How To Freeze Shredded Chicken
You can freeze shredded chicken safely for up to 3-4 months. First of all, cook it for 30-35 minutes, add salt and pepper for good taste and flavor, cool it for 10-15 minutes, and then pack it in an air-tight container. Label each container with a specific name to avoid confusion in the future.
Freezing the shredded chicken makes it much faster to defrost than the full pieces of chicken, but you can still thaw any or all of them. By freezing the chicken shreds, you will have tasty leftovers, depending on how small your portions end up being (one to two-cup portions will keep for some time in the freezer).
Once shredded chicken has cooled completely, you can store in a 1 cup or 2 cup amount in your freezer (depending on how much you expect to use at one time). If you have a freezer-friendly refrigerator (meaning that the freezer is at the top), you may keep the shredded chicken in a sealed container or bag for 2-3 months. If shredded chicken is stored in a refrigerator with no sealing on the container or bag, then it is safe to eat after 1-2 days. We would suggest keeping the chicken shreds and slices separated, because it is difficult to defrost only a small amount at a time, since it will often freeze in a lump.
Cool thoroughly if you are planning on freezing your chicken, and then split between zipper-lock bags or an airtight container. It is best to split the cooked chicken into smaller portions rather than freezing large amounts into one bag. I like to freeze it in one- to two-cup portions so that I can easily eat whenever the recipe calls for cooked chicken. Just roast, slice with the 6-3/4″ petite carver or trimmer, portion the chicken, put it into quart-sized freezer bags, and freeze.
To freeze the chicken raw, put in a large freezer zipper bag, season, and dump barbecue sauce in bag. To combine this recipe, put chicken, chopped onions, chopped garlic, barbecue sauce, and apple cider vinegar into a large, sealed bag. Add minced garlic and spices to large pot, stir in Better Than Bouillon Mix on High/Medium Heat, bring to the simmer. Remove all excess fat from chicken breasts and discard.
Once your shredded chicken and broth has cooled to a warmer temperature, remove any big veggies pieces and bay leaves from broth (leave in yummy bits) and put both the chicken and broth into large covered bowls and store in refrigerator until fully chilled. Place boneless chicken into large mixing bowl, and use a low-speed immersion blender to chop the chicken into shredded pieces. Cook chicken on low 11 minutes, or until no longer pink in the interior, broth is clear, and the internal temperature in the center is 165 degrees F. Remove the chicken using tongs, then use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer to combine hot chicken. The longer you allow chicken to be mixed, the more shreds will form on the chicken. I did not try it, but a few readers reported they liked putting the cooked chicken into the stand mixer and mixing it using a paddle attachment to quickly shred.
| Freezing | Reheating |
| Wash the chicken | Take it out of the freezer |
| Put it an plastic bag | Let it cool down |
| Place it in the freezer for 3 months | Place it in the oven for 5-6 minutes |
While there are many different methods to prepare chicken to chop it or chop, poaching (gently cooking chicken in water) is one I find is the fastest and easiest, with the least amount of cleanup. While you can bake or slow-cook chicken for shredded chicken, the method I am showing, step-by-step below (cooking chicken in a skillet) is definitely the fastest and easiest to do. Shredding can be done directly in the slow cooker (see tip), or you can pull the chicken out onto a cutting board and shred or chop it.
If you’re interested in Can You Use Precooked Lasagne Sheets, take a look at my other article.
If you have to Cook On High, cook for just 2-3 hours and watch your chicken as it will be drying out quickly. As long as you are checking on your chicken and pulling it out when it hits that magical temperature, your chicken will turn out perfectly every single time. You can even remove the chicken as soon as it hits 160 degrees F. Put it on a plate, cover, and allow to rest for another five minutes.
As long as you are careful about properly storing cooked chicken, and you are not leaving it sitting around at room temperature, it is totally safe to freeze cooked chicken, thaw it, and then bake. How long your chicken lasts in the freezer will also depend on how you prepare the chicken: boiled chicken only lasts for a couple of months, whereas cooked or barbecued chickens will keep frozen up to six months. Place the frozen chicken, or chicken that has been thawed, into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it for 1 to 2 minutes, or until warm. While starting with thawed chicken is preferred, you can also use this method with frozen chicken, although it will cook more slowly.
This way, you only need to thaw the amount of chicken that you actually need for any given recipe or dinner. That way, these smaller portions can be thawed in smaller batches, to avoid having to thaw larger amounts, which could lead to additional waste and spoilage. Once thawed, you can re-use the chicken/turkey you cooked before freezing into another meal, then freeze again for use on another day.
If you’re interested in Can You Freeze Bread In Original Packing, take a look at my other article.
Now that you have your freezer full of chicken that is been frozen, you are ready to whip up a quick lunch, dinner, or appetizer. Add these smaller portions to chicken salad, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, your next weeks quesadillas–any recipe that calls for shreds or rotisserie chicken. Costco loves it…) Add these small, defrosted pieces to chicken salad, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, next weeks Quesadillas. Make it in big batches, and then use it to make lots of our leftover chicken breast recipes, such as our Chicken Pot Pie Casserole, etc.
Using this is a big time saver since you can use the chicken breasts that have been sliced instead of the raw chicken in the recipes. If you would like the pressure-cooker version, you could do a big batch of Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma. I divide my shreds into smaller bagsgies (one sandwich-size baggie is enough meat for one meal for my family of 4, and usually get 7 bagsgies filled from 6 pounds of chicken) and put all of them in one big freezer bag.
How do you defrost shredded chicken?
Place it in the refrigerator in the morning before work to thaw. Or, you can defrost the cooked chicken in your microwave if you continually forget to thaw stuff. Reheat the shredded chicken on medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until piping hot. The frozen chicken will reheat in approximately 5-6 minutes.
Can you freeze the shredded chicken in sauce?
We separate the shredded chicken into one-cup servings for freezing, labeling the container with any seasonings or flavors used during preparation. These pre-cooked chicken individual portions are perfect for weeknight dinners! The frozen chicken may be used right away for a fast soup, spaghetti sauce, or stir-fry.
How do you reheat frozen shredded chicken?
If the chicken is frozen, it must first be defrosted or given time to defrost overnight in the refrigerator. Chicken should be placed in an oven-safe dish and covered with foil. When the chicken is fully cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, bake it in the oven at 425 degrees lasting for approximately 20 minutes.