A practical tip to make the perfect shredded chicken at home quickly and produce a good amount of flavorful chicken broth along the way!

Life can be easier and better by having options. For those who love spending time in the kitchen to make delicious and healthy food for their families like you and me, having one or two versatile ingredients on hand could give us so many options to make delicious meals happen in a snap!

Without a doubt, shredded chicken is one of those magic ingredients.

The Perfect Shredded Chicken

The question is how you can make the perfect shredded chicken at home quickly without buying a rotisserie chicken from a grocery store, plus produce a good amount of nicely flavored chicken broth along the way.

Homemade Chicken Broth

The answer is to boil chicken in water but with onion, ginger, bay leaves, and salt all together. The spices will bring a great flavor to our chicken. As it’s boiling, it forms a fantastic chicken broth simultaneously.

The Perfect Shredded Chicken and Chicken Broth - ingredients

While we have the flavor locked down, the chicken texture is another important factor we should keep in mind to make it perfect. Both chicken breasts and chicken tenders could be our choices. However, boiling chicken with bones and skins makes the meat extraordinarily tender. The skin helps to keep the chicken juicy and the bones carry out more flavor easily. That being said, chicken thighs or wings are strongly recommended. If you want to make a huge amount, grab a whole chicken. Prepare more time to cook it through.

The Perfect Shredded Chicken and Chicken Broth - ingredients -2

With these two factors in mind, you are all set to make a few cups of shredded chicken and a few quarts of chicken broth. Now let’s plan what to do with your incredibly versatile shredded chicken.

How do you make your shredded chicken and what do you do with it? I would love to hear your ideas!

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A practical tip to make the perfect shredded chicken at home quickly and produce a good amount of flavorful chicken broth along the way!

Perfect Shredded Chicken with Chicken Broth

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  • Author: Sharon Chen
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 cups shredded chicken and 7 cups chicken broth 1x
  • Category: Broth, Poultry
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Diet: Gluten Free
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Description

A practical tip to make the perfect shredded chicken at home quickly and produce a good amount of flavorful chicken broth along the way!

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2.5 lbs chicken thigh, with skin and bones
  • 0.5 oz butter
  • 1 cup onion, roughly sliced
  • 0.5 oz fresh ginger, sliced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • water
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
  2. In a 3-quart saucepan, melt butter and then sauté onion over high heat until translucent.
  3. Add ginger, bay leaves, chicken into the pan and fill it up with water. Make sure the chicken is completely covered by water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
  4. Reduce to medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes with cover or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. The chicken is done when there is no pink coloring and the meat comes off easily from the bone.
  5. Remove chicken from pan to allow cool. Discard onion, bay leaves and ginger. To make this step easy, use a colander to separate all the ingredients from chicken broth. Pick out onion, bay leaves and ginger from there.
  6. When the chicken is cool, shred it with your fingers as you pick it off the bone. The skin can be easily removed. Simply tear the meat into stripes.
  7. Store shredded chicken and chicken broth separately in your fridge (up to 3 days) or freeze them for later.

About the Author

Sharon Chen, StreetSmart Kitchen
Sharon Chen

Sharon Chen is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and author of the Complete Sous Vide Cookbook. She believes food not only brings healing but also connection. As the creator of StreetSmart Kitchen, she aims to make meal prep easier than ever and help you find balance, ease, joy, and simplicity in the kitchen as you improve your well-being.