How to poach a chicken breast
Poached chicken is one of the most versatile things you can have sitting around in the fridge. Mix with a sauce and toss it in a sandwich. Add some dressing and place it on a salad. Throw it with some pasta and your done!
Chicken Caesar Salad, Chicken quesadillas, Vietnamese chicken salad… Done, Done and Done!
I love making a large batch of poached chicken in the beginning of the week. It gives me tons of dinner and lunch options through out the week. The basic recipe for poaching chicken is below, but you can easily spice it up. Add rosemary, a bay leaf and oregano for Mediterranean chicken. Add some Chile powder and Tabasco for some spicy fun. Kick up the flavor by cooking the breast in chicken broth instead of water. You get the idea. Just remember to always add salt to the water. Also, instead of boneless chicken breast you can also use split, bone-in, skin on breasts… or if you are feeling bold, chicken thighs. The bone-in cuts might need an extra 5 minutes of simmering.
Poached chicken
Ingredients:
- Chicken (Boneless chicken breast, split chicken breast or chicken thighs)
- Salt
- Liquid (Water, broth, and/or wine)
- Flavorings (rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, lemon zest, ginger, garlic, celery, onions, carrots… etc)
Direction:
- Place chicken in pan.
- Add enough of the liquid to cover the chicken.
- Add salt and flavorings.
- Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
- Simmer for two minutes, longer for bone-in pieces (~5 additional minutes)
- Remove pan from heat and cover.
- Let sit for 30 minutes.
- Place chicken in container, cover with liquid and refrigerate.
i was wondering about doing the chicken breast in orange juice. Do u think it would work?
Help me out here…am not a cook normally. When poaching chicken like this, is that sufficient to “cook” it or is more cooking (ie. baking, pan fry, etc) required? Thx!
That will cook it. While sitting in the recently boiled water it will slowly cook, and not over cook it (which will make it more like leather). Remember no one is born a cook. Trial+Error=Experience
I don’t cook with salt at all so I wonder why you emphasize using salt?
I don’t use salt either, I used poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and herbs. Came out GREAT! And I also add veggies, like a halved onion, carrots and celery and cook a while for great stock. Save in small containers and freeze. After frozen, release from containers and save in zip top bag. Great to have on hand in 1/2 cup and 1 cup sizes!
Try low-salt soy sauce in the water. Gives it a hint of salt.
I think the hold time will depend on how well the pot retains heat. Aluminum probably cools off fastest, if anyone still uses aluminum. Heavy stainless will hold heat a lot longer.
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Another note to add: Make sure you keep the liquid and freeze as homemade chicken broth. I like to add more veggies to the poaching liquid so that the broth is a little richer when it’s done. I sometimes boil the liquid after I take the chicken out, adding the veggies then. Works well.
[...] an even stronger lime flavor) 1 cup (30 g) cilantro, chopped 1 cup (240 ml) mayo 4 chicken breasts, poached and coarsely shredded (or about 3 cups of any shredded chicken, such as leftover roast chicken) [...]
actually, if this thread is still alive, I, too, wonder if you store the now-cooked chicken in the water in which it was cooked.
also, how long, theoretically, would they last in the fridge?
thanks.
Thanks for this. I used this twice last spring, once bone-in and once boneless. I couldn’t remember how to do it, and your link is the first one that came up when I searched for “how to poach a chicken breast” in Google; I recognized it as the same one that I used last time.
This is the same page/method I used last time and it was perfect, for those who are nervous about the time/temp, this definitely cooks the breast all the way through. If you’re nervous, when it’s done, cut it in half, and you’ll see there is no pink.
As a side note: Bone in for me worked better at about 4 minutes total simmer, then the 30 minute standing time.
Thanks for reporting back Julie! I like using bone-in because I think it gives the chicken a little more flavor.
Hi – jus wanted to check before I make this that the liquid you place in container before putting in fridge is the same liquid you used for poaching? Thanks!
How MUCH salt?
Good question. The is no fixed amount since you are going to be using a different amount of liquid depending on how much chicken you have and the shape of the pot. I would say a good ratio would be 1/2 tsp per quart.
how come poaching only takes a few minutes while boiling can take up to an hour?
Thank you!
[...] Poach the chicken and let it cool. When it is cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones and shred. [...]
I found your method of poaching through google a few months ago and I now use it pretty regularly…works great! Thank you!
Another detail; According to the Prentice Hall Dictionary of Culinary Arts, Boiling is (obviously) 212F, simmering is 185F-205F, and Poaching is 160F-180F.
Hi, everyone! I’m a little nervous about this . . . seems like two minutes is not very long! But I will try it! I guess I have an instant read thermometer and I can alway check the thickest part for i think 160.
Letting the chicken sit in the hot water for 15-30 minutes is what cooks the chicken. It brings the chicken to a high enough temperature to kill all the bacteria, but it doesn’t heat up the chicken enough to over cook it. Anything great than 150-160 will kill all the bacteria.
Correction. For poaching you do NOT simmer. There are three different kind of fully submerged liquid cooking: poaching, simmering and boiling, and they all require different temperatures. To say that poaching is the same as simmering is the same as saying that simmering is the same as boiling. So, a simmer is where the bubbles are small and gentle right? And a boil is where the bubbles are large and rolling. A poach is less than even a simmer. A poach is where tiny bubbles are forming on the surface of the pan, but are not large enough to rise to the surface. This will render a much more tender chicken breast. Also, don’t bring the water to a boil or a simmer, just gently up to a poach.
I tried this. Cut one of the boneless breasts after about 25 minutes and it seemed pink so I let it sit in the liquid 5 more minutes. Parts of it seemed tough when I diced it to use in a pasta dish. Other parts seemed nice and tender. Did I overcook it? How do you compensate for the variation on thickness in a breast so it all is cooked properly?
That’s so funny. I was just browsing around to make sure I was poaching my chicken right, and you were the second google link that came up. Hi Luke.
Yea, I may have been playing it way to safe letting it sit for 30 minutes. I would definitely check way before then. Thanks for the advice!
i followed the directions to a t – fearing that the breasts would be overcooked, i stopped letting sit after 20 minutes instead of 30 but they were still a bit dry. I would experiment until you get it right. maybe let it sit for 10, 15 minutes, check to see if it’s done…instead of letting sit for the full 30 minutes. everything else was great, thanks
Thanks for this clearcut, simple recipe! I’m doing 3 breasts now thanks to you!
[...] is one of the many dishes I made from a big batch of poached chicken I cooked up earlier in the week. It is an original creation that I sort of threw together, and it [...]
[...] is one of the many dishes I made from a big batch of poached chicken I cooked up earlier in the week. It is an original creation that I sort of threw together, and it [...]