Shredded chicken is a favorite food for many. It is quite easy to prepare, palatable, healthy, and most of all, super yummy. Many people add shredded chicken as a must-have dish in their meal plan. But how can you easily shred your chicken any time you want to? Can you shred chicken in a blender?
Turns out, with the right blender, you can do way too many things these days. One of them includes its capacity to shred chicken. Given that many brands have increased the power of their blenders, you can find a suitable one that is capable enough to do this job. All you have to know is what to look for and how to shred your chicken efficiently.
Let’s get you through the process from getting the right machine to shredding your chicken fast.
Can You Shred Chicken in A Blender?
Yes, you can use your blender to shred chicken. All it takes is to boil the chicken and then place the cooked chicken inside the blender. However, remember, you’ll need an ideal blender for pureeing meat that has enough torque to shred the chicken. Pulse the high-powered blender from a slow pace to fast to enable the blades to get every inch of the chicken skin and shred them to taste.
However, you may need to use a tamper to hold the chicken down within the blades. At intervals, you will need to switch off the blender and shake it a little to enable the chicken to move around and shred better. Using a blender to shred chicken works very well if you make use of a tamper. The tamper enables the chicken to shred to the appropriate consistency you desire perfectly. The process of shredding chicken with a blender is very simple. Check the few steps below:
- Put the chicken meat inside your high-powered blender
- Shred-it on low
- Increase the speed little by little until the entire chicken is shredded
- Make use of a tamper to press down the chicken into the blender blades
- Turn off the blender and shake it a bit to move the chicken meat around the blender. This will allow the blender to shred all the chicken.
Although there are various kitchen gadgets you use to shred your chicken, blenders are efficient too. Blenders are versatile and can instantly transform cooked chicken meat into tender, moist pieces. They are easy to use, portable, and do not occupy too much space. Additionally, using the blender makes cleanup easier than when using other appliances.
How to Shred Chicken In A Blender?
Shredding your chicken in a blender takes a little time and takes a few steps into the process.
Cook Your Chicken
Before you can shred the chicken, you need to cook it. Cooking the chicken involves either roasting, steaming, or boiling it. But the method that is commonly used in cooking the chicken for shredding is boiling.
Boiling the meat makes it tender, moist, and easy to shred. However, if you want your chicken to emit more flavor, you can season the water for boiling before placing the chicken inside it. The simplest way to do the flavoring is by adding pepper, salt, and a little garlic.
After cooking the chicken for up to 20 minutes or more, inspect it by opening the center of the larger piece. When the inside is all white, then you know that the chicken is done. Mind you, chicken thighs and breasts can cook fully within 20 minutes. However, larger pieces can take much longer to cook fully.
Allow your Chicken to Rest
After you are through with cooking the meat, you should allow the chicken to rest a bit. As the chicken rests, it enables its juices to gather and distribute around your chicken. This will make the final chicken juicier and more flavorful than the instantly shredded chicken after cooking.
So, cover the chicken with plastic wrap or foil. Then place it out of the way on your countertop until it cools to normal room temperature.
Bring out All The Chicken Bones
Removing the chicken bones is not mandatory, although it is quite helpful, especially since the bigger bones can harm the blades. You should look for any remaining bone in the chicken before shredding it. If it is easier, you can bring out the bones before cooking the chicken.
To remove the bones, use pliers or tweezers to bring out any tiny piece of bone you see. Although chicken bones can still grind in a blender, nobody will appreciate swallowing bones with their meat.
Besides, it can render the texture of your final result gritty. Also, the ground chicken bones might cut you.
Add the Chicken to the Blender
The last step is to place your cooked chicken meat inside your blender. Then blend the meat until it reaches your expected shredded consistency. Again, it is advisable to use a good high-powered blender for this. Don’t forget to do the actual blending in batches to suit the capacity of the blender you are using.
What Types Of Chicken Are Best For Shredding?
Boneless Chicken
The skinless, boneless chicken breast is best for shredding. Another part that is good for shredding is the skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Both parts are good for shredding, although chicken thighs have a natural moist texture. Moreover, the blender won’t struggle with bones or skin while shredding
Bone-In-Chicken Tips
Another type of chicken good for shredding is the bone-in-chicken. A blender is not recommended if you want to shred the cooked, bone-in-chicken meat such as chicken drumsticks or an entire roasted chicken.
It is better to use your hands to work around the bones for the shredding process. Besides, you can easily remove the meat from the bones. Just make sure the cooked chicken cools down appropriately before you start shredding.
What Safety Steps Should I Keep In Mind While Shredding Chicken In A Blender?
A blender is quite a versatile kitchen appliance. You can use them to perform many tasks such as making soups, smoothies, sauces, and even grinding meat. However, there are certain things you should know first before blending meat. In addition, some precautions are necessary given the machine you are using for blending.
So, we will look into what is safe and not when you want to shred chicken in your high-powered blender. Let’s check them out!
Do Not Wash The Meat
People often make this mistake while in the kitchen. That is washing the chicken or meat before cooking. It can actually cause cross-contamination.
The reason is that the washing water is likely to contain bacteria on its surface. So as the drops of contaminated water touch the meat’s surface, it spreads germs around it.
Freeze It
After making your shredded chicken, it is advisable to freeze it if you are not ready to eat it yet. Freezing the meat can prevent the growth of any bacteria present on the chicken before you shred it. However, we’ll advise you to freeze the chicken in smaller batches to enable it to thaw faster when you need it.
If you want to keep your meat fresh while it freezes, add a little baking soda to the meat. Baking soda is a fundamental compound that ensures that the meat remains fresh. It does this by increasing the meat pH and ultimately stops the meat protein from losing water and bonding excessively during the process. The end result will be juiced and tender ground meat when you bring it out to defrost.
Don’t Ground With the Bones
However, if you are using a powerful blender to grind the chicken, it can grind only softer bones. Remember that your blender is likely to fail if you force it to grind harder bones like the legs. The blender is not specially constructed to blend bones.
That is why; the blades are likely to get stuck in the bones, resulting in a mess! Moreover, the bone will never blend well with the meat. You will get a combination of bone and meat, which will irritate you when eating or preparing dishes. You can make a chicken sandwich with shredded chicken.
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Conclusion
Using a blender to shred chicken is very fast and simple. It makes cleaning up after the process a breeze. As we’ve included the exact process above, you need the right blender, then prepare the chicken without bone, and then you can shred the chicken in a blender.
One good thing about shredding chicken with a blender is that you can do it at the last minute. Therefore, you don’t need to make so much preparation for it. Use this time-saving process of preparing dishes but make sure you’re following the steps we’ve discussed above.
FAQs
1. Can I use a food processor instead of a blender?
Yes, a food processor with a shredding attachment can also be used to shred chicken effectively.
2. Can I shred frozen chicken in a blender?
It’s not recommended to blend frozen chicken, as it can damage the blender’s blades and motor. Thaw the chicken before shredding.
3. What recipes benefit the most from finely shredded chicken?
Recipes like chicken tacos, enchiladas, and chicken salads often benefit from finely shredded chicken for better flavor distribution.
4. How long does it take to shred chicken in a blender?
The time varies depending on the blender’s power and the quantity of chicken. On average, it takes a few minutes.
5. Can I use a hand-held immersion blender for this?
While it’s not the most common choice, a hand-held immersion blender can be used for smaller quantities of chicken, provided it has a suitable blade attachment.
Evan Lewis is the owner and editor of Indoorguider. By profession, he is a MasterChef in a five-star restaurant. Evan joined as a chef after completing a Diploma in professional cooking. Besides this profession, he’s a researcher and hobbyist blogger. He loves discovering new things, researching them, and sharing them with people who need that information. Most of his time as a chef is spent with different kitchen utensils. He already shares his knowledge and experience with various kitchen tools, utensils, and food blogging. This time he decided to write about one of the most needed kitchen tools and kitchen appliances. Therefore, he created this site, Indoorguider, and shared his experience, knowledge, and research results with people who have less knowledge about this tool. As a MasterChef of a five-star restaurant, Evan Lewis is not only experienced in cooking. He’s also experienced with different kitchen utensils, tools, and equipment. Besides, cooking he’s a hobbyist blogger. He does a lot of research on different kitchen tools for his blog and writes about them to help others, here at IndoorGuider. He shares his experience, knowledge, and research results for the benefit of people seeking different tools and cooking steps, tips, and recipes. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555977246806 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evanlewis9177/ Quora: Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/EvanLewisOfficial/ Pinterest: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-lewis-1157132b8/ Threads: Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvanLewis5656
Can i shread chicken in a mixer?
I dont think so, why dont you try and let us know?
Your article gave me a lot of inspiration.
Thank You Betty!
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.
Yes, sure, please ask.