Chicken is a very delicious and healthy dish to add to your diet. Whether you choose to grill it, fry it, roast it, or boil it, it’s sure to still contain its signature savory taste and numerous health benefits. There are so many ways to go about cooking your chicken, but in this article, we’ll be looking at only two different methods to cook and shred chicken breasts so they turn out amazing for your meal.
Ensure you pay close attention to the cooking instructions, tips, and step-by-step directions we have for you to guarantee you cook perfect shredded chicken breasts even if it’s your first time trying out this recipe.
Chicken Breasts Nutrition Facts
Tips for Cooking Chicken Breasts to Shred
Use some salt – when prepping your chicken breasts, it is advisable to use salt on the chicken. Salts help to extract all the juiciness from the meat. Use the salt generously on both sides of your chicken breasts.
Rest your chicken breast – after you’re done cooking your chicken breasts, allow them to rest so they can still hold their juices in. Resting the chicken breasts also allows them to warm so they’d be calmer to the touch when you’re ready to start shredding. Rest for about 5 minutes or so while you go about prepping other foods you can eat with the chicken breasts.
Don’t worry about the chicken breasts getting cold; as long as you don’t slice them up, they will still be able to hold in their heat and juices.
Defrost your chicken breasts – defrosting the meat before you cook it helps it to be less tough when cooked. You can leave it on a plate or clean flat surface to naturally defrost, that is, to thaw at room temperature while still retaining its cool moisture.
How long to cook the chicken breasts – cooking chicken breasts depends largely on the size and thickness of the chicken. The thicker the chicken, the more time you’ll spend cooking it. But it’s more recommended to go by the internal temperature of the chicken as 165°. You can use a thermometer to check after cooking.
Use some sauce – to make your chicken breasts more delicious, you can use dipping sauces like mayonnaise, ketchup, and a lot of other ingredients that are sure to taste amazing with your shredded chicken. You can also make gravy if you’re baking the chicken and some of the juices comes out. Just combine the chicken juices with a few seasonings and maybe some heavy cream, and your delicious gravy is ready to be eaten with the shredded chicken.
Use some butter – melted butter is an amazing substitute for cooking oil in some simple chicken recipes like pan-frying or baking. If you have both cooking oil and melted butter, you can combine them (in smaller quantities) and use them on your chicken breasts. Butter tastes amazing with any kind of chicken, believe me.
View this post on Instagram
Cooking Time for Chicken
In the table below, we have compiled the necessary timing guidelines and cooking procedures for three different and simple chicken recipes that can be shredded when cooked.
| Cooking procedures | Cooking time |
| Frying chicken breasts on the stovetop | 10 minutes |
| Baking chicken breasts in the oven | 20 to 25 minutes |
Shredded Fried Chicken Breasts (2 to 3 servings)
Ingredients
- 2 medium boneless chicken breast
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil (melted butter is optional)
Directions
- Defrost your chicken breasts.
- Take out a non-stick skillet and add some olive oil to the pan. You can also use a cast-iron skillet or stainless steel, whatever you have at home. While the oil heats up, sprinkle some salt and pepper on both sides of your chicken breast to your taste.
- Once the oil is hot enough, add your chicken to the pan. Fry for 10 minutes, 5 minutes on each side. The chicken breasts will develop a golden brown color and the internal temperature 165°.
- Take the chicken out when fully cooked and leave it to rest for about 5 minutes or so. After its rested, slice it with a knife into large parts and pull the meat apart with a fork from both sides.
- Your delicious shredded fried chicken breast is ready to eat. You can eat this with simple ketchup or any sauce of your choice.
Shredded Oven-Baked Chicken Breast (3 to 4 servings)
Instructions
- Defrost your chicken breasts and season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. You can also marinate the chicken breast in a dry rub and contain it in a ziplock bag for flavor if you want.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper for an easier clean-up.
- Drizzle olive oil on the pan, place your chicken breasts over the oil and drizzle more oil on top of the chicken breasts. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the internal temperature is about 165°. Keep in mind that you can also bake other foods like potatoes alongside the chicken to make a complete meal.
- After the chicken is out of the oven, leave it to rest for 5 minutes on the counter. After the 5 minutes are over, cut up the baked chicken into large bits and pull each bit apart with a fork. Since the chicken is baked, it’s sure to come apart very easily.
- You can drizzle some sauce on the chicken and eat it with salad as a side dish. Or you can use the shredded chicken for a host of other recipes which includes chicken breasts.
These methods of cooking and shredding chicken breasts are very easy and quick to carry out. You can be done with your chicken breasts in under just an hour! It’s an amazing dish that can be used for other recipes that your family is sure to get a kick out of. Keep in mind that you can also use a hand mixer for easily shredding your chicken if you’re making a large batch.
If you’re interested in other methods of cooking and shredding chicken breasts, ensure you check out this video recipe.