The Absolute Best Way To Freeze Cooked Chicken
It's Sunday evening, and you've roasted a whole chicken, but you have half of it left. Sure, you can use that for lunches or dinners throughout the week. After all, there are plenty of recipes for using cooked leftover chicken, but sometimes you don't want to eat the same thing several days in a row. Maybe you've been in this situation before and aren't sure about the best way to put away leftover cooked chicken, like store-bought rotisserie or chicken that you've cooked yourself, for use at a later time. Maybe you've wondered if it's possible to freeze cooked chicken.
The answer is yes. And according to FavoriteFreezerFoods, there are a couple of advantages to freezing cooked chicken. The biggest benefits are saving money by eliminating food waste, as well as saving time by using it in weeknight dinners. But before you freeze your cooked protein, you'll want to make sure you take a few steps to prep it for later use.
How to freeze cooked chicken
To freeze cooked chicken, first remove the skin, fat, and any bones, then shred or cut it into the sized pieces you'd like, using a knife or kitchen scissors. According to Eating Well, the next step is to flash-freeze the chicken first by placing it on a parchment-lined baking sheet that will go into the freezer for one hour. This is helpful because, as Better Homes & Gardens noted, flash-freezing keeps individual pieces of food from fusing together during freezing. After the hour is up, remove the chicken from the baking sheet and put it in plastic freezer bags or an airtight container, then pop it right back into the freezer until you're ready to eat it.
To use the frozen chicken, all you need to do is thaw it before adding it to meals like soups and casseroles. Or you can do something different, like turning it into a chicken and artichoke pizza or pasta. So the next time you have leftover chicken, try putting it in the freezer to save loads of time making your weeknight meals.