Wow, it's been a while since anyone has posted. We don't post much about our lives these days. But this is still a great place to post family recipes.
Lately we've been making this in the crockpot. It is incredibly simple, quite versatile, and entirely delicious.
Crockpot Shredded Chicken
Take a pound or two of boneless skinless chicken thighs, frozen or unfrozen, anywhere from 1 to 3 lbs, give or take a little. Put this in the crockpot.
Dump in some tomatoes. We usually have roasted tomatoes in the freezer so that's what we use. We'll dump in a baggie of them (pint size, usually, though it's fine to use more or less). If not, probably a few regular tomatoes or cherry tomatoes would work, if their flavor was good. Or a can of diced tomatoes, juice and all. It's probably entire optional if you don't have any tomatoes around at all or if you don't like tomatoes. There's enough liquid already in the chicken thighs.
Cover and cook on low for 6-12 hours -- towards the higher end for larger quantities and frozen thighs/tomatoes, towards the lower end for smaller quantities and non-frozen thighs/tomatoes. An hour on high equals two hours on low, and we do sometimes start these on high if the thighs are frozen. Or we use interludes on high if we're short on time.
When the chicken is tender and falls apart easily, it's done. Then, put the chicken in a bowl and shred it (a fork or two forks are very helpful for this). It doesn't have to be 100% shredded -- do it to your preferred texture. Add enough juice from the crockpot to keep the shredded chicken moist but not soggy. Season to taste. We usually add salt and garlic powder, maybe some pepper and a bit of either lime juice or cider vinegar. We keep it pretty simple so that it will pair well with different kinds of sauces.
If there's still liquid left in the crockpot, turn it into a sauce. This can probably be done in the crockpot but we usually do it on the stove. Mix a bit of the liquid with some flour to make a slurry. Mix the slurry in with the rest of the liquid (that is now in a pot on the stove). Add seasonings to taste. We usually take this in a southwestern-ish direction, with salt, garlic powder, a small sploot of lime juice or cider vinegar, ground chiles or chili powder or both, and a pinch of cumin. But it can go in any direction you prefer. Bring the sauce to a boil so that it thickens to your liking. (This means approximately 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour per cup of liquid, usually.)
If there's not enough liquid left to make a sauce, maybe add it to the shredded chicken anyway and hope the chicken doesn't absorb so much that it gets soggy.
We will usually serve the chicken (plus or minus any sauce) as part of a meal with flatbreads or tortillas or rice, or as sandwiches with added barbeque sauce. Add other condiments and sides to make it as satisfying as you like. We're fond of red onion pickles, for example.
Small amounts of leftovers that might not be enough for a full second meal make an excellent filling for empanadas or bourekas or turnovers. Or use it as part of making fried rice or a pilaf or soup or anything else you do with small quantities of leftover meat.
Yes, I know that there are food safety concerns about starting frozen stuff in a crockpot, for fear that the internal temperatures will be in the danger zone for too long. However, the meat cooks for a long while after the temperatures are hot enough to kill any germs (165F and above). We don't trust raw chicken anyway, danger zone or not, given the vagaries of the modern food industry. Also, if I'm going to be home, I run the crockpot on high for a few hours to increase the temps as quickly as possible, whether the chicken is frozen or not. If I'm not home I don't worry about it, of course -- it'll do fine on low since I might not be home for 10-12 hours anyway. Defrosting the chicken before cooking is yet another option for people who are sensitive to these things and/or worried.
Although chicken breasts can be used, they're more likely to dry out and get stringy with the long cooking. Chicken with skin and bones can be used, but deboning would be a pain and you'd have to decide how to handle the soggy skin plus the extra fat in the pan. I'm sure other types of poultry would work well, too.
This grew out of some of the family's existing recipes for things like pulled pork and shredded brisket.
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