Tender Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Tender Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Hello friends, welcome to Slow Cook Recipe. Today we are going to make Tender Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken.

Try this easy recipe and use for sandwiches, tacos and more. Jump to the Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Recipe or read on to see our tips.

How to Make Shredded Chicken in a Slow Cooker

We’ve already shared our easy stovetop method for making shredded or pulled chicken. The recipe has a simple list of ingredients and takes less than an hour. After sharing it, so many of you asked about using a slow cooker, we knew we needed to share!

Slow cookers (or Crock Pots) are perfect for breaking down meats and making them tender and juicy. By gently simmering boneless chicken thighs (or chicken breast) in a flavorful cooking broth, the chicken become ultra tender.

How to make tender and flavorful shredded chicken using a slow cooker. Try this easy recipe and use for sandwiches, tacos and more.

This Recipe Calls For 3 Simple Steps

• Add chicken thighs or chicken breast water or stock, spices, onion, and garlic to you slow cooker.
• Cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours.
• Shred the chicken.

How to Make Tender Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Making shredded chicken in a slow cooker is easy! Simply add all the ingredients to the slow cooker then cover and cook until the chicken is cooked and tender. Then remove the chicken and shred it.

Now you are going to be left with a light chicken broth. It’s delicious. So delicious, in fact, that we love to transfer the broth to a small saucepan and simmer on the stove for a few minutes until it’s reduced by a third. This extra step concentrates the broth even further.

You can throw the shredded chicken into the now concentrated broth or spoon a little over the chicken to keep it extra juicy then save the rest for a light soup later (this is what we do!).

How to Make Pulled Chicken in a Crock Pot

Use this shredded chicken to make these delicious recipes:

Gently cooking chicken in a flavorful cooking broth helps it become tender and juicy. We go the extra step to make sure the chicken is as juicy and flavorful as possible.

Once the chicken is cooked, we transfer the cooking liquid from the slow cooker to a small saucepan and simmer the liquid down by one-third.

Spoon some of the concentrated broth over the chicken and save the rest for a light soup later.

Makes about 4 cups of shredded chicken

You Will Need

• 3 pounds boneless chicken thighs or combination of thighs and breast
• 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Water

Directions for making Tender Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Cook Chicken

1. Combine chicken, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, cumin and pepper in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the chicken by about 1 inch. Cover with lid and cook on LOW until the chicken is very tender, 4 to 6 hours.
2. Transfer chicken to a cutting board. Once it is cool enough to handle, use two forks or your fingers to shred the meat.

To Finish

1. After removing the chicken, strain the liquid left in the slow cooker and then transfer it to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until it has reduced by one-third, or until the flavor has concentrated.
2. Spoon about 1 cup of the concentrated cooking liquid over the shredded chicken and toss to coat. Use within 2 to 3 days. Save any remaining liquid for a light soup or use as stock later.

Make-ahead

The chicken and broth will keep refrigerated up to 3 days and can be frozen for 1 month.

Skin-On Chicken

We have made this recipe using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chicken thighs with skin still attached. Both work very well.

If you use chicken with skin, remove and discard the skin before you shred the chicken. You may also find that you need to skim some of the fat from the cooking broth before spooning it over the chicken.

Leftover Cooking Liquid

You will have cooking liquid leftover. It is quite delicious on its own as a light soup. You can also use it as broth for other recipes. Or, if you’re keeping the chicken more than a day, add a spoonful or two to add a little extra moisture.

Nutrition facts

The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

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