About once a week, I plan on doing a “bonus” post - sometimes it’ll be about a technique, other times I’ll be sharing a favorite chicken recipe….and we’ll see what else shows up.
I really consider this more of a technique rather than a recipe, because I’m not going to tell you what to do with your shredded chicken. There are lots of recipes out there for cooked chicken though, and this is an easy way to make tender, moist cooked chicken that shreds easily. You could also dice it if that’s what you need for your recipe.
I am not an electric pressure cooker guru. Let’s get that out of the way. We’re not huge on soups & stews, and I prefer not to boil everything (which is essentially what a pressure cooker does). But that said – I do find my Instant Pot (the brand of pressure cooker that I have) to be a useful tool in the kitchen.
To make shredded chicken:
Add to your pressure cooker:
· 3-4 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs. If using thighs, you may want to trim some of the excess fat off of them.
· 2 cups of chicken stock. You can use a boxed or canned stock that you like, or you can use bullion and hot water (just mix together well to dissolve the bullion). If using low salt chicken stock, you may want to add a teaspoon or so of salt to the chicken and toss to season it.
Close up your pressure cooker and set to pressure cook for 10 minutes. Once the time is done, let the pressure cooker come to a natural release, i.e. when the pin drops on it’s own – that will probably take another 10-15 minutes. You don’t have to baby sit it – if you are doing something else and let it sit a little longer, it’s not a big deal.
At this point, you now have two products: tender cooked chicken, AND a rich chicken stock. Pull out the pieces of chicken – they’re going to probably pull apart as you try to do that, they’ll be that tender. You may want to strain the stock to get all the small pieces of chicken that have broken off.
The leftover chicken stock is liquid gold and you want to save that. I typically freeze it – either in an ice cube tray or in a 1 cup block, so it’s ready for me when I want it.
Shredding the chicken is easy – for big pieces, you can just get in there with 2 forks and pull the meat apart (or your hands…), or you can dice it. If you want a medium to fine shred, the easiest way is to put it in your stand mixer, or into a deep bowl and use your hand mixer. Just pulse briefly for a medium shred, or a few times more for a fine shred. Do NOT try to use the mixer method with a shallow bowl, unless you enjoy cleaning flying chicken carnage up from your kitchen for the next week. (Ask me how I know….)
You can and should make more shredded chicken than you immediately need – it freezes easily and then you have it ready to go when you need it. I would recommend when freezing cooked chicken to add a couple tablespoons of the cooking liquid to the chicken to keep it moist. Freeze it as airtight as possible in a freezer bag or vac seal, and it’s good to go.
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