Poached Chicken- Not rubber chicken!

Do you have a bad image of poached chicken in your head? I know I did for the longest time. Anytime I made "poached" chicken it had a rubber like consistency. Not very tasty. I stopped trying to poach the chicken and kept grilling, baking and pan searing because that's easier and tastier for me.

Then I figured out how to poach chicken a better way. What I've learned is that I used to boil my chicken not poach it. Boiled chicken is chewy like rubber. Poached chicken is tender and moist.

Poached chicken is a great way to get ahead of your week with very little effort. You can use this chicken for so many things here are a couple of examples: chicken salad sandwiches, chicken on a salad, stuff it into tortillas for burritos or enchiladas, use if for a quick pasta dinner, etc. It also freezes well! It's also a very low fat and low sodium way to cook chicken.

Place desired amount of chicken breast in a heavy bottomed pot.

Cover your chicken with water or broth and make sure it's completely covered. 

(I added more water after this picture.) Add your herbs and seasonings.

Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat quickly to a simmer. You will want to simmer for 10 minutes with the pot partially covered. Now turn the heat off and let the chicken hang out in the pot for about 15-20 minutes.

Let cool a bit and then cut it up however you would like. You could use it immediately, put it in the fridge for later in the week or freeze it for later in the month.

Poached Chicken
recipe by: Simply Fit Mama


Chicken breast (In the photos above I used 2 pounds of chicken)
Water or Chicken broth
1 bay leaf
dried herbs (I use oregano, rosemary, thyme around a teaspoon each herb or more if you like.)
3-5 whole peppercorns

Using a heavy bottomed pot (to help retain the heat), place chicken at the bottom. They should not overlap. Keep them in a single layer.

Cover chicken with water or broth and add the bay leaf, peppercorns and any herbs you would like.

Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat quickly to a simmer. You will want to simmer for 10 minutes with the pot partially covered. Now turn the heat off and let the chicken hang out in the pot for about 15-20 minutes.

Let cool a bit and then cut it up however you would like. You could use it immediately, put it in the fridge for later in the week or freeze it for later in the month.