Chicken breast contains protein and zinc. When purchasing chicken, it’s best to purchase one without the skin which reduces the amount of fat intake. In addition, it’s best the chicken is organic and air chilled or if possible the chicken contains a small percentage of retained water.

An organic chicken ensures the chicken is vegetarian fed and isn’t fed any additives, pesticides and such. It also means the chicken has access to the outdoors.

Air chilled ensures the chicken was “air chilled” instead of water chilled. When the chicken is air chilled, you are ultimately paying for the weight of the chicken. However, if the chicken is water chilled, you are also paying for the weight of the water that is retained in the chicken. Therefore, the best option is air chilled, but if that’s not possible, make sure the water retention is a small percentage.

To learn more about what to consider when purchasing chicken, please refer to my Chicken 411 post.

Step By Step Instructions

Place the two thawed chicken breasts into a large pot and cover it with water. Use as much water as needed to cover the chicken. This water will be discarded so the quantity doesn’t matter. This is going to give the breasts a quick rinse.

Note: When dealing with raw poultry, always immediately wash your hands thoroughly. Also, immediately wash anything (like surfaces, utensils, bowls, et cetera) that touches the raw poultry so the bacteria doesn’t spread.

Cover the pot with a lid and bring it to a boil. At the same time, add about 8 cups of water to a tea kettle (as shown behind the pot) and place that over high heat to bring it to a boil.

Once the water with the chicken breasts comes to a boil, carefully dump the water out in the sink. Be careful of the steam. Bring the pot back to the stove top. Using a few sheets of paper towels folded up a few times so you don’t burn yourself, carefully clean the white bits off of the interior of the pot. Once cleaned, should look like the picture on the right. Throw the paper towels in the trash can and wash your hands.

Carefully add the boiling water from the tea kettle into your pot with the chicken.

Bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat to medium low and allow it to simmer until the chicken’s internal temperature registers to 165 degrees with a food thermometer which can take about 30-40 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and place a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the chicken. The middle of the chicken breast measured to be a few degrees over 165 degrees. So I knew it was cooked through.

Allow the chicken to rest for about 5-10 minutes before chopping it.

Cut it into bite size pieces or into pieces that you feel comfortable to feed your toddler.

Place the chopped chicken into a glass food storage container, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Recipe

Boiled Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

2 thawed chicken breasts
8 cups boiling water ready in a tea kettle

Instructions

Cover the pot with a lid and bring it to a boil. At the same time, add about 8 cups of water to a tea kettle and place that over high heat to bring it to a boil.

Once the water with the chicken breasts comes to a boil, carefully dump the water out in the sink. Be careful of the steam. Bring the pot back to the stove top. Using a few sheets of paper towels folded up a few times so you don’t burn yourself, carefully clean the white bits off of the interior of the pot. Throw the paper towels in the trash can and wash your hands.

Carefully add the boiling water from the tea kettle into your pot with the chicken. Bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat to medium low and allow it to simmer until the chicken’s internal temperature registers to 165 degrees with a food thermometer which can take about 30-40 minutes.

Allow the chicken to rest for about 5-10 minutes before chopping it. Cut it into bite size pieces or into pieces that you feel comfortable to feed your toddler. Place the chopped chicken into a glass food storage container, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.