The Smart Trick for Shredding Chicken—No Hands Required

It's the smartest and fastest way to shred chicken.

I first saw my sister-in-law use KitchenAid's lightning-fast method for shredding chicken in a stand mixer over a dozen years ago. But I was the type of person who liked to make things harder for herself. Why take a shortcut when I can be extra thorough and do things the long way for marginally better results? Well, my mental health, for one.

Jokes aside, while I do find repetitive kitchen tasks like chopping and stirring meditative, I also have two school-aged kids. I’m kidding myself if I think every hour in the kitchen is an opportunity ripe for reflective moments of productive gratitude while I stir a risotto. And so I’ve slowly but surely employed little tricks here and there that streamline without compromising too much on my need for perfection. I strive to balance it all with efficiency instead.

And so one day to my surprise, I found myself putting down the two forks, and using my KitchenAid stand mixer to shred a bunch of chicken. It saved me about ten minutes of prep time. A huge difference when I’ve only got 15 minutes before I need to take one of the kids to baseball practice. Yes, there is another big dish to wash, but that’s a problem for later tonight. I am solving for 5 p.m. right now.

Years later, my son uses this trick for his weekly meal prep. As a teenager still finding his confidence in the kitchen and around feeding himself in general, he is all about a smart shortcut. (So many video games to play! And he still has to get to baseball practice!) Teaching him that cooking for himself doesn’t have to be time-consuming and tedious is perhaps my very favorite part of this incredibly easy and versatile KitchenAid tip.

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How To Shred Chicken in Your KitchenAid Stand Mixer

1. Prep Your Chicken

Start with warm, fully cooked boneless, skinless chicken. If you’re starting with leftover cold chicken, reheat it for a bit in the microwave to loosen it up.

Breast and thighs both work—you can even use a mixture of the two. If you are using chicken breasts that are on the larger side, cut or break them in half before shredding. It helps things break down a little more evenly without leaving you with big chunks.

2. Prep Your KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Both tilt-head and bowl-lift KitchenAid models work for shredding chicken. Fit the head with the paddle mixer and add the chicken into the bowl.

3. Shred the chicken

Turn the KitchenAid mixer on to low. Let the machine run until most of the chicken is shredded to your desired consistency, about 30 seconds to one minute. If shredding more than a pound of cooked chicken at a time, there may be a few larger chunks remaining. Shred these pieces by hand to avoid over-processing the entire batch.

Read the original article on Simply Recipes.