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Cook it, shred it, or freeze it – follow these simple steps to learn How to Make Shredded Chicken for all your favorite recipes!
We use it for everything!
Chicken is the best. It’s inexpensive, tastes great when cooked and seasoned properly, and is delicious in about a million main dishes.
One of my favorite ways to eat and use chicken is shredded. We use shredded chicken in so many of our recipes, so we’ve rounded up our top tips on how to make it and use it in recipes.
Why we love it:
- Meal prep. Make several batches of shredded chicken to freeze for future meals like BBQ chicken sandwiches, shredded Chicken Tacos or Chicken Burrito Bowl.
- Cook in different ways. Bake chicken, grill it, or see our methods below for the slow cooker and instant pot!
- Easy. Whether you’re making crock pot chicken or instant pot chicken, just dump, set, and go!
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: 8 hours
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts – or boneless chicken thighs
- 2-3 olive oil – adds extra moisture and helps the season stick to the chicken.
- salt and black pepper – (we also love using garlic pepper or garlic salt with parsley flakes) or season with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, or Taco Seasoning.
How to Cook Shredded Chicken
There are several different ways to cook chicken.
Pretty much any method will work for making shredded chicken (including baked chicken). The two methods I’ve found that produce the most tender, fall-apart, shredded chicken are the oven, the slow cooker and the instant pot.
We get busy so our go-to method is the crock pot:
Crockpot Shredded Chicken
- Place 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot.
- Drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper (or add spices for more flavor).
- Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 3-4.
Other Cooking Methods
OVEN BAKED Shredded Chicken (FOR MORE TIPS GO HERE)
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Place seasoned chicken (with olive oil on it) on a greased sheet pan (covered with foil for easy cleanup, if desired)
- Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked throughout.
- When the chicken is fully cooked, the juices will run clear, and the thickest part of the chicken should be at least 165°F using a meat thermometer.
Instant pot Shredded Chicken
If you’re in a time crunch, use a pressure cooker!
- Place two pounds of chicken breasts in the Instant Pot with 1⁄2 cup of water (or chicken broth or vegetable broth) and your favorite seasonings.
- Secure the lid and set the Instant Pot to manual for 12 minutes if the chicken is frozen, and 9 minutes if it’s thawed.
- Once it’s done cooking, let the Instant Pot self-vent for 10 minutes.
- Then, manually release the remaining pressure in the Instant Pot, open the lid, remove the chicken, and shred.
How to Shred Chicken
There are a few different ways to shred chicken once it’s cooked. The most common ones are the hand method or the fork method.
- The hand method is just using your hands to shred the chicken into pieces. Cool the chicken and wash your hands before beginning.
- The fork method requires two forks. Pull the chicken apart with the forks. This method is a bit faster than the first.
My Favorite Method
My favorite way is the stand mixer method!
- Make sure your chicken is still warm and put it into your stand mixer. Put the flat beater, or paddle attachment on and mix on speed 2 for 30-60 seconds.
It shreds so quickly! You can also use an electric hand mixer at low speed.
Complete the Meal
- Main dishes: Chicken Enchilada Soup, Chicken Tacos, Chicken Salad
- Side dishes: Parmesan Crusted Zucchini, Baked Parmesan Asparagus, Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
- More chicken recipes: Crack Chicken, Huli Huli Chicken, Ritz Cracker Chicken
More collections: Crockpot Chicken Recipes, Chicken Dinner Ideas, Easy Dinner Ideas
Shredded Chicken Recipe
Tips and tricks on how to make shredded chicken, cook it, shred it, freeze it to use in all your favorite recipes!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Slow Cooker Directions
- Place 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot.
- Drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- Take out and shred while warm.
Instant Pot Directions
- Place two pounds of chicken breasts in the Instant Pot with 1⁄2 cup of water and your favorite seasonings.
- Secure the lid and set the Instant Pot to manual for 12 minutes if the chicken is frozen, and 9 minutes if it’s thawed.
- Once it’s done cooking, let the Instant Pot self vent for 10 minutes.
- Then, manually release the remaining pressure in the Instant Pot, open the lid, remove the chicken, and shred.
How to Shred Chicken
- MY FAVORITE METHOD: Stand mixer method. Make sure your chicken is still warm and put it into your stand mixer. Put the flat beater, or paddle attachment on and put it on speed 2 for 30-60 seconds.
- The hand method is just using your hands to shred the chicken into pieces. Cool the chicken and wash your hands before beginning.
- The fork method requires two forks. Pull the chicken apart with the forks. This method is a bit faster than the first.
Notes
FREEZE. Place 1-2 cups (depending on how much you use) of cooled chicken in Ziploc bags or airtight containers in 1 or 2-cup portions. Store in the freezer for about 4 months. It is safe to eat after that but will taste best within that timeframe.
To use, thaw individual servings in the fridge overnight. If it’s going in something that will be cooked like soup or casserole, put it right into the recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 213kcal, Protein: 31g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 96mg, Sodium: 174mg, Potassium: 557mg, Vitamin A: 45IU, Vitamin C: 1.8mg, Calcium: 8mg, Iron: 0.6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Which Recipes use Shredded Chicken?
- Having shredded chicken on hand makes whipping up your favorite dishes a breeze. Some of my favorite recipes calling for shredded chicken include:
- Soup. Chicken Tortilla Soup, White Chicken Chili, Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Chicken Taco Soup
- Casseroles + Dinners. Chicken Broccoli Casserole, Chicken Stuffing Casserole, Chimichangas, Chicken Enchiladas
- Appetizers. Buffalo Chicken Dip, Chicken Quesadilla Recipe, Egg Roll Recipe, Taquitos
How to Store Shredded Chicken?
- Place cooled shredded chicken in an airtight container(s) and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
How to Freeze?
- Place 1-2 cups (depending on how much you use) of cooled chicken in separate Ziploc bags, then store them together in a larger freezer-safe container. Store in the freezer for about 4 months. It is safe to eat after that but will taste best within that time frame.
- To use, thaw individual servings in the fridge overnight. Use it directly in a soup or casserole.
I used the crock pot and did the fork to shred the chicken. It came out perfect and delicious! thank you
Hi, Did this in the crockpot. Sheer genius! I couldn’t believe how great they came out. Used the chicken for your Chicken Enchiladas. Your site is one of the best on the web. Thank you for sharing such a great timesaving recipe.
Question, if using the crockpot method do you still marinade before cooking?
There is no marinade for this recipe. So when doing the crockpot method, you’ll just place your chicken breasts in the crock pot, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 3-4. Take out and shred while it’s warm. Hope you enjoy!
Hi. So, I sooooo prefer chicken thighs over chicken breasts, and use thighs for anything and everything that calls for chicken, especially if it calls for shredded or diced chicken. I use my instant pot to cook them and as just basic/nonspecific uses I season them with salt, pepper and garlic powder… You asked us to share our own preferred shredding routine and mine is a semi-hand way. After my chicken cools enough to handle I put it into a zip bag, seal it with just a little bit of air kept in it, then use my hands to press, pull and shred apart my cooked chicken. I can never seem to get the 2 fork shredding method right and for whatever reason it’s just too difficult and annoying for me and I also hate wet, slimy, chunky or all around icky (to me) things on my skin and rubber gloves are not only more expensive and again annoying having to pull on or off all the time so zip bags are a lot easier and economic…plus it’s all ready to go if planning on storing it for later. 😎
Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for that shredding technique, Elle! I don’t like that sticky, greasy, ooey gooey hand technique either. It’s not handy for me to pull out my Kitchenaide but baggies are right in the drawer!
Cindy