Health & Diet: Shredded Chicken

It dawned on me when reading back over some of my past blogs that I never gave the shredded chicken recipe that I use as the base to SO MANY quick and easy meals. I make 2 large chicken breasts (approximately 1.75-2 pounds) at one time. Since it is just my son and I, the 2 pounds lasts nearly a week!

This is SUPER EASY and here are some of the meal ideas:

Taco Salad
Enchiladas
Tacos / Lettuce Wraps
Pizza
Spanish Chicken & Rice
The possibilities are practically endless.

Here is all you need:
2 large chicken breasts (1.75-2.25 pounds of chicken)
Favorite taco seasoning (I use a GF Taco Seasoning by McCormick)
1/2 cup of water

The secret is in HOW you cook the meat. Using a saute pan, I sprinkle a little bit of the spices down into the bottom first, and then place the chicken down into the pan. I sprinkle more of the packet on the meat and add 1/2 a cup (NOT the full cup that the spaces call for) of water to the pan. I bring the water up to a boil and then lower the temp to a simmer. Cover the chicken and let is cook slowly. If the water cooks off, you have the temperature TOO HIGH (Don't worry, just add more water and lower the temperature!). After the bottom of the chicken starts to look lightly golden and the chicken looks about half cooked, flip the chicken, recover, and continue cooking.

I typically cook my chicken for about 15-20 minutes (longer if it was frozen).

The nice thing about making shredded chicken, if you notice that it hasn't cooked all the way through, just put it back in the pan to continue cooking. Once it is done, you will need 2 forks. The chicken should be tender enough that you can pull it apart using the two forks. I typically hold the chicken in place with one fork and use the other fork to scrape the chicken WITH THE GRAIN to pull it apart. Once the chicken has been shredded, add it back into the pan with the spiced water.

The only thing left for you to do is ENJOY! :)