How to Boil Chicken

Learn how to boil chicken for a wide range of easy recipes such as salads, sandwiches, tacos, soups, and more. This easy boiled chicken is moist and delicious!

I’m sharing some of my tips for making the best boiled chicken that is moist and delicious! Learn how to make boiled chicken in no time with very few ingredients and very little prep time or effort. You can shred or chop the chicken for all sorts of recipes including Easy Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta, Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad, and Greek Lemon Chicken Soup. 

I like to use a slightly different method than fully submerging the chicken in liquid for a less “rubbery” chicken. I think this works great and hope you like it too!

You can also try making Instant Pot Shredded Chicken if you’re a big Instant Pot fan like myself!

Equipment You May Need

• Saucpan – You’ll need a large saucepan (or even a deep skillet) so that your chicken can be in a single layer.
• Tongs – Long tongs will make it easier to flip the chicken over as well as get in and out of the pan.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

Ingredients

• Chicken Broth – Homemade or store-bought chicken broth. You can use low salt or regular.
• Chicken – I used boneless skinless chicken breasts. Easy peasy. Or you could try chicken breasts on the bone but may need to adjust the cooking time a tad.
• Seasonings (optional) – You can add your favorite dried herbs and spices to the broth if you’d like such as oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, etc.

How to Boil Chicken

1. BROTH. Pour broth into the bottom of saucepan.
2. CHICKEN. Add chicken in a single layer. Do not fully submerge.
3. SIMMER. Cover pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer.
4. COOK. Leave lid on, cook,  then turn chicken over, and cook again.
5. STEAM. Turn heat off, leave the lid on, and let the chicken steam.

So this chicken is part boiled chicken and part steamed chicken. I think the results are great! To mix it up a bit, you can add your favorite spices to the broth or chicken before cooking.

(Full printable recipe card with more details is at bottom of post.)

Tips For Making The Best Boiled Chicken

• For best results, make sure your chicken breasts are all roughly the same size so that the cooking time will be the same.
• Keep the lid on the pan so that the top of the chicken also steams which will result in moist chicken.
• Defrost the chicken fully before cooking for best results.
• Use a good quality chicken broth or homemade chicken broth or even chicken stock. For even more flavor you can add some dried herbs and spices.
• As soon as the broth starts to boil, turn down the heat to a simmer immediately.

Can You Boil Frozen Chicken

So technically you can boil frozen chicken, however, you may be disappointed in the results. The chicken will take longer to cook AND the outside of the chicken will start to get overcooked and rubbery while the inner part of the chicken is still frozen. That’s why I strongly recommend defrosting the chicken first.

What to do with Boiled Chicken

Now that you have some boiled chicken, you can chop it or shred it. Check out these easy Shredded Chicken Recipes for some great ideas what to use the chicken for or these Boiled Chicken Recipes for even more ideas.