When I shop, I look for sales on family size packages of chicken, legs, thighs, quarters, and breasts. I love to make my own marinades, and this can be done before freezing your chicken.
One of my marinade recipes is:
Try using Italian, Greek or Balsamic dressing as your marinade. These are delicious, too.
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When I buy "on-sale" chicken breasts to freeze, I add marinade, which could be Italian dressing, leftover wine and seasonings or beer or salsa, to the bag. They will be frozen in.
Great information about freezing chicken, turkey and other poultry.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Thank you so much all of you for your quick responses and your imaginative recipes. The only thing is, I don't have a crockpot and really can't afford one right now. That may sound silly because I know they don't cost a fortune, but right now we don't have much money coming in at all. Any other baking, stove top ideas? So much appreciated! Thank you, you are great!
I use frozen chicken all the time with my crockpot. It takes about eight hours on low and four to five on high. I throw in the chicken with a bag of frozen vegtables, a can of mushroom soup, etc..
As long as you do something casserole-ish, which allows the chicken to cook slowly, you should be okay. You could also slowly cook the frozen breast with a little chicken bouillon, water and spices. Then when it's done, chop it up and add it to a salad or mac & cheese. Sorry I don't have a recipe, but you might check the websites of chicken companies (Tyson, Foster Farms, eg.). They surely have some great chicken recipes.
I'm not sure what type of chicken you're trying to end up with.
Most of the time, when I buy chicken, it is bulk boneless/skinless chicken breasts. When I'm dividing up the package, I put two breasts (There are only two of us here) in a freezer bag with a squirt of marinade in the bag. I like Ken's Lite Caesar dressing, it's two strong for salad and great for cooking. But I put it in the bag and toss it in the freezer, that way the chicken is seasoned for me. If I remember to defrost beforehand, the marinade will soak into the chicken.
When I go to cook it, I too forget to take it out and defrost first. So most of the time, I just open the bag, dump the block of frozen chicken in a covered baking dish and bake it. The marinade that is left frozen on the breasts will melt during cooking and help to steam the chicken. It comes out super moist. You want to remember to separate the chicken breasts about half way through the cooking, or as soon as it is "defrosted" enough to do so. Other than that there is nothing to do.
Hi there. I have a favorite blog I use and she uses frozen chicken frequently. There are tons of yummy recipes. :)
Charity
I have a recipe for chicken and noodles that is so easy! I can't keep enough of this in my house and have given the recipe to tons of friends.
Take 3 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts and boil them on the stove. Take chicken out after 30-40 minutes and set aside. Add 4-6 packages of Ramen noodles, break up noodles first ( or 1-2 pkgs egg noodles if you prefer) to water you boiled chicken in. Add the flavor pkts from the Ramen noodles. While noodles are cooking, shred the chicken breasts with a fork, then combine back in with the noodles. Add in one can of cream of chicken soup and cook for 5 more minutes. That's it! You can make this meal as creamy or soupy as you'd like by adding in more water or cooking longer to thicken up. Its delicious and is ready in about one hour. Enjoy!!
I too use my frozen chicken in the crockpot with a bottle of Bullseye BBQ sauce and then I fill then BBQ bottle 1/2 way with water and pour that in too... cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.... either way towards the end of the cook time I pull each piece out one at a time and pull apart with a fork so that the chicken shreds its kinda like pulled pork but healthier and easier!!!
Depending on what kind of chicken you are using, it is sometimes easier to cut partially frozen chicken. I use boneless/skinless chicken breasts to make a Chicken & Rice dish. I usually take the chicken out of the freezer about 30 minutes before I'm ready to start cooking. After 30 minutes of thawing, I cube the chicken (while still partially frozen) and place the cubes in a hot skillet with 2 Tablespoons of melting butter.
Season the chicken with Lawry's Seasoning Salt, Adobo, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder. Cook until the chicken is done and slightly browned.
Add the rice from one box of Rice-A-Roni and cook until rice is browned. Add 2 1/2 cups of hot water SLOWLY to the chicken and rice. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes; then add the seasoning packet and serve.
God Bless,
Sheila in Cocoa, FL
I've cooked frozen chicken before, but I buy chicken pieces, not whole. I put the package in a pan of cold water for a bit - just to semi-loosen the pieces from each other.
I put the semi-frozen parts in a Pam-sprayed roasting pan. I sprinkle the chicken with garlic salt, pepper, and parsley flakes on it. I also drop several pats of butter on the chicken before putting it into the oven.
Bake covered at 375 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes. I check for doneness 1/2 way through the baking time, as some smaller pieces bake faster.
When it's finished, I remove the skin and discard. I serve the baked chicken with buttered noodles and side dishes.
Tip: I also bake a big batch of chicken at a time. Then, I freeze the leftover parts in meal sized zip lock bags. You can thaw-reheat the chicken, and serve whole OR shred it and use it in soups, stews, casseroles, sandwiches or quesadillas.
THICK CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE BROTH!! easy peasy. put yr chicken and any cut up veg that you have with a stock cube and either pressure cook it for about 20 to 25mins or bring to a boil in a pot and allow to simmer for about an hour and a half. its easier in a pot because u dont have to watch it. go and do something else in the meantime and in an hour or so, u have dinner! even better, 10 TO 15minutes before it is ready, add some rice or pasta to the pot ;bring back to the boil and then allow to simmer again for 10minutes or so(depends if you are using rice or pasta) AND you have a good, substantial meal with no effort at all.
If it is easy to break apart do a chicken casserole. Use 1 cup of rice not minute rice, and 2 cans of your favorite cream soup. I like cream of mushroom and herb chicken put rice in the bottom of casserole dish. In a bowl mix your soup with 2 cans or water and pour over rice then lay your chicken on top of mixture cover and bake till done.
I usually bake mine on 350 for about an hour check about half way through because you might need to stir it up a little and depending on what kind of chicken you use it might not take the whole hour.
I have a recipe that everyone enjoys, and it can be cooked even if the chicken is still frozen.
Butter, or spray butter-flavored Pam,onto a baking pan, set the oven to 425. Spray the top of each chicken breast with the butter-flavored Pam.Place each piece on the prepared pan.Then sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on each piece. Use about 1 to 2 Tablespoons of the cheese for each piece.Then dot each piece with a little butter ,( I use Smart Balance)
Then bake for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is done and the cheese is lightly browned.
Check the meat that is against the bone to see if its done. Depending upon the thickness of the chicken, and how frozen it is, it might need to continue cooking for a while.
This started out as a diabetic recipe. But we found that everybody enjoys it.
I never take anything out of the freezer before cooking it. My girlfriend works as a dietary manager and I quickly learned that all I have to do is put the chicken or what ever other meat I want to use (even hamburger) in a frying pan with about an inch and a half of water. My meat is always ready in about 30 minutes or so. Just remember to flip it or if you are using hamburger, shave off the meat as you go. No problem!
When I need chicken thawed I poach it on the stove in water or chicken broth. I throw the chicken in boiling water/broth. Hope this has helped!
Cooking frozen chicken is risking food poisoning. It's not worth the risk.
Many crock pot recipes actually call for frozen chicken. I am pretty sure the "fix it and forget it" recipe books for slow cookers specifically say to use the chicken while it is frozen. My favorite frozen chicken recipe is super easy. Just toss some frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot. Pour 1 c teriayki sauce over the chicken and then pour a can of pineapple chunks over the top, juice and all. Cook 4-5 hours on high but check frequently as cooking times may vary. This is great alone or over rice.
All I do is take it out of the freezer, put the stove on med-high heat and heat the chicken with a little bit of olive oil and any seasoning. My other tip is to cook all of your meat on Saturday and refreeze it, then pull it out as you need it during the week. Then you can just microwave.
All of these recipes sound delicious and I am planning to use them soon! Thanks, all of you, for being so sweet!
Smoochie :)
I have a Pot/Frying pan called *Turbo Cooker, the directions specificaly say you can cook frozen meat in it. I do it ALOT every
thing cooks faster in it,, meat poultry everything.. I use it the most of all my utensils for fast meals!!!
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I have a lot of leftover chicken salad. Can I safely freeze it?
