How to shred chicken (4 easy ways)

Today I’ll be showing you how to shred chicken so you can use it in all types of recipes. Of course you can simply cut up the chicken with a knife but sometimes having shredded chicken makes a dish better.  

For instance combine shredded chicken and some mayo and put it into a salad or even a sandwich for a quick lunch meal.  You can also use shredded chicken in soups and it’s also quite easy to portion control by adding it to small muffin tins and then freezing it.

I’ll be showing you how to shred chicken four different ways as well as how to cook it, let you know what part of the chicken you can use, how to server it and the best way to store it for a quick meal 

Equipment needed 

• Tongs
• Forks
• Gloves
• Chopping board
• Stand up mixer

How to shred chicken

Shredding chicken is super easy. The four methods are all as effective as each other so I’ll leave it up to you as to which one you want to do.

My personal preference would be to use either my hands or tongs if the chicken is still hot. Other people have used a stand up mixer to shred chicken.  Personally I think that’s just one extra equipment you need to clean.

SAFETY TIP:  When chicken has just been cooked it is very hot.  You should always rest your chicken before you start serving it and the same applies to when you’re shredding it.

Cold chicken is more difficult to shred because the meat is not as malleable so make sure it’s warm to little bit hot to make it easier on yourself.

I should also mention that you can shred cooked chicken off the bone and especially a whole chicken.  Of course the fillets are much easier to manage because you don’t have to worry about bones.   

Speaking of Bones when you are shredding chicken off a drumstick just remember there are two bones you need to remove. A very thick bone plus a very small thin bone make sure you count the bones later. 

TIP:  When shredding chicken from the bone make sure you remove your meat first and put the bones aside making sure you count the bones you have left, you should have two of every bone. 

1. Shred chicken using two tongs

This is the first method I learnt when working at the chicken shop. For health and safety when shredding chicken to make a chicken roll or shredded chicken pack that included chips and salad it was always done in front of the customer. 

For this method you need to have two small – regular size tongs; don’t use the extra long BBQ Tongs that’s just going to be difficult.

Using one tongue to the told piece of chicken down and a second to scrape the chicken or with pulling action with the tongues and as the piece of chicken becomes smaller and smaller you can start using both Tongs to pull it apart and to go back and pull apart any big pieces that have not completely falling apart. 

2. Shred chicken using your hands

This is the second method I learnt when working at the shop and it’s really useful if you’re doing large quantities of cooked chicken that need to be shredded. 

 Just be careful that if the chickens are hot it’s going to be really really difficult to do it and that’s when you can switch to using the Tongs. 

But essentially what you are going to be doing is pulling the chicken apart with your hands and rubbing it in your fingers and this will break down the chicken quite nicely.   

If you’re a bit squeamish, holding cooked chicken and you’re not too keen with working with so much oil obviously use one of the other methods or put some disposable gloves on so you can have an easy cleanup.

3. Shred chicken using two forks

If you don’t have access to tongs or you don’t want to get your hands dirty then using two forks to shredded chicken can work quite well.  

The technique is quite simple and it’s a matter of using one fork to hold the piece of chicken down and then using the second fork in a scraping motion to shred.  When the chicken bits become small you can just smash them with the back of the fork.

4. Shred chicken using a stand up mixer

Last method I’ll be talking about is using a stand-up mixer. Now I’ll leave it up to you as to which method you choose but just remember that you can only use fillets in the stand up mixer. Or remove the bone of the chicken from a whole chicken and put it in.   

With that in mind the stand up mixer is really useful if you are shredding fillets and which is why I prefer to use one of the other three methods.

This is how you use your stand up mix to shred chicken, first attach the paddle attachment to your mixer,  then add your chicken fillets one at a time to make it easier for the motor.

If your standing mixer has a lock to keep the paddle down make sure that’s engaged before you start so the mixer doesn’t bounce up and down. Starting at a slow speed and then progressed from there. 

What part of the chicken is best for shredding?

The whole chicken can actually be shredded with very little effort.

But the easiest part would be the breast and thighs because they have the most amount of meat and are easier to take off the bone or when they are just the fillets.

Then followed by the drumsticks and then wings but as you can imagine there’s not a whole lot of meat in the wing part of the chicken.

TIP: Also don’t forget a roasted whole chicken is great to shred because you can get a good combination of white and dark meat, as it elevates the taste because it’s not so dry as just the breasts.  But just be careful when you are removing chicken from the bone. Be sure to remove all the bones. 

How to cook chicken for shredding

The fastest way to cook chicken for shredding would be using a pan on a stove,  and adding some of your favorite spices or just salt & pepper.

If you’re meal planning and want to cook large amounts of chicken breasts or thighs. Add seasoned chicken fillets to a dish or a large sheet pan making sure to flatten out the fillets beforehand so they roughly the same size thickness so they cook evenly.

Another healthy choice is steamed breast fillets which work really well because of the extra moisture that’s in the fillets from the steaming. Depending on your type of steam you can do quite a few of them at once.

Also don’t forget cooking a whole chicken or any chicken on a bone can also be shredded. You just need to take a little bit more care with removing the skin and making sure there are no bones. 

TIP: Save time and buy a roasted whole chicken to shred for a quick lunch or dinner meal.

Serving suggestions for shredded chicken

My go to with shredded chicken is making a chicken roll with simple gravy and salt and pepper,  or for a less messy meal replace the gravy with mayonnaise for a quick lunch feed.  

I also like making chicken soup by adding shredded chicken just to thicken it up a little bit. And it’s also good to add to salad as an extra bit of protein .

Storing shredded chicken for later use

What I like about using shredded chicken in my dishes is how granular I can get when I portion it compared to if the chicken was just cut in to strips or cubes. I can use a scale to make the exact portion sizes for freezer meals down the track or if I’m trying to make sure we all have the correct portion sizes. 

Like all cooked chicken you can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge to the three to  four days max.  In the freezer upto  3 months.   I like to use muffin tins to freeze and then placed in a Ziploc bag or container when I want to freeze individual portions.

Frequently asked questions on shredding chicken