From time to time, our local grocer has great sales on chicken which is ideal since we consume a lot of chicken in our house!  I always stock up on the boneless or the split breasts.  (This may be a good time to admit, I have an aversion to anything other than chicken breasts.  I know, I know!)  Over the years, I would come home and repackage the bulk packages into smaller freezer bags.  (I still do that with the boneless breasts at times.)  However, most days, I do this little helpful hint which has saved me a great deal of time in the kitchen!  I always have a bag of cooked boneless or split breasts in my freezer.

Here’s the step by step…

Started with split breasts this time. Just add them to a large pot and add water to cover.

Season with salt and pepper.  I use about a tablespoon of Kosher salt and almost the same amount of pepper.  I like lots of pepper!  I don’t get too crazy with seasonings because I never really know going forward how I will use this chicken so just very basic is good for me.

I bring the chicken to boil over high heat and turn down to medium heat and let it cook for a good 45 minutes to an hour.  I generally go a little over because overcooked chicken just shreds better and most likely, I will be shredding this chicken at some point.  During the cooking phase and in order to make certain all breasts are cooked evenly, I will stir or rather rearrange the breasts so the ones on top go the bottom.

Once I remove chicken and allow it to cool, I place in a large freezer bag and freeze.  Just freeze the whole breasts, bone in is just fine!  Then, on days I need cooked chicken, I defrost a breast (or two) and shred the chicken for an endless number of recipes like chicken enchiladas, tinga tacos, casseroles, gumbo, chicken pot pie, soups or whatever else you may have in your recipe arsenal.  I will be certain to blog some of these recipes soon!

Should you find yourself using this little helpful hint, be sure to make plans to use the broth and one of the breasts for chicken noodle soup or gumbo that night.  Otherwise, you can freeze the broth in containers or in an ice cube tray (for smaller cube portions) for future use when you need to add a little flavor with chicken broth.