Frozen Chicken Breasts?

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  • rydn4h2o
    rydn4h2o Posts: 255
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    We use frozen chicken all the time to cook with. In fact, i have some marinating now for fajitas tomorrow...i've noticed no difference
    Enjoy! :happy:
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
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    I only use frozen cause of budget. I never defrost them. They go from the freezer to the george foreman grill and when the meat thermometer says the inside is 160 degrees they go in my belly.

    They do usually have added salt or chicken broth to them, but honestly it's not that much. It's not like after cooking they're 1/2 the weight they were before. And they probably have less sodium this way than if I salted them on my own after they were cooked.
  • kat5556
    kat5556 Posts: 164 Member
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    That's all I buy is the frozen Harvest Land chicken breast. I get them at BJ's Club, the ones that are individually sealed, take out what I need the night before and they taste great!

    My favorite recipe is to put the chicken in a casserole dish, cover them with A Taste of Thai Peanut Satay Sauce (60 calories per serving - 0 sodium - 0 Cholesterol - how great is that!!) and mix the rest of the jar with a bag of frozen Japanese style veggies. Put the veggies on top of the chicken cover and bake of 45 minutes. It's super delicious.

    Kathy
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    Nothing wrong with frozen chicken if you read labels and check the sodium content. Some of it is very high in sodium.
  • kat5556
    kat5556 Posts: 164 Member
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    Not getting what you're paying for, Frozen chicken has added salt and lots of water. I would stick to fresh.

    Most brand do so watch the labels. But, if you can fine Harvestland, get them because they are great - nothing added including salt and the chickens are cage free. They're individually sealed no there's no freezer burn. And at BJ's Club they are only about 3.00 per pound.
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
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    I'd been buying the bags of frozen boneless breasts from Walmart for years, but then noticed that more often than not, several pieces would be freezer burned. Might just be my local Walmart, though. The other week I was in a regular grocery store and there was a lady standing by the Smart Chicken in the meat case, handing out coupons. The cost for one package of Smart Chicken was the same as the cost for a whole bag of chicken at Walmart, but she explained to me that the difference between the two was that the Smart Chicken was never soaked in the vats of salt water, did not have that added disclaimer of "may contain up to 5% water", etc. I figured it was worth a try, so I picked up a package.

    The difference in taste and quality floored me. The Smart Chicken had zero fat or weird bits of gristle hanging on. Each piece was solid meat, and the flavor was much better than the frozen bagged chicken I'd been buying for years.

    I think I've reached a point in my head that it's worth the extra cost to buy the Smart Chicken, and just accept that we'll be eating less chicken and more of other things that the budget will allow in order to make sure the chicken we DO eat is really good. :\
  • carol5822
    carol5822 Posts: 3 Member
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    I buy 5 pound bags of frozen chicken breasts. what I do most often is open a bag or two of frozen brown rice. put it in the bottom of a large baking pan. I then put the frozen chicken breasts on top of the rice. I chop an onion and scatter all over the chicken and rice. you can put herbs or whatever you like best on the chicken. I also squeeze a lemon over all of it. I put a little dot of butter on each piece of chicken. I only mean a dot. this help the chicken to brown and adds flavor and richness to the dish. I add a half can of chicken broth to the pan.

    This process takes 10 minutes at the most. put in a fairly hot oven, 380, for an hour, covered with aluminum foil. go about your business, take the aluminum foil off for the last ten minutes. this helps to brown the chicken and absorb the cooking liquid.

    this is all very adjustable, you don't want to have too much liquid at the end of the process and if you do just let it simmer a while until the liquid evaporates. if it needs more time, that is fine too.

    you can do anything to this basic chicken and rice recipe. you can add chopped celery, you can add salsa with a sprinkle of cheese on the top, you can add some green peas towards the end.
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
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    I was using frozen in the past. To thaw it out I just put the frozen pieces in a bowl of water in the fridge the night before. That works pretty well. After that you can marinate it or treat it just like you would fresh chicken. Grill it bake it or do whatever you normally do with chicken.

    Personally I think the fresh non-frozen chicken tends to be more juicy and I like that I can just pull it out of the fridge and use it when I get the time. There were a few days I forgot to thaw out my chicken and I had to rethink what i was going to make that night. On the nutrition value I don't know if it's a huge difference.

    How much chicken do you buy at a time that it costs $35?

    I can easily hit $35 in chicken for less than a week. Even when it's on sale at $2.99-$3.99/lb. When you eat 2-3 breasts a meal, sometimes 2 meals a day, it adds up.
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
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    I'd been buying the bags of frozen boneless breasts from Walmart for years, but then noticed that more often than not, several pieces would be freezer burned. Might just be my local Walmart, though. The other week I was in a regular grocery store and there was a lady standing by the Smart Chicken in the meat case, handing out coupons. The cost for one package of Smart Chicken was the same as the cost for a whole bag of chicken at Walmart, but she explained to me that the difference between the two was that the Smart Chicken was never soaked in the vats of salt water, did not have that added disclaimer of "may contain up to 5% water", etc. I figured it was worth a try, so I picked up a package.

    The difference in taste and quality floored me. The Smart Chicken had zero fat or weird bits of gristle hanging on. Each piece was solid meat, and the flavor was much better than the frozen bagged chicken I'd been buying for years.

    I think I've reached a point in my head that it's worth the extra cost to buy the Smart Chicken, and just accept that we'll be eating less chicken and more of other things that the budget will allow in order to make sure the chicken we DO eat is really good. :\

    Stop buying at Walmart, problem solved :D
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
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    Throw it in the crockpot frozen and it will cook up great. I never thaw mine out. I rarely buy frozen because of the sodium content in the IQF but I often buy it fresh and freeze it to use later.

    Works great. I sometimes let it thaw and then marinate and bake but I'm generally too lazy and just use crockpot. Then throw in some spices at end or a jar of salsa and I am good to go.

    ** If you have a Sam's Club in your area check them out. Mine almost always has chicken breast for less than $2 a pound and not the IQF.
  • madmex569
    madmex569 Posts: 49
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    i bought frozen tenderloins once. they were fine,but for the price, i found buying fresh in the supermarket was about same price when a good sale was on. Then i buy a bunch and freeze them. All i eat is chicken, so doing this really helps
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
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    I'd been buying the bags of frozen boneless breasts from Walmart for years, but then noticed that more often than not, several pieces would be freezer burned. Might just be my local Walmart, though. The other week I was in a regular grocery store and there was a lady standing by the Smart Chicken in the meat case, handing out coupons. The cost for one package of Smart Chicken was the same as the cost for a whole bag of chicken at Walmart, but she explained to me that the difference between the two was that the Smart Chicken was never soaked in the vats of salt water, did not have that added disclaimer of "may contain up to 5% water", etc. I figured it was worth a try, so I picked up a package.

    The difference in taste and quality floored me. The Smart Chicken had zero fat or weird bits of gristle hanging on. Each piece was solid meat, and the flavor was much better than the frozen bagged chicken I'd been buying for years.

    I think I've reached a point in my head that it's worth the extra cost to buy the Smart Chicken, and just accept that we'll be eating less chicken and more of other things that the budget will allow in order to make sure the chicken we DO eat is really good. :\

    Stop buying at Walmart, problem solved :D

    Well, I've stopped shopping there for groceries anyhow, but found the pre-bagged frozen chicken at the regular store was the same way. :\
  • madmex569
    madmex569 Posts: 49
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    i throw frozen breast in slow cooker and cover with my homemade salsa. let it cook couple hours. when almost done. i throw my veggies in. mostly broccoli. mix with juices and salsa. awesome.
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
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    I'd been buying the bags of frozen boneless breasts from Walmart for years, but then noticed that more often than not, several pieces would be freezer burned. Might just be my local Walmart, though. The other week I was in a regular grocery store and there was a lady standing by the Smart Chicken in the meat case, handing out coupons. The cost for one package of Smart Chicken was the same as the cost for a whole bag of chicken at Walmart, but she explained to me that the difference between the two was that the Smart Chicken was never soaked in the vats of salt water, did not have that added disclaimer of "may contain up to 5% water", etc. I figured it was worth a try, so I picked up a package.

    The difference in taste and quality floored me. The Smart Chicken had zero fat or weird bits of gristle hanging on. Each piece was solid meat, and the flavor was much better than the frozen bagged chicken I'd been buying for years.

    I think I've reached a point in my head that it's worth the extra cost to buy the Smart Chicken, and just accept that we'll be eating less chicken and more of other things that the budget will allow in order to make sure the chicken we DO eat is really good. :\

    Stop buying at Walmart, problem solved :D

    Well, I've stopped shopping there for groceries anyhow, but found the pre-bagged frozen chicken at the regular store was the same way. :\

    They're not made to be fresh, good quality. They're made to be cheap.
    Buy the fresh chicken, on sale, freeze it. Works perfect.

    I just dislike Walmart, so that's eliminating problem 1 :)
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
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    ** If you have a Sam's Club in your area check them out. Mine almost always has chicken breast for less than $2 a pound and not the IQF.
    That's where I normally get mine although I do by from Walmart too some times. It's $1.97 a pound at both places and they come packed in about 5 lbs bundles. Someone mentioned earlier that the fresh chicken at grocery stores really arrives frozen. I did notice that some of the chicken had a little bit of ice on the edges. I don't know if they shipped it totally frozen or just keep it so close to freezing that it gets frozen around the edges but there was ice on some of the chicken.

    Either way I still prefer the chicken that comes in whole boneless breast halves. You have to trim off a little bit of fat but I like it better than the bagged frozen pieces. I always grill mine outside over charcoal after letting it soak in an olive oil/water marinade. Love the flavor.

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