Poached Chicken – How To Poach Chicken

Tender, juicy, perfectly cooked chicken breasts all ready to use for weeknight meals –does this sound too good to be true? Once you know how to poach chicken, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it!

Easy Poached Chicken

More economical.There’s no need to splurge on pricey, over-seasoned rotisserie chicken. Poached chicken is easy, convenient, and economical, especially if you buy a family pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts when they’re on sale.

Easy! You can make a big batch of poached chicken breasts in about thirty-five minutes and you’ll only have to use one pan that is easy to wash. Basically, all you need is chicken and broth, or even plain water. This is a simple how-to recipe that turns out perfectly every time; once you’ve made it a few times, you probably won’t even need to refer to the recipe.

Good source of protein. Compared to rotisserie chicken, DIY poached chicken is lower in sodium and is a good source of protein, with 12 grams of protein per 4 ounce serving (and only 72 calories).

Freezes well. The recipe is written for four servings. It’s easy to double or even triple, if you have a large enough pan, so you can make lots of cooked chicken that will last all week. Poached chicken freezes well, too, and it’s so handy to add to recipes.

So versatile! When dinner time rolls around, all you have to do is put together a simple salad, add sliced chicken and your favorite homemade salad dressing (or bottled dressing!) and dinner is ready. You can make a pan of nachos, add the chicken, and bake until warm and crispy, or make chicken tacos with salsa, guacamole, and cheese. Add the chicken to a bun with barbecue sauce, coleslaw, and a few slices of avocado. Make a BBQ chicken pizza! Add the chicken to canned vegetable soup for a really easy meal (or better yet, homemade vegetable soup). Stir cooked chicken into a jar of pasta sauce, or homemade spaghetti sauce, and serve over spaghetti. Keep reading for recipes that use cooked chicken!

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken: The recipe is written for two chicken breasts but it’s easy to add more if you like, as long as you have a large enough pan for the chicken to cook in a single layer. You’ll also find instructions on the recipe card for bone-in breasts, boneless skinless thighs, and bone-in thighs.
• Water or Broth: You’ll need enough water or broth (or a combination) to completely submerge the chicken.
• Kosher Salt: Salt is optional but it does season the chicken.
• Optional Flavorings/Aromatics: If you’d like to flavor the chicken, add one or more of the following: lemon slices, bay leaf, garlic cloves, fresh herbs, shallots, or white wine.

How to make Poached Chicken

Put chicken into pan. Choose a wide, shallow pan that has a lid. There should be enough room for the chicken to mostly fit in a single layer. If some of the thinner edges overlap a little, that’s fine. Place the chicken into the pan.

Cover with liquid. Pour enough water or broth over the chicken so that it’s completely covered. I’ve given you a ballpark figure of about how much liquid you’ll need but it really depends a lot on the size of your pan and the size of the chicken breasts.

Tip: Don’t be tempted to hurry things along by using hot water. It’s best to start with cool water right out of the tap or room temperature broth.

Add flavoring (optional). Add salt and any aromatics you’d like to flavor your chicken. For the photos, we used lemon, garlic, and fresh thyme.

Cook over medium heat. Turn the heat to medium. Again, don’t try to hurry things along by turning the heat way up. Remember, low and slow! Bring the contents of the pan to a gentle simmer. This should take about fifteen minutes but will depend on your pan and how much chicken is in it.

Reduce heat to simmer. Once the chicken comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan.

Check to see if it’s done. After about 10 minutes, check the internal temperature of the thickest portion. The best way to determine if the chicken is fully cooked is to use an instant read thermometer. Insert it into the thickest part of the chicken. The internal temperature should be 165ºF. If not, continue cooking a couple of minutes (keeping in mind that the temperature will rise a bit more while the chicken rests for 5 minutes) The chicken should be firm, opaque, and with no pink in the center.

Remove from pan and cool. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan using tongs and set it on a cutting board or platter. Allow it cool for 5 minutes or so before slicing, cubing, or shredding.

Using Chicken Poaching Liquid

The liquid that you poached the chicken in is like a very light chicken broth and is great for soups or cooking grains, especially if you added aromatics (herbs, shallot, etc.). Strain out any solids using a fine mesh strainer, and refrigerate or freeze the broth until you need it. It will keep for a week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Variations

Since poached chicken is more of a cooking technique than a recipe, it’s pretty basic. You can vary the recipe by adding the aromatics listed above, or other flavorings you might have in mind.

Instant Pot cooked chicken. Try this easy recipe for Instant Pot shredded chicken.

Oven roasted chicken. Try roasted bone in chicken breasts. They are really delicious as an entrée or to use later in recipes like the ones listed below. You can also roast a whole chicken in the oven, or try spatchcock chicken, a flattened roast chicken which takes less time to bake.

Air fryer chicken. Make chicken in your air fryer. Try air fryer chicken breasts, air fryer chicken thighs, or air fryer drumsticks.

Crockpot chicken. Learn how to “roast” a whole chicken in the crockpot.

How to Use Poached Chicken

Here are a few recipes for you but the list is by no means complete.

• Southwestern BBQ Chicken Salad (best chopped salad!)
• Healthy Curried Chicken Salad
• Dill Chicken Salad
• Southwest Chicken Salad Recipe
• Healthy Chicken Salad with Walnuts and Grapes – with video!
• Chicken Fajita Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
• The Best Cauliflower Nachos
• Southwestern Quinoa Bowl with Chicken
• BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowls
• Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

Make Ahead

Poaching chicken is a wonderful food prepping tool. It’s very easy to do and keeps really well. Store it in the fridge or freezer for many nutritious meals in the future. I almost always have poached chicken on hand.

Lunchbox idea: Deli meat is expensive, plus it has added preservatives and sodium. Why not replace it with poached chicken breast slices? It’s so much more economical and much better for you! Sliced poached chicken makes a hearty sandwich. Simply add mayonnaise, mustard, or your sandwich favorite toppings. Try DIY Chick-fil-A sauce!

Storage

Refrigerate/Freeze: Cool poached chicken for a half hour or so before refrigerating or freezing in a tightly covered container or resealable bag. It will keep up to four days in the fridge or 4 months in the freezer.