Precooking Chicken

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davekarie
davekarie Posts: 19
in Food and Nutrition
For a while I've been eating frozen veggies and canned chicken for lunch, thinking how healthy of me, but have now realized the sodium content is killing my numbers.

My question is - If precooking a weeks worth of chicken breast, (with the intent of portioning it out to microwave for daily lunches) what would be the best way to cook it, in order for it to stay somewhat moist?
Has anyone ever tried boiling? and of so, how long?

And I guess while I'm at it - fresh veg (broccoli, cauliflower, carrot) precook at all? Or just nuke them with the chicken?

Thanks for any help.
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Replies

  • craziedazie
    craziedazie Posts: 185 Member
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    I cook a whole chicken in the crock pot (4 hours on high or 7 on low for my crock pot) and use it for the following week. It stays moist.
    *Thanks for this post - it reminded me to put my chicken in the crock pot. :bigsmile:

    Idk about the veggies - I'd probably precook everything and mix it together in a to go container so I could just heat it up quickly.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    You could poach the chcicken - I do this quite a lot, it keeps the meat very moist.

    Cover with either water or some low sodium chicken stock, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

    Frozen veg isn't too bad compared with fresh- it keeps its nutrinets longer! Fresh veg can be microwaved with a little water in 3-5 minutes.
  • lik_11
    lik_11 Posts: 433 Member
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    I'm a fan of crock-pot chicken, too! Boiling will work, but I find it's to not be as tasty as cooking in its own juices.
  • EatClenTrenHard
    EatClenTrenHard Posts: 339 Member
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    I take 2kg of lean chicken breasts and throw it in boiling water. Then i cut it and measure it into 200g portions and package it, then throw to freezer.

    When I want to eat it i defreeze it in 5min and then eat it hot.
    That way I eat it when iwant and i dont need to worry about cooking or cleaning.
  • zgdsmith
    zgdsmith Posts: 114 Member
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    I cook enough chicken for lunch everyday on Sunday's. I make it a ton of different ways. It always turns out moist if i have some kind of sauce/dressing on it. Sometimes I put it in a baking dish and cover it with fat free italian dressing. Once it's cooled i put it into individual size servings and freeze it. I also have done grilled chicken with spices, bbq, etc then froze it that way. I found out that if there is no sauce on it if you put a tiny bit of water in with the chicken when you freeze it it doesn't get dry when you reheat it after freezing and it doesn't change the taste.

    Hope this helps!
  • mgaither
    mgaither Posts: 115
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    I grill my chicken for the week. The key with grilling it is to leave it a TINY bit underdone ::GASP::. I don't mean to eat raw chicken, just to take it off the grill right before it's done so that it doesn't dry out when you microwave/reheat it later in the week. Use your microwave/reheating method to ensure that the chicken is cooked when you're ready to eat it.
  • jenlarz
    jenlarz Posts: 813 Member
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    I like crock pot and grill. Also, I use frozen veggies not canned. There isn't the sodium added that way
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    for what you're saying, poaching is pretty much the way to go.
    just get it cooked all the way through.. then make a few diff things with batches of it... most of my meals start with poaching the chicken in the pan.. lol.
  • LoreleiWalks
    LoreleiWalks Posts: 143 Member
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    You could poach the chcicken - I do this quite a lot, it keeps the meat very moist.

    Cover with either water or some low sodium chicken stock, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

    Frozen veg isn't too bad compared with fresh- it keeps its nutrinets longer! Fresh veg can be microwaved with a little water in 3-5 minutes.

    ^^This is exactly what I was going to say.^^
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    I grill my chicken for the week. The key with grilling it is to leave it a TINY bit underdone ::GASP::. I don't mean to eat raw chicken, just to take it off the grill right before it's done so that it doesn't dry out when you microwave/reheat it later in the week. Use your microwave/reheating method to ensure that the chicken is cooked when you're ready to eat it.

    with steak? yeah! I like mine so rare, its mistaken for unicorn meat.

    but i would actually go as far as to par-boil or poach the chicken before grilling.. just to ensure its fully cooked.

    I have had food poisoning enough times to ALWAYS cook poultry.
  • Hottness4Lyfe
    Hottness4Lyfe Posts: 321 Member
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    I've started boiling a whole chicken for the week. After it's done I shred it up and portion it into 1 cup servings. I use it in many different ways. Like for dinner today I'm going to sautee it with onions. peppers, and mushrooms. Tomorrow I may add curry spices, the next day taco..... I season it according to what I have a taste for. Another good thing about boiling it is that you have an awesome stock that is low in sodium and can be frozen until ready to use....
  • CrazyDaisysMommy
    CrazyDaisysMommy Posts: 472
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    I'm a huge fan of using my dutch oven. I throw chicken and veggies with some herbs and olive oil into the dutch oven, cover it and bake at 400 degrees. When it's halfway done, I remove the lid and let it roast the rest of the way. I can't believe how moist it is and the veggies taste amazing too.
  • scotslass
    scotslass Posts: 317
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    BUMP!! great ideas!!!
  • K1Teacher
    K1Teacher Posts: 324 Member
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    I throw 6 or 7 breasts in the oven at 350* for 1/2 an hour (barely done, even slightly underdone is ok - will finish cooking when reheated) with just a bit of pepper and some herbs. It works perfectly to pull from throughout the week...salads, scrambles, soups. I'll also take a cooked breast and throw some salsa on it...yum!! So much you can do with it and SO much healthier than the canned crap. Easy, too!!

    I've also found that freezing serving sized portions works well, too...it tastes exactly the same, no flavor lost.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    I boil chicken and it stays pretty moist. that would definitely be a better way to avoid some sodium.
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    I've started boiling a whole chicken for the week. After it's done I shred it up and portion it into 1 cup servings. I use it in many different ways. Like for dinner today I'm going to sautee it with onions. peppers, and mushrooms. Tomorrow I may add curry spices, the next day taco..... I season it according to what I have a taste for. Another good thing about boiling it is that you have an awesome stock that is low in sodium and can be frozen until ready to use....

    curry! I havent done that in awhile.. I know what I am making tonight....
    I'm a huge fan of using my dutch oven.

    I know I am not the only one that laughed at this. :p
  • britexmom
    britexmom Posts: 145
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    I roast 2 whole chickens at a time, one is for the family dinner that day, and the second is used thru the week to throw on salads, noodles, sandwiches etc.
    *my dogs get all the scraps/skins, so everyone is a winner *
  • btdublin
    btdublin Posts: 250 Member
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    I'm a huge fan of using my dutch oven. I throw chicken and veggies with some herbs and olive oil into the dutch oven, cover it and bake at 400 degrees. When it's halfway done, I remove the lid and let it roast the rest of the way. I can't believe how moist it is and the veggies taste amazing too.

    I thought a dutch oven was when you farted beneath the covers in bed...!
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
    Options
    I'm a huge fan of using my dutch oven. I throw chicken and veggies with some herbs and olive oil into the dutch oven, cover it and bake at 400 degrees. When it's halfway done, I remove the lid and let it roast the rest of the way. I can't believe how moist it is and the veggies taste amazing too.

    I thought a dutch oven was when you farted beneath the covers in bed...!

    The dutch actually cook in real ovens too. :p
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
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    I started doing this too, great idea!!

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