This shredded chicken recipe is super simple to make and can be used in 100 different ways. It makes a batch of tender shredded chicken on the stove in less than one hour then you can use it in all of your favorite shredded chicken recipes (suggestions below!).
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.
Easy Shredded Chicken
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is our favorite method for making shredded chicken. Gently simmering boneless chicken thighs in a flavorful cooking broth helps them become tender and stay super juicy and moist. We go the extra step to ensure the chicken is as juicy and delicious as possible. Once the chicken is cooked, we simmer the cooking liquid by one-third and then spoon the concentrated broth over it before using the chicken in other dishes or serving. You can also enjoy the leftover liquid as a light broth!
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
3 pounds (1360g) boneless chicken thighs
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
Directions
1Combine chicken, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, cumin, and pepper in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan.
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.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: The chicken and broth will keep refrigerated up to 4 days and can be frozen for 3 months.
- Skin-on chicken: We have made this recipe using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chicken thighs with skin still attached. Both work very well. If you use chicken with skin, simply remove and discard the skin before you shred the chicken. You may also find that you need to skim some of the fat from the cooking broth before spooning it over the chicken.
- Leftover cooking liquid: You will have cooking liquid leftover. It is quite delicious on its own as a light soup. You can also use it as broth for other recipes. Or, if you’re keeping the chicken more than a day, add a spoonful or two to add a little extra moisture.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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Can this be frozen and how long is it good for if frozen
Hi Laurie, You can freeze the chicken. It should be fine up to 3 months.
I have now been making your recipe for YEARS, it’s memorized. It’s amazing! Thank you!!
This is how I make shredded chicken for tacos or chicken salad. I keep the seasonings basic (onion, garlic, bay leaves). For tacos, I’ll add smoked paprika, chili and sometimes cinnamon when there’s about a quarter cup of water left. This is the first time I’ve seen “my method” anywhere. Usually recipes say to cube and pan fry or use a crockpot for shredded chicken. The secret is out!
So easy!! Tender shredded chicken in half an hour with chicken broth left over 🙂
I use this recipe all the time and the chicken is tender, easy to shred and declious. Thank You!
Delicious. The recipe results in a wonderfully flavored chicken without competing with how you choose to use it. We put ours on a whole wheat bun, with bbq sauce and avocado slices. Can’t wait to try the coleslaw recipe next. Thank you – this will be a weekly staple.
I used 12 bone in skin on chicken thighs and followed the directions exactly except I left the thighs whole instead of shredding…It was delicious! I kept some for me and gave away some…Never made it to shreds, we used it as whole thighs and just ate them…I used all the broth as a hot drink…I have made my own broth for years, this was the easiest ever, and didn’t dirty up the whole kitchen…Definitely 5 stars…
If I didn’t write the comment above, I could have…Made 10 chicken thighs last night and my house was fragrant all night…Some of them will be chicken salad with halved grapes and pecans, and some will end up in Taco Salad…That is, if any of it makes it to shreds…It usually doesn’t…I just eat the whole thigh, as my protein source…I moved, and temporarily misplaced my recipe, but luckily have it saved online…Thanks again for an easy, delicious and very useful take on chicken and broth…5 stars again…
Could I substitute boneless for bone-in chicken thighs?
Yes, absolutely.
This recipe was so easy and delicious! My boyfriend drank the broth as a soup and I froze the rest. Used it as broth in a later dish. The chicken was amazing and tender too!
Wow! …So good… Very tender, delicious chicken AND broth. Absolutely delicious!!! The broth is delectable on its own. The chicken came out great. I plan to use this in my Chicken Tinga Tacos and maybe even my Creamy Tuscany Chicken. It is so easy, with items you likely have on hand. Thank you so much for sharing this. Wow — Love It!
Could you make this in the Instant pot?
Hi Katrina, While we love the gentle cooking process of poaching the chicken thighs in our recipe above, you can use your Instant Pot to cook chicken thighs. I believe the cook time is 8 to 10 minutes depending on whether or not they are bone-in or not.