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Crockpot Shredded Chicken for Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes

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When it comes to easy meal ideas, our Crockpot is the king of the kitchen. It was perfect for when I was working outside of the home and it’s fabulous now that I’m working from home. There is one staple that I depend on a lot when it comes to slow cooker recipes — Crockpot Shredded Chicken.

It’s the basis for so many of our shredded chicken Crockpot recipes! I used to depend a lot on rotisserie chicken, but once you learn how easy it is to make shredded chicken on your own, you’ll never go back! You can make as much shredded chicken as you need with ease which makes it great for meal planning too!

Bite of Crockpot Shredded Chicken

THE BASICS OF CROCKPOT SHREDDED CHICKEN

Besides being easy, I also think that the slow cooker is the best way to shred chicken. You get moist chicken that has great flavor and works great in any Crockpot chicken recipes your family might love. (I’ve also discovered that it works great when you add it to Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese too!)

To get started you only need three things!

  • Your slow cooker
  • Chicken
  • Chicken stock or water

It’s really that easy to make shredded chicken that you’ll love!

You can choose between water and chicken stock. Either works well. But I find that my Crockpot shredded chicken has a bit of extra flavor when I use chicken stock, so it’s the way I usually go. But if you’ve got the chicken and don’t have any stock, water works too! No worries!

However you decide to make it, just be sure you add the liquid! It’s what makes the chicken juicy and super easy to shred!

Making shredded chicken in the slow cooker

HOW TO MAKE SHREDDED CHICKEN IN CROCKPOT

Although you only need your chicken and liquid, I usually season the chicken as well. If I’m planning to use the slow cooker shredded chicken for a variety of other recipes, I’ll just use some salt and pepper or seasoned salt so it works in any recipe I make that week.

Some of my usual seasonings for shredded chicken include:

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Seasoned salt
  • Onion powder
  • Garlic powder or garlic salt

For most of our Crockpot chicken recipes, I use about 2 pounds of chicken which is usually about 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. For 2 pounds of chicken, I use about a cup of chicken stock. The general ratio I follow is a 1/2 cup for each pound of chicken I’m cooking. So 1/2 cup for every two chicken breasts.

This has worked for making small batches of shredded chicken and larger batches of shredded chicken.

You can freeze the chicken so sometimes I make a bigger batch to stash away!

Bowl of Crockpot shredded chicken

HOW TO COOK CHICKEN IN A CROCK POT

It’s easy to cook your chicken in the Crockpot. All you need to do is put the chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker and then cover with your liquid and season. Then you can either use the LOW setting and let the chicken cook for a good chunk of the day or use the HIGH setting and have it done in just a few hours.

HOW LONG TO COOK CHICKEN IN CROCK POT? On LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Cooking chicken in the Crockpot is a really flexible option. Recently, I even cooked a batch on HIGH for 3 hours and it wasn’t quite as tender as I wanted it to be. We had to run out to the batting cages for an hour, so I change the temperature to LOW while we were gone.

When we got home, the shredded cooked chicken was so juicy and tender! It was perfect!

HOW TO MAKE SHREDDED CHICKEN

Bowl of slow cooker shredded chicken
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4.82 from 61 votes

Crockpot Shredded Chicken

Crockpot Shredded Chicken is great for all of your favorite shredded chicken Crockpot recipes! We use it for chicken salad, soups, pasta, tacos, and more!
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time4 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 5 mins
Servings: 4 cups
Calories: 320

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup chicken broth or water
  • seasonings (as desired)

Instructions

  • Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • Season as desired.
  • Cover with liquid.
  • Cook on On LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Notes

You can refrigerate extra chicken for 4-5 days. Or you can freeze it for about 4 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 320 kcal

How to shred chicken with forks

HOW TO SHRED CHICKEN

Once your chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit (so it’s safe to eat), you’re ready to work your magic and create your Crockpot shredded chicken!

Take the chicken out of the slow cooker and put it on a plate. While it’s still warm, use two forks to pull it apart. You can shred it to your desired consistency. Sometimes I keep the shreds bigger because it works great in things like soups, pasta, and in chicken and dumplings!

But if I’m planning to use the slow cooker shredded chicken for things like tacos, nachos, or salads, I pull it into finer shreds. Again, it’s that flexible! You could even do half and half!

Bowl of slow cooker shredded chicken

Some of our favorite things to make with shredded chicken include:

These get made pretty often in our house, especially during the busy times of year like Fall and the holiday season.

No matter when you make Crockpot shredded chicken, it’s easy to make and is a great staple to build meals with! Plus it gives things that homemade taste that makes everything taste better!

Comment below and tells us about your favorite recipe that uses slow cooker shredded chicken!

(If you’d rate our recipe as well, we would appreciate it! Just click the number of stars you’d give this recipe!)

Crockpot shredded chicken is perfect all of your favorite Crockpot chicken recipes! It's healthy and easy to make! Slow cooker shredded chicken is great for tacos, BBQ, chicken salad, and more!



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About Mariah

Mariah is the mom of 2 and a former educator (preschool - 4th grade & special education) with a degree in human development. As a busy mom living in with a multi-generational family under one roof (with 4 dogs!), life is sometimes chaotic! She aims to share easy ideas that we can all use in our lives! Read more about Mariah!

Comments

  5. Wilford Raney says

    My
    Favorite thing to
    Make with shredded chicken is chicken and
    Dumplings or chicken pasta salad.
    This recipe
    You shared
    Looks wonderful

    Reply

  7. BIRDIE SKOLFIELD says

    chicken adobo : with home made adobo and carrots & onions garlic and jalapenos just stew with 6 chicken breasts for six hours then shred and stir all together serve in soft corn tortillas with jack cheese soooooooooooooooooo good

    Reply

    • Mariah says

      I’ve never actually combined the two! BBQ Chicken — yes! Chicken Quesadillas — yes! Together? Sounds delicious!

      Reply

  11. Anne Higgins says

    I don’t (YET) own a slow cooker so I cannot provide my favorite receipe – but am anxious to try some!

    Reply

  13. Heather says

    I’m glad you shared this! We just got a crock pot after not using one FOREVER & I need to brush up on how to use it so it won’t just get left in the cupboard!

    Reply

  18. Abigail Gibson says

    I love making shredded chicken bbq sandwiches with a slow cooker. I add a few extra ingredients to bring out that wow factor.

    Reply

  20. Heather says

    I definitely need to make this! We use shredded chicken in a lot of recipes and I like to have it on hand for easy salads. But I really dislike the shredding so this is a perfect solution!

    Reply

  22. Sherry says

    I need to try making shredded chicken. What a great time saver it would be for other meals. And I love chicken salad.

    Reply

  24. Amanda L. says

    My favorite crockpot recipe to use shredded chicken is BBQ chicken sandwiches. It’s so simple to make and is very delicious!

    Reply

  33. Stacey Werner says

    I make shredded chicken in the crockpot at least twice a month. My favorite thing to make with it is tacos… family favorite!

    Reply

  35. Natalie says

    My favorite recipe that uses slow cooker shredded chicken is Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wraps! Healthy and tasty!!

    Reply

  37. Cindy Merrill says

    I make easy Mini pot pies with shredded chicken- just add a cream sauce and top with biscuit dough- dinner ready in 30 minutes or less.

    Reply

  38. Jillian Burton says

    I tried a recipe recently that I loved! It is basically derived from a few different recipes and I adapted them to my tastes! Its basically an Italian beef recipe. I used chuck steak but if you wanted to make a bigger portion I’m sure chuck roast would be ok too! Season the steak with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning blend. Put into your crock pot. Add a can of tomato sauce, chopped onion (bigger chunks work best) and a jar of banana peppers. Reserve some juice from the banana peppers. Once you have everything in season once more with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning blend. Add your reserved pepper juice. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 10-12. The meat will break down into the sauce. I served mine over rice and it was AMAZING!!!

    Reply

  45. Mary Beth Elderton says

    My all time favorite shredded chicken in the slow cooker recipe is Salsa Chicken for tacos or burrito bowls—red or green are both delicious!

    Reply

  47. Nicole Griffin says

    Love using shredded chicken for nachos, tacos, soups, and sandwiches. It’s nice to be able to have chicken to use in a variety of dishes so feed my family.

    Reply

  57. Amity J says

    I use cooled shredded chicken seasoned with celery salt for chicken salad sandwiches. Also, one of our favorites is a bottle of Italian dressing and chicken breasts, set to low all day..serve on mashed potatos, rice or pasta. SO good ;)

    Reply

  69. Becca Wilson says

    I love the way shredded chicken turns out in the crock pot. There are so many recipe choices to make with it as well.

    Reply

  79. Laurajj says

    We love to make BBQ chicken sandwiches in the crock pot! We just use the shredded chicken and BBQ sauce. Let is cook on low all afternoon…and then we put on buns! So good and easy!

    Reply

  81. clynsg says

    It is great for salads, either as a sandwich spread or stuffed tomato, or tossed lettuce. The possibilities are many!

    Reply

  82. Kristi C says

    My family’s favorite is shredded chicken fajitas using Taco Bell fajita seasoning. We have these about once a week.

    Reply

  105. Joanna Peter says

    I love to make chicken salad with curry powder in the mayo, celery, cashews, grapes, and a little bit of peach chutney.

    Reply

  106. Linda K says

    I have a White Chicken Chili for the crockpot which is so easy. I usually double the recipe so I have extra for lunches.

    Reply

  117. Kerry P says

    My favorite chicken recipe for the crock pot is basic shredded bbq chicken over white rice. I also love to make pineapple chicken in the crock pot!

    Reply

  118. Leah Shumack says

    I haven’t done shredded chicken before. I do have a couple of chicken crockpot recipes that I use often tho! The stuffed chicken breasts is my favorite (basically deconstructed stuffed chicken breasts!)

    Reply

  119. Stephanie Larison says

    I use shredded chicken in the crockpot at least twice a month for my chicken noodle soup in the crockpot recipe. The whole family loves it and it’s super easy to make.

    Reply

  120. Melissa Storms says

    We love pulled pork sandwiches and I replace the pork with shredded chicken a lot, just as delicious. You have to make homemade coleslaw to top it with too. I haven’t made shredded chicken in the crock pot but I have to try it.

    Reply

  122. Marija says

    I like to cook shredded chicken to add to chicken noodle soup. The slow cooker lends it that fall apart quality that I love.

    Reply

  129. Elizabeth Miller says

    The best one in a crockpot is pulled chicken sandwiches. You can use either bbq sauce or wing sauce to make it how you want.

    Reply

  146. Sheryl Flickinger says

    The easiest recipe I use shredded chicken for is Chicken Tacos. All I use is boneless chicken breast, taco seasoning and a jar of salsa.

    Reply

  161. Audrey Stewart says

    I use the shredded chicken with Bessingers Bar-B-Que Sauce. It is southern tradition. A mustard sauce. We eat it on hamburger buns with cole slaw.

    Reply

  174. Jerry Marquardt says

    My favorite recipe with a chicken heritage is Chicken Egg Pu Yung Hai marinated in Brown Pu Yung Sauce, and topped with plenty of Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce.

    Reply

  175. Chrissy says

    Our favorite recipe is pesto chicken. It’s just a jar of pesto and some chicken broth. Once it simmers all day it makes a great sauce and is fabulous over rice or veggies.

    Reply

  185. Terri S. says

    I don’t own a slow cooker. It’s on my wish list. One would save me time preparing meals for my family. Your recipe sounds yummy!

    Reply

    • Terri S. says

      Oops…forgot to say I would make chicken salad sandwiches with the shredded chicken or put it in chicken noodle soup (my grandkids favorite).

      Reply

  186. Kelly Woods says

    The recipe sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing. I love chicken and rice in the crock pot. Yum. My family loves it. Thank you for the chance!

    Reply

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