Kitchen Tips: Easy Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken (2024)

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken is theeasiest way to shred chicken at home. Just set it in your slow cooker or Crock Pot with a bit of broth and some spices for a few hours and it will shred into the juiciest, most tender chicken ever! This simple recipe is a great starting point for some of my other favorite recipes, like my buffalo chicken dip!

OK I get it. Shredded chicken is not very glamorous.

There’s no frosting, no sprinkles, no chocolate chips, and certainly no sugar. Why are we even talking about this again?

Because knowing how to easily shred chicken is a kitchen staple, and while it may be lacking in sugar, there’s a reason I want to share it with you today. It’s because I’ve made this “recipe” no less than ten times in the past two weeks. Seriously.

I’ve been working on a handful of savory recipes — some personal dinnertime and party favorites that I have held back from sharing for so long (stay tuned for my white chicken chili and chicken tortilla soup!) — and many of them call for shredded chicken. Rather than insist that you buy and shred a rotisserie chicken or leave you wondering about the best way to shred your chicken at home, I thought it might be best if I just provide a recipe for this.

Don’t worry, this recipe is as short and sweet as they come, I promise.

How to make shredded chicken

1. Place chicken breast, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and spices in the basin of a crock pot.
2. Cover and cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
3. Remove chicken breast and use two forks to shred.

Doesn’t get much easier than that, does it? Very similar to my easy BBQ pulled chicken recipe!

Can you overcook chicken in the slow cooker?

Yes, it is possible! If the meat is cooked too long it could end up dry and not juicy and tender. The recommended times in my recipe are ideal for juicy results, but if you use less chicken than the recipe calls for I would recommend checking it sooner.

Can I use frozen chicken?

I’ll admit, I used to frequently use frozen chicken in my slow cooker.However, as perfood safety guidelines, frozen chicken breast should be thawed before being cooked in a slow cooker and you should not cook chicken breast in the slow cooker from frozen.

I’ve used this recipe in my homemade chicken pot pie (and as a substitute in my turkey pot pie), my buffalo chicken mac and cheese, and in so many other easy recipes.

Alright, I hope you don’t mind the brief break from the sugar. If you have any other kitchen tips you’d like me to write about, please leave them in the comments!