A few years back my friend and I were talking about how much we hate shredding chicken. Two forks and gross feeling fingers. Surely mexican restaurants didn’t make employees use two forks to shred all the chicken they use in enchilados and burritos, right? Apparently we were on a chicken shredding kick because we went as far as googling chicken shredding machines. Way back when all we could find were industrial sized machines and tools. Since then, our dear Pinterest came about. This is when the KitchenAid technique was born! You guys, it totally works. I use my KitchenAid whenever possible, so it only makes sense that I can use it for shredding chicken. This is hands-down my favorite wedding present now! BG isn’t a huge fan of chicken unless it’s in the form of a nugget or wrapped in a Chipotle burrito. I end up shredding a lot of chicken because I can hide it in food and she will eat it. It’s amazing.
Take 4 fully cooked chicken breasts (or thighs, whatever) and place into your KitchenAid Mixer with the paddle attachment. Turn your machine onto level 1. Once the chicken starts turning into pieces you can crank it up a bit. I never go past 2 though, but that’s because I’m scared breasts will come at me. I definitely don’t want that!
Below is a video to prove it. You’ll hear me say that I’ve done this before and know it works, but I always get scared. I get so nervous that I’ll have a chicken breast fly out of the bowl! You could cover your bowl with a dish towel, but I’ve never needed to do this. Also, I can not stand how my voice sounds. Does anyone truly like the way they sound on camera? Maybe I wouldn’t mind it if i was getting paid 1 million dollars a video, who knows. OH, and I say that I can see the heat coming up out of the bowl. Yes, I realize it’s steam and not heat. I was just so nervous with it being my first video and all!
Don’t have a KitchenAid? Here are some cute ones! I love this red Kitchenaid, but it’s on the pricier end for mixers. This white KitchenAid is on the lower end. I know they are pricey, but they’re so great to have!
Enough of the chit chat. Here’s the viddy.
How much did we like this project/recipe/tutorial etc? LOVE
Did anything unexpected happen? No.
Overall Rating from 1-5:Â 5 This is life changing. Whoever you are that originally figured this out, you deserve a gold star!
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Camille Stuckey says
This really works! After reading your post I just had to try it for myself! I used to buy the rotisserie chickens from the store to save time from baking or grilling the chicken for my enchiladas, soups and etc, but over the past few months or so I started to get really frustrated because the chickens never had enough meat on them. I started to buy just regular boneless skinless chicken breasts to bake in the oven. I would season them, bake them and then have to shred them. The shredding is the not so fun part like Ashley said above! I read this post and decided to make chicken tortilla soup. So I baked my chicken, threw it in the mixer and then right into my pot! No forks or dirty fingers! Oh it’s the little things in life that make such a difference. Thanks for the post!!!
Ashley says
So glad this worked for you too, Camille! When you have kids you need all the time saving tips you can get! Something I like to do is boil or bake my chicken, shred it all and then freeze in separate ziplock bags. Then I can just take out already shredded chicken for my recipe. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Tracy says
I need a kitchen aide!
Kimber says
Mine completes me haha!
Jennifer says
All I want for Mother’s Day (because thats the next gift buying holiday) is a KitchenAid Mixer! Is that too much to ask? And really I only want it to shred chicken! My hand held mixer works great for baking and what not 🙂
Ashley says
Haha!Shredding chicken is almost as bad as cleaning toilets. My kitchenAid has seriously taken the pain out of doing it! I prb use it more for shredding chicken than to actually bake! I love to buy when on sale bc then I just shred a ton and throw it in the freezer. Maybe look on craigslist. Even an older, used one would get the job done I am sure!
Lauren says
I need to have my mom bring my kitchen aid I gamer her back to me!! Haha! This would save my life! Do you use your processor to cut chicken into cubes or do you do it the old fashioned way?
Ashley says
I never thought to use my food processor to cube chicken. I dont think it would work though bc its too soft, but maybe? I just use my poultry scissors and cut. I TOTALLY think you need your Mom to bring your kitchenaid! It saves so much time shredding, especially if you’re making freezer meals. I have 3 bags of plain shredded chicken to take out and just use on a random night I don’t want to cook. Can you imagine your Mom lugging the mixer to Japan? Oh lord! She would have some serious biceps after delivery to you!!
PhotoChaser says
Thank you for doing this, I would have never thought this would have worked! By the way I liked your voice 🙂
Ashley says
It’s a life saver!! You’ll wonder what you did before this technique (2 forks? Puh-lease!). And thanks. 🙂
Joann @EuchreFun says
WOW this is a great idea!! I just had to shred some chicken for a mexican tortilla soup. Will definitely try this next time!! Visiting from A Dish of Daily Life