Be prepared for easy dinners by making pre-cooked shredded chicken in the Crockpot. It’s perfect for tacos, pasta, salads, casseroles and more.
So, one of my goals for the New Year is to cook most of our food from scratch and not eat out nearly as often. To accomplish that, I’m trying to break things down to make them easier.
Meal prepping by having commonly used recipe elements ready in the freezer is a big part of that.
One trick I have used in the past and am amping up for this year is to have cooked chicken readily available to add into recipes. That means I am making some cooked chicken to stock the freezer.
There are soooo many recipes that call for a cup or two of cooked chicken. Tons of Mexican foods like enchiladas, burritos and more, pasta dishes, rice dishes, salads, Asian stir fry – just so many!
So, to always be ready to cook up one of these recipes in a hurry, I stocked my freezer yesterday with lots of cooked chicken.
I used my crockpot to cook it, but you could do the same by baking it in the oven at about 300 degrees for an hour (just make sure it is cooked through). The oven was my former method for cooking this chicken, but I love my crockpot!
For this recipe I chose seasonings that will give the chicken some flavor but won’t clash with the other ingredients in most recipes.
Cooked Chicken to Stock the Freezer Recipe
Ingredients:
4 pounds boneless chicken breasts
(if you have a good sale on bone-in breasts, you can use that too. You’ll just have to remove the bones after cooking.)
1/2 cup white cooking wine (use water if you don’t want to use wine)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
Optional: I like to add a few dashes of worstechire sauce and a few dashes of lemon juice
How to make pre-cooked shredded chicken in the Crockpot:
Place chicken in crockpot.
Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken.
Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 7-8 hours – or until cooked through.
Remove chicken from crockpot and shred or chop – however you most like to use it.
Store the pre cooked chicken in 1 or 2 cup serving sizes in freezer containers (I like to use these Pyrex storage containers) or baggies.
What to Make with Cooked Chicken:
This chicken can be used for any recipe calling for pre cooked chicken.
You can toss some in with a package of ramen noodles for a quick meal (if you have leftover veggies throw those in too). It’s also perfect to make a quick quesadilla or nachos.
Here are some of my favorite recipes using pre-cooked chicken:
Make Cooked Chicken to Stock the Freezer
Ingredients
- 4 pounds boneless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup white cooking wine use water if you don't want to use wine
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- few dashes of worstechire sauce optional
- few dashes of lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Place chicken in crockpot.
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken.
- Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 7-8 hours – or until cooked through.
- Remove chicken from crockpot and shred or chop – however you most like to use it.
- Store in 1 or 2 cup serving sizes in freezer containers or bags.
Nutrition
melody mcdaniel says
How long can I leave this in my freezer without it going bad? I will be storing in freezer bags.
Chrysa says
I have kept it for several months. You can check what the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recommends here: http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html