Frozen Chicken Recipe, with alternative cooking methods (A staple in my freezer)

 I wanted to share this recipe because it is one that I use in many of my other recipes. It is what I would consider to be a staple in our home. I wanted to share with you the variety of ways that I precook and freeze my chicken so that it is ready to use for quick lunches and dinners.

This recipe is extremely basic, and many of you will already have methods of doing this, but I wanted to share it for those who may not know how to.

For these recipes I do not season my chicken, because I am planning on using this chicken in future recipes that I will be seasoning based on that particular meal.

Frozen Diced Chicken -- On the stove


Recipe for 1 lb of chicken (double for as many pounds as you choose to make)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed
1 tsp oil (butter, coconut, olive, whatever you choose)


Instructions:
Dice chicken into 1 inch pieces, all roughly the same size (can be large or small based on your preference, 1 inch pieces I find works best for me).

Preheat skillet with oil over medium heat, then add your chicken. Immediately stir chicken to coat it with the oil, then let it sit in the oil stirring every 2-3 minutes. Depending on the size of your diced chicken pieces, chicken should be done in about 7-10 minutes.

You are looking for the chicken to be completely cooked through, not translucent at all. You want the juices of the chicken to run clear, and have no pink hue. 

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and place into a bowl or onto a plate to cool. Once chicken is completely cool, I store it inside a ziplock freezer bag. I double bag my chicken, and squeeze the bag to remove air to prevent freezer burn.

**Optional**
You could also use this method with chicken strips, rather than dicing the chicken. I often keep this variety in the freezer as well, depending on what I feel like using.

Alternative Cooking Methods

 Sometimes I just don't feel like cooking on the stove. It could be that I just don't have time, or just don't want too.

Other ways that I have cooked my chicken in preparation for the freezer is using a slow cooker, the oven, or boiling the chicken. The slow cooker and boiling of the chicken really provides nice moisture, while the oven provides a similar taste to the stove, but without having to use the stove.

The difference using these methods are that I do not dice the chicken until AFTER I cook it, rather than dicing it while the chicken is raw. Here are the different methods:

Slow Cooker Method:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (FROZEN breasts, or FRESH)

I use a 6 quart slow cooker for this recipe, and have tripled to 3 pounds of chicken successfully cooked using this method.

For Raw, fresh chicken:
Place into slow cooker, cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6, or until chicken is cooked through and is no longer transulcent or pink.

For frozen (sometimes i freeze chicken before I get a chance to use ):

Place into slow cooker, cook high 4 hours of low 8 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and is no longer translucent or pink.



NOTES: If using larger amounts of chicken than 1 pound, cooking times may increase -- especially if chicken is being cooked from frozen. For 3 pounds of chicken, I have cooked in  a slow cooker on high for 6 hours until chicken is done.  

Oven Method:

1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast
1 tsp oil (butter, coconut, olive, whatever you choose)

Place chicken about 1 inch apart on oven safe baking dish, and allow chicken to cook in preheated over set to 375 degree F for 30-35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. 

Boiling Method: 

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

 Bring large pot to a boil (I use a pot that you would use to make corn), you want your chicken to fit into the pan freely without being overfilled. In an average size pot I would add no more than 4 breasts.

Add chicken the boiling water, and boil chicken on medium low heat for 10 minutes, until cooked through.


Final Notes:
For chicken in the skillet, chop chicken before cooking. All other methods, chop chicken AFTER the cooking process.

Be careful when boiling and cooking in the slow cooker because chicken will be very tender and have a tendency to water to shred (these methods actually are my favorite). Allow the chicken to cook completely before dicing it and place it gently into freezer bags.



Feel free to adapt this to your needs. If you wish to season your chicken and freeze it preseasoned, that works well, I just like having the option o season differently if I wish.