Making Pulled Chicken in a Dutch Oven is a great way to meal prep for the week or to pull together a main component of dinner for a busy weeknight dinner. It's a simple recipe with few ingredients, and best of all, it's incredibly versatile.
One of the most popular ways to make pulled or shredded chicken is in a crockpot or slow cooker. And while we love the convenience of setting it and forgetting it, using a slow cooker has its disadvantages. First, it can take several hours to cook the chicken. And it also tends to be rather flavorless with a rubbery texture. That's because chicken is easy to over cook. Well we are going to tackle that very issue in this recipe, making a super flavorful, juicy pulled chicken ready for tacos, sliders, chicken salad and plenty of more!
Ingredients that Matter
Basic pulled chicken in a Dutch oven only requires a few ingredients, but there's plenty of optional ingredients to really enhance the flavor:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. The truth is chicken breasts aren't the best option for pulled chicken as they are incredibly lean and dry out very easily. Nope, the easier option is chicken thighs! Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are more likely to stay moist and tender the longer they cook, but there's one important thing we needed to keep in mind when working on this recipe. We cannot ignore the popularity of boneless skinless chicken breasts. So, by all means, use chicken breasts as instructed since we know that's what most people want to cook and eat, but if are up for a change, go with chicken thighs!
- Chicken Broth. Just one cup of chicken broth helps to gently poach the chicken breasts. The broth provides the moisture that circulates the heavy-bottomed Dutch oven. Water works, of course, but we love the bonus umami and chicken flavor from the broth.
- Onions and Garlic. Adding one yellow onion, quartered, and a few cloves of garlic (peeled or unpeeled) into the broth adds more flavor and more moisture. It's a small addition to the recipe that packs a good amount of gentle aromatic flavor.
- Spices. We like to keep it fairly simple in the spice department since we used pulled chicken throughout the week in different recipes. A bit of garlic and onion powder along with salt and pepper add great flavor that's versatile and will work with lots of different recipes.
How to make Pulled Chicken in a Dutch Oven
Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders. Add to Dutch Oven and add wedges of yellow onion and garlic cloves (peeled or unpeeled).
Pour in chicken broth. Note that the broth will not cover the chicken. That's okay! Bring the broth to a boil over medium heat then transfer to a 350°F oven and cook for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until the internal temperature reaches 160°F, 10-15 more minutes. Remove from oven and set aside, covered, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 5 more minutes. The goal is to slowly bring the breasts up to food safe temperature of 165°F without going over that temp. The slow steam from the residual heat will do just that!
Let the cooked chicken breasts rest about 10 minutes before shredding. We like to simply use two forks to pull the chicken along the grain into large pieces, then we can shred further depending on how we'll use the pulled chicken.
Why use a Dutch Oven
A Dutch oven is a large, heavy-bottomed cast iron or enameled cast iron pot. Because it retains heat so well, it's ideal for a variety of cooking methods, from braising, roasting and even frying. For this pulled chicken recipe, the heavy cast iron provides even heat through the inside of the Dutch oven and the tight fitting lid traps in moisture, creating an ideal cooking environment for slow-braised (or poached) chicken breasts.Â
Serving Suggestions
The sky is the limits for pulled chicken, but a few of our favorite applications are Bacon Ranch Chicken Slides, barbeque chicken sandwiches with coleslaw or in tacos. Try mixing the leftover pulled chicken with your favorite barbeque sauce and adding to pizza or toss with hot sauce, ground cumin, lime zest and lime juice, smoked paprika and chili powder and adding to taco bowls!
Use pulled chicken from a Dutch oven anywhere a recipe calls for rotisserie chicken.
A Meal Prep Dream
The recipe makes about 6 cups of pulled chicken, meaning you can get a good amount of meals from it to use throughout the week. It's an idea recipe for meal prep, and we love to put 1 cup portions in airtight containers, labeling them and using one as a salad topper, another for a chicken ranch wrap and another for a quick grain bowl dinner.Â
The chicken should last up to 5 days in the refrigerator if sealed well. You can freeze pulled chicken for a couple months. First allow the cooked chicken to come to room temperature. Place potions in a freezer safe zip-top bag, suck out as much air as possible, label then lay flat in the freezer. We suggest reheating in a bit of broth.Â
Speaking of broth, did you know the leftover cooking liquid is super flavorful and the perfect liquid to add to the pulled chicken when storing to help prevent it from drying out too much. And the same goes for freezing! Add about 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid per 1 cup portion you intend to freeze.
Recipe
Pulled Chicken in a Dutch Oven
- Total Time: 35 min.
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
Pulled Chicken in a Dutch Oven is a simple way to meal prep or pull together a main component for dinner in a hurry. The secret to juicy and tender pulled chicken is slowly bringing boneless skinless chicken breasts up to food safe temperature of 165°F by finishing out of the oven for the last 5 to 10 minutes. Then let the breasts rests before pulling with a pair of forks.
Ingredients
- 3 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 medium)
- ¾ tsp. table salt
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 3 garlic cloves (peeled or unpeeled)
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and place an oven rack in the bottom third position.
- Pat chicken breasts dry then transfer to a large Dutch oven. Sprinkle both sides with salt, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. Nestle in the onion and garlic and add chicken broth.
- Heat pot over medium until broth comes to a simmer, 2-3 minutes. Cover then immediately transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Flip chicken and cook until the internal temperature reaches 160°F, another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on the stovetop. Leave covered until the chicken breasts internal temperature reaches 165°F, another 5-10 minutes. Remove breasts to a clean plate or cutting board and rest for 5 minutes. Discard onion and garlic.
- Transfer chicken breasts back to Dutch oven and shred with forks with the grain. Serve immediately or divide into portions (add some of the cooking liquid to keep the chicken moist). Leftovers are good for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Boneless and skinless chicken thighs work very well here, too.
- You can double the recipe, though it may take longer to cook in the oven.
- To freeze, transfer portions to a freezer safe zip-top bag, suck out as much air as possible, label then lay on a flat surface in the freezer. Pulled chicken may be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 5 min.
- Cook Time: 25 min.
- Category: Main
- Method: Braising, Poaching, Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: American
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