Easy Poached Chicken

This recipe for poached chicken couldn’t be easier. With one pot, a few chicken breasts, and your choice of liquid you can cook up some poached tender, soft and ready to eat chicken. Perfect to have on hand for easy meals all week long. I sometimes make a double batch and store the chicken in the freezer for those days when I just need to prepare a quick and nutritious meal.

Poached chicken is great to have in the fridge to add to salads like this Kale Salad, use it in this Shepherd’s Pie, or substitute it for the beef in this Easy Crockpot Bone Broth Pho.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe For Poached Chicken

An easy meal prep, this poached chicken recipe is a necessity for making healthy protein-packed meals with ease. Poached chicken is very versatile, you can add it to soups or salads, shepherd’s pie, make tacos out of it or grab a few forkfulls for a quick snack. Feel free to season the chicken according to the recipe you use it in.

Ingredients To Make Poached Chicken

• Chicken breasts pastured and organic when possible
• Chicken bone broth, coconut milk or filtered water
• Sea salt

Equipment

• large pot

How to Make Poached Chicken

• In a pot on the stovetop, add raw chicken breasts and cover with the liquid of choice: bone broth, water or coconut milk. Use about about 4 cups of liquid.
• Bring to a boil and cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook, covered for about 8-10 minutes until internal temp reaches 150.
• Remove from the heat and allow the chicken to cool. Chicken will continue to cook and should reach an internal temp of 165. If you have a food thermometer you can test it just to be sure.
• When cool, shred the chicken with your hands or a fork.
• At this point, store the chicken in an airtight container or use immediately.

Storage

Poached chicken will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 4 months.

Pro Tips

Here are a few things you can do to make sure your poached chicken turns out every time.

• Keep frozen chicken breasts in the freezer so you can easily cook them up to have on hand.
• Invest in a meat thermometer so you don’t have to worry your chicken is undercooked.
• Play around with the seasonings and add spices, herbs, garlic or onions to the cooking liquid.
• If using coconut milk use full-fat canned coconut milk for the best flavor.

FAQs

How long does it take to poach chicken?

It should take between 8 and 10 minutes to poach chicken but this depends on the size of your chicken breasts.

Do you poach chicken covered or uncovered?

Once the water has come to a boil you should put a lid on the pot and cover the chicken.

Can you poach chicken thighs?

Yes, if you prefer thighs you can use them instead of chicken breasts.

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