Too much chicken
August 13, 2020 2:16 PM Subscribe
How can I cook 4 lbs of chicken for future use?
I have 4 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but only the 2 of us to feed. Defrosted; can’t refreeze before cooking; only a couple of days left to use them.
What would be a good way to cook them all up and store for future use?
I have 4 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but only the 2 of us to feed. Defrosted; can’t refreeze before cooking; only a couple of days left to use them.
What would be a good way to cook them all up and store for future use?
If you have either a slow cooker or a pressure cooker, I like making pulled chicken when the chicken I'm working with doesn't have skin to help retain moisture. Cook, shred, then freeze in 1/2-1 lb portions. The Gimme Some Oven recipe is similar to what I usually do, though I only use water and salt when I'm making pulled chicken in bulk. That way, I have more options for customizing flavoring a couple months down the line when I get around to using the frozen pulled meat.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 2:55 PM on August 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by Pandora Kouti at 2:55 PM on August 13, 2020 [9 favorites]
Pullet! (Pull it!): make pulled chicken, like you would pulled pork—slow cook it, portion it, freeze; you can sauce it later. It freezes well, in my experience.
posted by heyho at 2:55 PM on August 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by heyho at 2:55 PM on August 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I often buy that amount of chicken, sprinkle it with garlic salt, and bake and then portion out for future use via individual packs that go in the fridge and freezer. With a little sauce to transform it, it can go onto salads, into tacos, into lasagna, become sandwiches, etc. Precooked baked chicken is super versatile for reuse like that.
posted by Candleman at 2:57 PM on August 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Candleman at 2:57 PM on August 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
I buy b/s leg quarters or thighs to batch-cook protein for meal prep/frozen lunches. With 4lbs I might do it all in one go (easy in the Instant Pot) or split it in half and make one batch of butter chicken and one creamy-type batch in the manner of this recipe though I may play with the flavor profile, add extra vegetables, throw in a jalapeno, etc.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:02 PM on August 13, 2020
posted by Lyn Never at 3:02 PM on August 13, 2020
Yeah, I would cook it in my crock pot and then shred it, and put whatever I don't eat now in the freezer. I really enjoy the texture of shredded chicken that gets reheated in a skillet.
posted by kevinbelt at 3:32 PM on August 13, 2020
posted by kevinbelt at 3:32 PM on August 13, 2020
I would make a big batch of arroz con pollo, have a nice dinner with it, and then chop up the rest of the chicken and have the leftovers in tortillas for lunch for the rest of the week!
posted by pazazygeek at 3:46 PM on August 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by pazazygeek at 3:46 PM on August 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
When I need to cook a lot of chicken fast, I poach it, either on the stove or in a slow cooker, depending on how much I want to pay attention to it, and then I freeze it in one pound increments.
posted by padraigin at 5:04 PM on August 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by padraigin at 5:04 PM on August 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
With that much food and two people, you're either gonna have to cook and freeze, or make jerky (incl. freeze-drying or otherwise dehydrating). With chicken, the former sounds a lot more appealing.
A vacuum-bag device will be a big help with preserving cooked chicken that doesn't have a lot of liquid. (For things that do have a lot of liquid, I'd just freeze in a plastic container that has a tight-fitting lid.)
That said, instant-pot butter chicken is one of the sublime joys in life. Mrs. Sourcequench and I would likely just eat it morning, noon and night to the exclusion of all other nourishment until local chicken supplies were depleted.
Cooked, frozen shredded chicken is very flexible. You can do the aforementioned instant-pot butter chicken with it and it won't suffer much. Or chicken enchiladas. Or lettuce wraps.
One thing I wouldn't bother with is wasting it making chicken stock. In a world where Better Than Bouillon is a thing that exists, there's no point..
posted by sourcequench at 5:31 PM on August 13, 2020
A vacuum-bag device will be a big help with preserving cooked chicken that doesn't have a lot of liquid. (For things that do have a lot of liquid, I'd just freeze in a plastic container that has a tight-fitting lid.)
That said, instant-pot butter chicken is one of the sublime joys in life. Mrs. Sourcequench and I would likely just eat it morning, noon and night to the exclusion of all other nourishment until local chicken supplies were depleted.
Cooked, frozen shredded chicken is very flexible. You can do the aforementioned instant-pot butter chicken with it and it won't suffer much. Or chicken enchiladas. Or lettuce wraps.
One thing I wouldn't bother with is wasting it making chicken stock. In a world where Better Than Bouillon is a thing that exists, there's no point..
posted by sourcequench at 5:31 PM on August 13, 2020
I would definitely make chicken stock!
I'd put in all the thighs with two onions, a carrot, two sticks of celery, and bring to a simmer. skim off any foam and add some bayleaf, thyme and whole peppercorns. Cook at a simmer till the thighs are done. Take them out, shred them and put the bones back into the stock. Let it boil down to half the liquid, pour it through a sieve and divide the stock into portions. About half of it you use now for making a velouté sauce. The rest you put into small containers for the freezer. The velouté sauce is for making a summer stew with chicken: lightly steam some fresh vegetables: slices of carrot or small sticks of carrot, maybe asparagus or peas, salsify is very good, a lot of parsley is good. They must still have crunch after steaming. Now add a little cream to your velouté, and heat up some of the shredded chicken and vegetables in the sauce.
This you can divide into portions for two people and freeze for homemade fast food. Good with rice, even better in crustades.
IMO, cooked chicken freezes better in a sauce, and in my family this dish is so popular I might make all the surplus chicken into it. But I might also make a tomato sauce with a little stock and lots of olives and garlic in it, and freeze some portions of that.
posted by mumimor at 12:47 AM on August 14, 2020
I'd put in all the thighs with two onions, a carrot, two sticks of celery, and bring to a simmer. skim off any foam and add some bayleaf, thyme and whole peppercorns. Cook at a simmer till the thighs are done. Take them out, shred them and put the bones back into the stock. Let it boil down to half the liquid, pour it through a sieve and divide the stock into portions. About half of it you use now for making a velouté sauce. The rest you put into small containers for the freezer. The velouté sauce is for making a summer stew with chicken: lightly steam some fresh vegetables: slices of carrot or small sticks of carrot, maybe asparagus or peas, salsify is very good, a lot of parsley is good. They must still have crunch after steaming. Now add a little cream to your velouté, and heat up some of the shredded chicken and vegetables in the sauce.
This you can divide into portions for two people and freeze for homemade fast food. Good with rice, even better in crustades.
IMO, cooked chicken freezes better in a sauce, and in my family this dish is so popular I might make all the surplus chicken into it. But I might also make a tomato sauce with a little stock and lots of olives and garlic in it, and freeze some portions of that.
posted by mumimor at 12:47 AM on August 14, 2020
You can easily bake it in a pan. 350 degrees for about 45 minutes with any variety of preparations.
posted by sarajane at 4:28 AM on August 14, 2020
posted by sarajane at 4:28 AM on August 14, 2020
since you're getting a lot of recs for cooking, shredding and freezing your chicken, I will share one of life's great secrets with you, which is that the easiest way to shred cooked boneless chicken is in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Cook it, throw it in the mixer, be amazed.
(That said I personally would go the arroz con pollo route or the butter chicken route, just make a big batch, save yourself some labor for the week. I have no problem eating the same thing for three days straight but if you do, freeze some in meal-size ziplocs.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:46 AM on August 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
(That said I personally would go the arroz con pollo route or the butter chicken route, just make a big batch, save yourself some labor for the week. I have no problem eating the same thing for three days straight but if you do, freeze some in meal-size ziplocs.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:46 AM on August 14, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by ananci at 2:46 PM on August 13, 2020 [6 favorites]