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+ servings

Boiled Chicken

Holli Medley
This boiled chicken recipe is a perfect no fail way to get perfectly cooked chicken off the bone and make some broth in the meantime.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings
Calories 421 kcal

Equipment

  • Large pot with lid (No lid? Use aluminum foil.)
  • Stove top

Ingredients
  

  • 1 chicken WHOLE, defrosted
  • water enough to fully cover chicken in pot
  • salt 1 tbsp per 1 pound of chicken
  • peppercorn whole or ground, per your preference
  • 1 onion large, diced
  • 2 carrots large, diced
  • 5 celery stalk large, diced
  • 3 bay leaf dried
  • 1 garlic clove whole

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • Wash, clean, and chop vegetables. Gather seasonings.
  • Ensure that chicken is thoroughly defrosted and packet of offal is removed from inside the bird. Discard all liquid from packaging.

Boiling the Chicken

  • In a large pot, bring water, seasonings and vegetables to a boil. Add the chicken last.
  • Once it comes back to a rolling boil after adding the chicken, reduce heat to a gentle boil and cover with a lid (but leave it slightly vented). No lid? Use aluminum foil.
  • For every 1 pound of chicken (check label on the plastic wrapper -or- your receipt), boil the chicken for 15 minutes. For example, if your chicken is 4 lbs, it should boil for 60 minutes.
  • Once the cook time has elapsed, remove the chicken from the cooking liquid with tongs. Let all the excess liquid drip back into the pot.
  • Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes per pound. If your chicken is 4 lbs, it should rest for 20 minutes.
    This should keep the chicken from losing its moisture.
  • Once rested, you can break down the chicken by pulling the meat from the bones (keep the bones though!!). Cool the meat quickly, label and store it no more than 5 days in a refrigerator or 3 months in a freezer.

Don't Forget the Broth!

  • Since you kept the bones, throw those back in the large pot with the rest of the cooking liquid and let it reduce for as long as you'd prefer. Surprise!---You've got bonus Chicken Broth!

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 421kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 36gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 136mgPotassium: 394mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 361IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 2mg
Keyword chicken broth
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