Shredded chicken is one of my favorite ingredients to have on hand for easy dinners! I use it for many dishes, such as chicken salad, chicken tacos, and my favorite green chicken enchiladas. This easy stovetop recipe makes super flavorful and tender shredded chicken in under an hour. If you’d like to make this recipe using a crock pot, see our slow cooker shredded chicken.
Key Ingredients
Chicken: I love making this shredded chicken recipe with chicken thighs, as they are much more tender than chicken breast. That said, use what you have or love (turkey is a great, too). Aromatics: For flavor, I simmer my chicken with onion, garlic, and a bay leaf. Spices: I love my chicken well seasoned so I use salt, cumin, and pepper. Water or Broth: I usually use water for this recipe and find that with the other ingredients, the chicken turns out super flavorful, but if you’d like to add more flavor, feel free to use a chicken broth or vegetable broth.
How to Make Shredded Chicken
For the most tender chicken, I simmer it gently, similar to when poaching chicken. I add the chicken to a pot with the onion, garlic, and spices, then add just enough water to cover. I bring it to a low simmer and let it cook for about 30 minutes or until the chicken thighs are super tender. When the chicken is tender, I remove it and let it cool before shredding. While the chicken cools, I place the cooking broth back over the heat and simmer it down by about one-third, concentrating the flavor. The broth tastes incredible, by the way! I then spoon about a cup of the concentrated broth over the chicken and toss it. This makes sure the chicken stays moist and juicy. It’s so good! Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the now incredibly flavorful cooking broth and shred it. Then place the cooking broth back over the heat and simmer down by about one-third, concentrating the flavor. Spoon about a cup of the concentrated broth over the chicken and toss. And that’s it. Now you have chicken ready for chicken nachos, chicken enchiladas, buffalo chicken dip, easy quesadillas, chicken soup, chicken salad sandwiches, and more. 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced 4 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed 1 bay leaf 1 teaspoon salt 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Water 2Add just enough water to cover the chicken. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, then remove any foam or scum that floats to the top. 3Adjust the heat so that the water simmers very gently around the chicken. Cook until the chicken is very tender, about 30 minutes. 4Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. When it is cool enough to handle, shred the meat with two forks or your fingers. 5While the chicken cools, boil the liquid left in the pot until it has reduced by one-third or until its flavor has concentrated. 6Spoon about 1 cup of the concentrated cooking liquid over the shredded chicken and toss to coat.
