavorful results every time.
Boiled Chicken is seriously so overlooked, but when I started incorporating it into my dishes I realized how amazing of a cooking method this is! Poaching chicken gives you juicy, tender chicken that’s just an absolutely perfect blank canvas for whatever you’re going to use chicken in! As I discuss in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, working with ingredients that act as a blank canvas open up a world of opportunity in terms of discovering new recipes. I’ll share ideas for how to use your chicken at the bottom of this post!
30 min
2 chicken breasts (2 cups cooked)
easy
Quick and Easy Juicy Poached Chicken Breast Recipe
Boneless chicken breasts are simply going to be poached in water with a touch of salt. Everything happens on its own!
I seriously recommend this method for beginner cooks. At first I was hesitant to recommend this because it’s hard to tell if the chicken is cooked by simply looking at it, and perhaps chicken is a pesky protein of yours. However, I now realize it’s probably the most effortless way to cook chicken! No worrying about heating a pan, no need to baby it, you just throw it on the stove and it cooks with next to no effort! If chicken breast is a pesky protein for you because it gets dry and it’s bland, then fear not! Try making your own boiled chicken as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge and I’m sure you’ll make boiled chicken as a staple in your regular cooking! Get the free challenge and my motivational guide by signing up to my newsletter, plus you’ll never miss out on a new recipe!
Poaching chicken is also a wonderful option for meal prepping. You can make extra chicken breasts and save the extra for later, so that you always have some cooked chicken on hand. This will save you time in the kitchen later on!
Follow along as I make the best boiled chicken for shredding in the video! Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’re not already, and be sure to press the bell button to get notified when all of my video recipes go live! Let’s get cooking!
Why Poach Chicken Breasts?
Easy: You’ll see when we get to the instructions that making poached chicken is super easy! You only need one pot and a couple of ingredients!
Fresh: If you have rotisserie chicken on hand, you can use that to shred your chicken. Trust me, I really love rotisserie chicken and I pick it up whenever I’ve got a craving, but you’ll see just how fresh and soft poaching your own chicken breast is!
Customizable: The best part - depending on what you’re looking for, you can make this chicken in so many different ways! I’ll list some variations to poaching later on in this post to inspire you.
Of course the main ingredient here is chicken breast, but let’s see what else we’ve got going on! You can get all ingredient measurements by scrolling to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card or by pressing the “Jump to Recipe” button. Depending on how many chicken breasts you want to cook, you can also scale the recipe and all individual ingredient quantities will automatically be adjusted for you!
In a cold pot, add chicken and fill the pot with water.
Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat to high.
Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low to bring the water to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Once the chicken registers 165 F, take the pot off the heat and let the chicken rest in the water for 5-10 minutes.
Then remove the chicken and slice, dice or shred to use as needed.
Tips for Poaching Chicken Perfectly
If cooking multiple portions, try to use portions that are boneless and are of an even size and weight to ensure even cooking.
Use a poaching liquid that’s flavorful to season the chicken. You can use a good vegetable or chicken broth, or proceed as we did in this recipe and use water with various herbs and aromatics.
Ensure you completely submerge the chicken in the poaching liquid before cooking. During cooking, ensure the water is at a gentle simmer and not a boil.
Once the chicken is cooked, allow it to rest in the poaching liquid before shredding or cutting.
How to Know when the Chicken Is Cooked?▼
The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 F. A meat thermometer will easily help you to determine this!
Can I boil chicken Beast From Frozen?▼
It’s not recommended to boil or poach chicken breast from frozen. While boiling the chicken, the outside will cook much faster than the frozen inside and it will take much longer to evenly cook the chicken so that the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
You would have to cook the chicken for longer which will result in a final product that is drier and tougher than chicken cooked after thawing.
To poach chicken in a hurry, it’s best to run the chicken under a stream of cold water to thaw or keep in the refrigerator to thaw naturally before cooking.
Variations to Poaching Chicken
Now you’ve seen how easy it is to poach chicken! You can switch it up and poach chicken in some broth instead of water if you want additional flavours. Depending on what you’re using this chicken for, you could even cook in some herbs and aromatics, such as garlic, onions, and herbs, that will complement the recipe.
To truly take your chicken up a notch, you could even add a splash of white wine to the liquid!
How to Shred Boiled Chicken Breast▼
You can use a pair of forks by holding the chicken in place with one hand and with the other, pulling along the fibres of the chicken to shred to the desired consistency.
Alternatively, a stand or hand mixer can also be used to shred the chicken quickly.
Favourite Recipes with Boiled Chicken
You could poach chicken for almost any recipe that simply calls for cooked chicken. I typically make this chicken when I’ll be shredding it afterward for some barbecue chicken. Here are some examples of where this chicken comes in handy:
Open-Faced BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Here you can poach the chicken in just water, as we want a truly blank canvas to add in the barbecue sauce and other goodies for this delicious chicken grilled cheese sandwich!
Guacamole and Chicken Bruschetta: If you want to add some chili powder or cayenne pepper to your chicken, then this would nicely complement the guacamole!
Crispy & Cheesy BBQ Chicken Quesadillas: These quesadillas feature shredded chicken in BBQ sauce, lots of cheese, and crispy flour tortillas! An easy 20-minute weeknight meal!
Better Chicken Salad Sandwich: Why is it a “better” chicken salad sandwich? No celery! Celery grosses me out, but check out the recipe to see how we compensate for it!
Savory Creamy Chicken Crepes:Bring this French delight to your home for a special brunch or dinner! Chicken mixed with cream cheese, mozzarella cheese and spinach, and butter, these delicate crepes are thin, crispy and so satisfying with the warm and hearty filling!
Loaded Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Nachos: These nachos are so easy to whip up for any game day party or just if you’ve got a midnight snack craving! Plus, having the chicken cooked will save lots of time!
Serving Suggestions
If you don’t want to shred the chicken and eat it whole, then go for it! Here are some recipes that you can mix and match to make a healthy and balanced meal:
I recommend using the chicken in your recipes as soon as possible for best results. Storing boiled chicken plain in the fridge can smell a little odd if left for too long in my experience! That being said, having some basic boiled chicken is known to be a meal prep staple, so if you want to make a big batch to save it for quick meals, then go ahead and do so! Store your leftover boiled chicken in an airtight container. I wouldn’t keep cooked boiled chicken breast in the fridge for longer than three days.
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!
Recipe by Anadi Misra
Quick and Easy Juicy Poached Chicken Breast Recipe
Juicy poached chicken breast made quick and easy — perfect for shredding, salads, or meal prep. Master this simple poached chicken method for tender, flavorful results every time.
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·
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5 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
10 min
Rest
30 min
Total
2
chicken breasts (2 cups cooked)
easy
Level
Ingredients
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·
·
Ingredients
Tap any quantity to scale
x 6 oz chicken breastsx 6 oz (170 g) chicken breasts
In a cold pot, add chicken and fill the pot with water. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat to high.
In a cold pot, add chicken and fill the pot with water. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat to high.
2
Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low to bring the water to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Once the chicken registers 165 F, take the pot off the heat and let the chicken rest in the water for 5-10 minutes.
Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low to bring the water to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Once the chicken registers 165°F (74°C), take the pot off the heat and let the chicken rest in the water for 5-10 minutes.
3
Then remove the chicken and slice, dice or shred to use as needed.
Then remove the chicken and slice, dice or shred to use as needed.
Nutrition per serving
285
Calories
22g
Protein
10g
Carbs
16g
Fat
1g
Fiber
4g
Sugar
3066mg
Sodium
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Tested & written in Anadi’s kitchen
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