I Need Shredded Chicken - How Do I Cook It?

Bring chicken stock or water to a simmer. Submerge the chicken breast in the stock and poach until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness. Set aside to cool briefly,
Shred with a fork.

It really doen't matter how you cook it. You can broil, bake, saute or boil it. I prefer saute because it is quicker and easier to season. When it is done, just use a fork to shred it.

Put your chicken in some olive oil in a pan and just fry it that way. I put about 2T of oil, chopped up onion, tomatoe, green bell peppers and stir until the get a little soft. Then throw in your chicken, add spices...cumin, salt pepper and garlic and fry it around until your chicken is done. After it is done, pull it apart with two forks.

You can buy a roasted chicken then shred it.

Or what we do here, is in water, boil the chicken (boneless) until done. Can add a touch of salt to the water.
Then drain.
Then, shred when it is cooled.
And then, toss it in whatever sauce, seasoning you have... per the directions if there is a packet seasoning.

If you're in a time crunch, I agree with another post that said to shred a rotisserie chicken at the local store (I did that sometimes when I worked and was tired and running late).
If shopping isn't an option and you have to hurry, just put some oil in the pan, season the meat a little, and slice it up a little and it'll cook faster than if it were in all one piece. After it's cooked, put it in a bowl and shred it with a couple forks or your hands.
The BEST way to have cooked, shredded chicken in my opinion though, if planning ahead, is to put chicken in a pressure cooker, throw in some garlic powder, tonys, or whatever you season with "in general", and cover with water and put it on. In about 45 minutes (including bringing it to a boil) I've got shredded chicken---yay! And I don't have to mess with it---just put the lid on and it cooks while I'm preparing the rest of the stuff for dinner. Sometimes I'll buy 3 pounds on sale and throw it all in there at once and have 3lbs of cooked, shredded (or super easily shredded) chicken available. I'll bag it into 3 bags and can freeze a couple while I cook one, or go ahead and cook more than 1 meal and then you're free for the next few days. (Shredded chicken for me would be a chicken rice casserole, a king ranch casserole, a chicken/vegetable lasagna, a greek pizza with spinach, artichokes, and feta, some chicken nooodle soup, or chicken tortilla soup, tacos/burritos, fideo, gumbo, etc, etc, etc). Always helps to have some cooked, shredded chicken on hand in the freezer imo.
One more beautiful thing about a pressure cooker: I'm "scared" or easily grossed out by chicken. I don't like skin, bones, etc. But I realized that it's SO much cheaper with skin and bones. So I've found that I can put chicken quarters, and seasoning into the cooker and when it's done, the meat separates SOOOOO EASY from the bones and skin that it doesn't gross me out. That's a huge plus!

For shredded chicken. I do it the easy way. I go to the store by a rotisserie chicken and bring it home. BAM! Shredded chicken in like 15 min. LOL.

I'd boil it, let it cool a bit and shred away.

It doesn't really matter, you just need to cook it and shred it with a fork (or 2). If it were me I would poach it in water or chicken stock, or a combination of the two. As Michelle Q. says, submerge the chicken in the liquid, bring just to a bubble then simmer until it is cooked through. Cool and shred. Easy.

I would boil it but instead........really......I would buy a Rotisserie chicken
at your market and just shred that!
Much easier. Hope that helps.

I like what Amanda F. said in regards to giving the chicken flavor for tacos. Just put the breast in a pot with water covering them, bring to a boil and boil for 30-40 minutes. Test the meat to make sure it's not pink anymore, then let cool and pull apart. If you have meat on the bone it's better, but you can still do regular boneless breasts if you have to. You can boil chicken breasts for chicken salad, casseroles, anything! Good luck!

i would roast it or boil it. whenever i saute chicken, it tends to get a little tough and harder to shred. if you're really pressed for time, just go get one of those rotisserie chickens from the market.

I've made chicken taco meat by boiling chicken breasts in some salted water. Doesn't really take that long, depending on how many you're doing.

After they were cooked, I shredded them, then put them back in the pot with a can of diced tomatoes, a can of rotel tomatoes, and Mexican spices (whatever I had until it smelled good). Cook it like that, stirring frequently, until thickened some and serve.

I always get shredded chicken when I pressure cook it. If you buy chicken breasts (boneless skinless) from the store you can use it. I buy frozen chicken breasts in the family size bag. When I'm ready to cook it I throw it in the pressure cooker with 1 1/2 cups water, seal it then cook it. From the frozen state it takes 20 min from the thawed state it take 8 min. Whenever I go to cut it up it just automatically shreds. Something about steaming it makes it shred. It also stays more moist then if I just boil/bake it. Pressure cookers aren't scary things these days, they have an automatic pressure release valve so they don't explode any more, just turn down the stove temp if the steam gets to noisy. You just need the pressure valve to be up to start timing it and stay up the entire time. I've used pressure cookers for like 15 yrs and never had a problem.

I have made tacos withcubed chicken just cut it up in little tiny squares and cook it just like you would beef taco meat

Best thing to do is buy chicken breasts with the skin on and on the bone. Salt, pepper, little olive oil and put it on a lined cookie sheet and put it in an 350 degree oven for about 35 min. Let cool to handle , take off the skin and take the meat off the breast bone and then shred. The meat has flavor and is moist that way. Works every time. Good luck.

In a crunch, and the store is NOT happening...

I use some shears, butterfly a chicken (cut the spine out and lay the quarters flat), crank the heat up to 400, season, and bake. Takes about 30-40 minutes. Pull off the meat and shred.

It won't be as easy as when it's been boiled to bits for hours... but you can take the pieces and saute them with sauce.

I use my ex's mom's sloppy joe recipe and sub shredded chicken for the beef. I usually just bake it, or boil it, then cool a bit, shred it with a fork, toss it in the pan and start saute'ing it with the sloppy joe recipe....I'm sure it would work for you too. Good luck, and let us know what you did and how it turned out!

you can boil it, bake it, crock-pot it, however you prefer your chicken cooked. and i use a plate or cutting board and (i) use 2 forks, one to hold the meat, and you jush "shred" with the other fork :) u can use a food processor, if u like, if you pay close attention also. also do it with some of your leftover meats (shredded), or freeze the meat whole; and it will be ready for later use!!! (i prefer shredding, then freezing if im doing this)

i also do buy some cans of the canned chicken! i have never had a problem with the quality, and its basically shredded for you! you can shred more if you like. but these are great to have on hand for "quick" meals!!!!

good luck hun, so many good suggestions!! :)

I have wondered this exact same thing for most of my married life! Thank You!!

I use the slow cooker and cook the chicken on low for most of the day, then it can be easily shredded with two forks.