Boiled Chicken
I know, you folks are like, eeeewwwwww, boiled chicken! Boiled chicken is used in many recipes, and you are making chicken broth as well, bonus! I routinely boil chicken when making chicken salad, chicken burritos, stews, casseroles, etc. If you are making a chicken based soup or stew, use the broth in place of water in the recipe. Do you have to use a whole chicken? No but your chicken pieces should have skin on and bone in, the skin, the fat, and the bones, is where the flavor is for a broth.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, OR, quarters, or thighs, see note about the chicken
- 1 onion, unpeeled, just cut in half
- 2 carrots, unpeeled, cut into 3-4 pieces
- 2 stalks celery, if you have it, just cut in 2-3 pieces, leave end on as well
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- water
Instructions
- Place chicken in a large pot with onion, carrots, celery and peppercorns; add water to cover. Cover pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook for about 90 minutes, or until chicken meat is falling off of the bone.
- Here is the trick, when the meat is falling off the bones, let the chicken sit in the water until the water is cooled, this will give you more juicier chicken meat.
- Once the water has cooled, remove the chicken using several slotted spoons, and put the pot back on to a simmer. Remove the meat from the bones and use per your recipe, return the bones to the pot and continue to simmer for another 2-3 hours.
- Turn the heat off, strain the pot, now you have chicken stock, and chicken meat for your recipes, how easy is that?
Notes
What can you use? A whole chicken is cheapest if the mixed white and dark meat has no impact on your recipe. If you prefer prefer dark meat for a recipe, go with quarters but cut them apart first.
Keep in mind, you are making not only the chicken for use in a recipe, you are making a good broth as well.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
I mostly heat up a few spices and toss boiled chicken into it. I freeze the chicken and use it as I need it…pasta dishes, burritos, stews etc. that way I always have cooked chicken on hand as well as chicken stock (which I freeze in ice trays and use as I need it)
Best way! Good on you for saving the stock!
Every chicken dish I make starts out with boiled chicken.
Exactly, unless I am making fried chicken or BBQ chicken, everything is boiled, this recipe lends some additional flavor, and provides stock in other recipes 🙂