Shredded Chicken For A Crowd
Baking chicken breasts in the oven with simple seasonings is the easiest way that we’ve found to make Shredded Chicken for a Crowd.
We love having tender and juicy chicken in the refrigerator and freezer to serve with salads, make quesadillas, wraps or sandwiches or to add as an ingredient in so many of our other recipes. Shredded chicken freezes and reheats well, making meal prep easier!
This tender and delicious chicken tastes great in our Shredded Chicken Sandwich recipe!
The Easiest Way To Make Shredded Chicken
We spent a day testing how to make a big batch of shredded chicken in our kitchen. Boiling is the first option we tried, but we were surprised to find that it is faster and more meat can be cooked at once on a large baking sheet.
Whatever cooking method you use, the key to success is to use a digital meat thermometer and remove the chicken from the heat at 160℉. Let the chicken rest for ten minutes until it reaches an end point (final) internal temperature of 165℉.
Especially when making 5 pounds or more of tender shredded chicken, through testing we found that using a large sheet pan to bake in the oven is the quickest and easiest cooking method.
Our church cooks a meal for a local homeless shelter and we try to take a turn in the rotation. This basic chicken recipe is very versatile and will taste great mixed in our Ranch Pasta Salad or served with our Green Salad for a Crowd or Big Batch of Pulled Pork.
We made this juicy chicken to serve with Rice for a Crowd along with teriyaki sauce and broccoli to serve recently to 30 men. This gave us a reason to test a variety of cooking methods and shredding techniques.
Ingredients Needed:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – trim any visible fat and blood spots before cooking
- Kosher Salt – or Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- Garlic Powder
How To Make Shredded Chicken
Preheat oven to 350℉. Trim chicken breasts well and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet with a rim of at least 1 inch.
Lightly pound the largest, thickest end of the biggest breasts to make more uniform in thickness. Arrange chicken with a little space between each piece to allow air to flow.
Allowing air flow will speed up baking time. Squishing the chicken together will take significantly longer to bake.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder or your favorite spices over the chicken. Rub in to create an even layer of seasoning.
The sheet pan will be heavy. Do a test lift to ensure that you will be able to keep the pan level while lifting out of the oven when done cooking and there are juices on the baking sheet. If it feels too heavy, remove chicken and bake in smaller batches.
Set in the preheated oven and use a digital meat thermometer to check the temperature after 25 minutes. It typically takes me 35 minutes to cook the chicken to an internal temperature of 160℉. Please keep in mind the size, temperature and quantity of chicken breasts can vary the baking time.
Once the chicken has reached 160℉, remove from the oven and let rest for ten minutes. The chicken will continue cooking (even outside of the oven) and reach a safe temperature of 165℉.
After the ten minute rest period cut the cooked breasts into thirds.
Chopping chicken into chunks before tossing into an electric mixer will help quickly shred a big batch of meat.
Easiest Way to Shred The Chicken
Chicken will shred easiest while very warm.
Add up to 5 chunks of chicken into a mixer with the paddle attached and lock the arm down.
Start in the lowest gear. The pieces will begin to shred.
After the chunks have gotten smaller slowly increase the speed of the mixer until the chicken is finely shredded.
7 Pounds of Chicken Breasts Yields 8 Cups of Shredded Chicken
The baking sheet pictured above held two packages (average weight of 3.75 pounds) of chicken breasts.
I estimated the total weight to be about 7 pounds of cooked chicken after trimming and baking.
This yielded 16 cups of shredded chicken. To simplify the equation, just under 1/2 a pound (.43 pounds of chicken) yielded one cup of shredded chicken in our kitchen.
These are general equations, not exact. There is a big difference in coarsely and finely shredded chicken, so be sure to take those variables into account.
How Much Shredded Chicken Per Person
We estimate a 3/4 cup serving of shredded chicken per person when the meat is the featured item in the meal.
If chicken is an ingredient in a taco or topping for a salad, decrease the serving size according.
The only way to ensure exact serving size is to have someone using a measuring cup to serve each person. A buffet or self serve station will mean variable serving sizes.
Men and teenagers are also more likely to eat more meat than kids and ladies. So base your serving size using what you know about your crowd.
Jennifer’s Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Using a speed that is too high on the mixer will cause the chicken to jump out of the bowl onto the counter or floor (so I hear).
- Once you shred chicken using a paddle on a mixer you’ll never use two forks again!
- I reheat the chicken in a crock pot with 1/2 to 1 cup of chicken broth to keep the meat moist.
- Very warm chicken is much more pliable and easy to shred than cold chicken.
- Tongs are the easiest utensil to use to serve shredded chicken.
More Easy Recipes That Use Shredded Chicken:
- Chicken Fajita Pizza recipe
- Chicken Pockets recipe
- Chicken and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
- Chicken Casserole with Cream of Chicken Soup
Shredded Chicken for a Crowd
Ingredients
- 11 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
Instructions
- Trim 11 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts and pound the thickest end of the biggest pieces until all are an even thickness.
- Arrange with a little space between each piece for air to flow on a 13" x 18" baking pan. 11 pounds of meat will likely take two batches in the oven.
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoon Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 2 tablespoons garlic powder evenly over the chicken and rub in.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 350℉ for 25 to 35 minutes. Use a digital meat thermometer. When the biggest piece of chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160℉ remove from the heat and let rest until the chicken finishes cooking at 165℉.
- Cut chicken breasts into thirds. Put 3 to 5 pieces in the mixer at a time. With the arm locked down turn on low and slowly increase speed as chicken begins to shred. The chicken should be finely shredded within a few minutes.
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