EASY SLOW COOKER SHREDDED CHICKEN RECIPE | Perfect For Meal Prep!

Shredded chicken made in a slow cooker or in a crock pot is an easy, healthy, hands-off recipe that is super versatile and perfect for meal prep. You can use this shredded chicken to make shredded chicken tacos, quesadillas, a burrito bowl. I love to make some shortcut chicken noodle soup, or you could use it to make some chicken salad. And there are so many different ways to make a delicious chicken salad. And if you stick around to the end of the video, I'm gonna show you how I make my copycat Whole Foods Chicken Sonoma Salad recipe. So good. Now, when I first began to work on healthier eating habits, the biggest game changer for me was doing a little bit of meal prep. So just having a handful of headstart ingredients ready to go in my fridge for a busy week. So this could be as simple as chopping up some raw vegetables, hard boiling some eggs, or making some shredded chicken in your slow cooker like we're gonna do today. Now, to get started, you're gonna need two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast. I like to get my chicken breast from a company called ButcherBox. They have high quality, organic, pastured chicken that gets delivered right to your door. So it's very convenient. And I will link to it down below if that's something you're interested in. But keep in mind that you could also use chicken thighs here. Chicken thighs are gonna have a little bit more fat in them, but they're also going to be a little bit moister once they cook up, okay? I am a big fan of the chicken breast, so that's what I'm using here today. They're definitely leaner, and you're gonna see two pounds of chicken breast is gonna be somewhere between three to four chicken breasts, possibly five if they're really small. So I'm gonna lay these chicken breasts on the base of my slow cooker, which, by the way, a slow cooker and a Crock-Pot, they are exactly the same thing. A Crock-Pot is simply a brand of slow cooker. So if it's Hamilton Beach, if it's Crock-Pot, if it's Breville, all of these are different brands, but they are all a slow cooker. If that ever confused you before, you're not alone. Just for a bit of reference, I have a seven-quart slow cooker here, and you can see that all of the breasts lay flat on the bottom without having to pile on top of one another. So that's what you wanna do. Next, I'm going to simply season these chicken breasts, and this is very versatile. So as always, use what you have on hand or use something that you know you absolutely love, but I am just loving this spice combination myself. So I'm gonna start with a teaspoon of sea salt. We're gonna sprinkle all of these spices evenly over the top. A teaspoon of black pepper. Then I have a tablespoon of garlic powder, because garlic, we always need extra garlic. A teaspoon of onion powder. One teaspoon of smoked paprika. And then I'm also adding a teaspoon of Italian seasonings. Then I like to pour in a cup of low-sodium chicken broth just to the bottom. This is gonna help with moisture while the chicken breasts are cooking. And then this final step is not necessary, but for some reason, it's just what I do. I like to flip the breasts over, kinda get them into the liquid with the spices, and then I flip them up again, okay? So I just like to rotate them all the way around one time. You probably could skip that step, but I like to do it. From here, I'm just gonna pop the lid on, put the setting to low on my slow cooker, and let this cook anywhere between five to six hours. If you needed to speed it up, you could set it to high and let it go for about three to four hours. Both options would work. Now you're gonna notice once the chicken is done cooking, it's going to be completely opaque. If you need to check the temperature, it should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit through the center. And then you're just gonna remove each chicken breast, and I like to shred it apart using a couple of forks. So you're just gonna pull the chicken apart. You can make these pieces as big or as small as you please. It's very easy and it's very flavorful. It smells delicious. I cannot wait to show you how I use this to make my chicken salad. But first, if you were gonna eat this in the same evening, then what I would do is transfer the chicken back to the slow cooker, right back into all those juices, so it stays nice and moist. But because I'm usually treating this like a headstart ingredient, I transfer it right into an airtight container, and then I take some of that extra juice and I pour it over the top. The chicken is gonna absorb some more of that, which is gonna help it stay nice and moist, and it also infuses more flavor into the chicken as well. Now, this chicken will happily last in your refrigerator for up to five days, and it also is a great ingredient to freeze. It will last in the freezer for up to three months. Now, let me show you that chicken salad that I promised I was gonna show you how to make. Okay, so the base of this recipe, I like to do this all in one bowl. So I start by putting the dressing in the bottom of a nice big bowl, starting with one cup of plain Greek yogurt. I'm using a 2% Greek yogurt. You could, of course, do nonfat or full fat, depending on your personal preferences. Then I'm gonna add in two tablespoons of honey, three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, which is nice and bright and flavorful, one tablespoon of poppy seeds. This is gonna give a nice texture to the salad, along with a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Gently whisk this all together. I like to do this with a fork. You're just gonna mix it until all of those ingredients are well combined, and then we're gonna add the remaining ingredients right to the same bowl so we have less dishes to do. Brilliant. Okay, so we're gonna start with that chicken that we just cooked and shredded up. You want two cups of shredded cooked chicken breast, which is equivalent to 340 grams or 12 ounces of chicken. Now, if you prefer, you could also chop the chicken, but personally, I like it shredded, but just do know, as always, you've got options, along with some finely diced red onion, one cup of finely diced celery. This is a very refreshing ingredient that also adds great crunch and texture. Two thirds of a cup of chopped pecans. Keep in mind that this could be walnuts or almonds, depending what you have on hand, and if you wanted to add a little depth of flavor, you could also give them a quick toast before you add them to the salad. I do that myself sometimes. And then my final ingredient is some grapes. These are red grapes that I've sliced in half. We're gonna toss those in as well, and also, of course, because I can't resist giving you options, also know that this salad would be delicious with fresh strawberries or maybe even some blueberries. So as always, look for what is in season and what's really catching your eye and looks fresh and delightful and delicious, because that's always going to be the most enjoyable. From here, I'm gonna gently toss everything together. You just wanna make sure that all of the chicken and the veggies and the fruits have a nice light coating of that dressing. You can give it a little tester, see if it needs a little salt, a little pepper, and then it's ready to go. I love to transfer this into airtight containers, so I have it on hand for a busy week. It's absolutely delicious served in a lettuce cup, served over a bed of greens. You could put it into a wrap, or you can just enjoy it with a spoon, because it is that simple and delightful. Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm. I hope you guys give both of these recipes a try, and keep in mind that that shredded chicken can be used in a plethora of different recipes, and I will link to a bunch of them down in the description box below so that you have options. And if you enjoy easy, healthy recipes just like this, make sure that you take some time to check out The Clean and Delicious Cookbook. She is usually on sale right on Amazon, so I'm gonna link to her as well. It has over 100 healthy, whole food recipes that anybody who wants to eat well would enjoy. So make sure to give that a look-see, and as always, thank you so much for watching. I'm Dani Spees, and I'll see you back here next time with some more clean and deliciousness. Cheers! Shredded chicken made in the slow cooker or a crock pot is a super versatile, hands-off, super easy, healthy, hands-off recipe. Easy, healthy, hands-off recipe.