The Easy Flavor Fix You Didn't Know You Needed For Canned Chicken

There are a lot of meals you can create from a simple batch of canned foods, and we're not afraid to admit that not only are canned foods easily elevated (like with these 15 ingredients that will elevate canned green beans), but they're convenient, too. If the option is no protein at all or protein from canned chicken, the choice is easy. When you're cooking with canned chicken, you may find that the flavors aren't behaving the way you want them to, but there's an easy fix to this roadblock.

The next time you're ready to prepare a meal using canned chicken, make sure you drain the chicken from the broth in the container and rinse it thoroughly. This simple step will easily minimize the often-prevalent processed taste that accompanies canned chicken, not to mention help eliminate some of the salt that gives canned chicken its high sodium levels.

It's worth mentioning that not every canned chicken brand is high in sodium (among other canned chicken myths you need to stop believing), but unless the package is labeled "low sodium," it's safe to assume that sodium levels are high and the taste will be different. Once the canned chicken is free from its watery prison, it'll be back to a nearly neutral flavor, ready for seasoning and spicing to your heart's desire.

Canned chicken is created by packaging pre-cooked, shredded chicken into a metal can full of broth, although the broth is more than it seems. It may have started as plain chicken broth, but to enhance the shelf life and prevent the meat from disintegrating over time, many manufacturers will add sodium phosphate, an inorganic preservative containing high levels of sodium (salt). Sodium phosphate isn't necessarily unsafe to consume, but too much of it can lead to elevated levels of serum phosphate, which can pose a "major risk factor for elevated cardiovascular and overall mortality," according to the National Library of Medicine.

Those preservatives in canned chicken mean it has a fairly long shelf life, lasting between two to five years if unopened and stored in the proper conditions. You can get creative with canned chicken if the prospect of eating it straight out of the can doesn't sound appetizing. After draining and rinsing it, try using canned chicken for crispy chicken fritters or a buffalo chicken dip. If you're thinking of soups, you can use it for a creamy chicken noodle soup, a chicken taco soup, a white chicken chili, or any of these other creative ways to use canned chicken. Once you've got the flavor of canned chicken back under your control, the world's your oyster.