3 ways with… poached chicken

I love chicken, and would eat it at least 3-4 times a week. Often for breakfast as well as for lunch and dinner {well, ok, maybe not THAT often for breakfast}.

Having a couple of poached chicken breasts in the fridge makes it super easy when it comes to throwing together a quick meal for dinner or to pack for lunch. And it’s a LOT healthier than rushing to the nearest supermarket to buy a BBQ chicken {although they do taste good!}.

Poaching chicken (and fish) used to seriously scare me. Until the first time I tried. WOW! How easy was it! Made me feel a bit foolish for not trying sooner!

All you do is this:

Almost fill a skillet or fry pan with water and bring it to the boil {leave about 2cm for the water to rise once the chicken is added}.

I generally only poach in water, but you can poach in most cooking liquids including stock and coconut milk. You can also add herbs and spices such as ginger, star anise, peppercorns, fresh herbs, wine, vinegars, fruit juice or anything else to flavour the chicken.

Once the water is boiling, add the chicken breasts so they are fully submerged in the water {or at least 90%}.

These are  not quite submerged, but I turned them over about 15 minutes into cooking.

Once the water is boiling again, turn off the stove, put the lid on the pan and leave it!

Allow the chicken to cook in the hot water for about 20 minutes, turn it, then give it another 20 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, it should be cooked. If you’re not sure, give it another 10-15 minutes. As it’s sitting in water it won’t dry out. Once it’s cooked, remove from the water and put the chicken on a plate to cool.

For food safety reasons, don’t leave the cooling chicken out of the fridge for more than an hour or so

Once it’s cooled, put it apart along the grain, tearing the chicken into shreds with your fingers {if it hasn’t cooled that’s OK, but you’ll burn your fingers!}.

3 chicken breasts are a lot of shredded chicken! This container is larger than it looks.

Store the shredded chicken in the fridge in an airtight container until you’re ready to cook with it – it should keep for 3 days.

NOTE – you can poach fish the same way {I love poached salmon} but it only takes about 10-15 minutes in total, and a bit less if you’re poaching salmon and you like it quite rare.

One the chicken is poached, there are SO MANY RECIPES you can use it for!

Some of my favourites are:

1.  On a sandwich or bread roll with lots of whole egg mayo, lettuce and a bit of salt and pepper

2.  In a simple salad with sliced or chopped cucumber, tomato, red pepper, red onion, baby spinach leaves, splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Those with eagle eyes will notice this is not shredded chicken! It’s actually leftover BBQ chicken, but just imagine it’s shredded…

3. In a toasted wrap with basil pesto, grated parmesan cheese, tomato, mushrooms

I used a lavosh style bread for this, but a tortilla works well too. Just wrap and toast in a toasted sandwich maker

Deceptively filling!

4. In a simple – and speedy – pasta sauce with sauteed mushroom, red onion, tomato, red pepper, basil pesto, grated parmesan on top – the slowest part of this meal is waiting for the pasta to cook

This is possibly one of THE ugliest photos I’ve ever taken, but this meal was sensational!

What’s your favourite way to eat leftover chicken (whether it’s poached, grilled or BBQ)?