Poached Chicken – Delicious for sandwiches
- Type
- Ham
- Level
- Easy
- Rating
- Rate this recipe
In this post I show you how you can make poached chicken yourself. With little effort you achieve a super tasty result.
The chicken breast is poached. By poaching you get a super juicy chicken breast. However, you have to pay a lot of attention to the temperature. Below I have written down the most important information.
The poached chicken is super easy and quick to make. On a fresh bread or a freshly baked roll it tastes divine. Perfect for chicken lovers.
But enough chatter…
Here you can find the complete poached chicken recipe as a video or to read through.
Have fun and good luck making it!
Table of Contents
Poached chicken – What do you need to make it?
Ingredients per 500 g
| Ingredient | Grams | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| chicken breast | 500 g |
Spices per 500 g
| Ingredient | Grams |
|---|---|
| water | |
| salt | 18 g |
| black pepper | 3 g |
| sugar | 2 g |
| juniper berries | 2 g |
| water | 1 l |
| bay leaf | 1 |
To poach 500g you will need about 1l of liquid, depending on the size of the pot.
The equipment to make poached chicken
Thermometer & Cooking Pot / Sous Vide Cooker
The easiest way to cook the meat is to use a sous vide cooker. This way you can cook the meat gently in a vacuum bag. Don’t have one at home? No problem! Use a saucepan and heat the water. To achieve the exact temperature, you still need a thermometer. Both methods achieve the same result.
Make poached chicken – Step-By-Step Instructions
Put the spices in a pot with cold water.
Put the chicken breasts in the pot.
Method Sous Vide: Put the water with the spices and the chicken in a bag.
Place the pot on the stove top and heat the water slowly. The water temperature should reach 66 °C (150.8 °F).
Method Sous Vide: Put the bag in the container / pot and set the temperature to 66 °C (150.8 °F).
Once the temperature is reached, let the chicken breasts sit for 20-30 minutes at a water temperature of 66 °C (150.8 °F), depending on their thickness.
The goal is to also heat the chicken breast to 66 degrees (150.8 °F) and then hold it there for a few minutes. This also ensures that it can be eaten without hesitation.
You’ll also find a more detailed explanation of temperatures below.
Take the chicken breast out of the pot. You can either eat it warm or put it in the fridge for 24 hours.
Your poached chicken is ready 😄. Enjoy it.
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to poach a chicken breast?
What does it mean to poach a chicken breast?
Poaching means cooking something in liquid that is held below a simmer, so the water never actually bubbles. The heat still goes in, and it goes in from every side at once, but it goes in gently: the meat sits in liquid at one steady temperature instead of being knocked about by a rolling boil.
That is why this recipe is built around a thermometer rather than a clock. A chicken breast is lean and small, so it has very little to give away — run the water hotter than it needs to be and the muscle tightens, pushes its own juice out, and no amount of resting brings it back. Held steady instead, it goes the other way: soft, even the whole way through, and still wet enough to eat cold on bread the next day.
What is the shelf life of the poached chicken?
What is the shelf life of the poached chicken?
The poached chicken can be kept in the refrigerator for about 2 – 3 days.
Why poach the chicken breast at a certain temperature and not boil it?
Why poach the chicken breast at a certain temperature and not boil it?
Cooking a chicken breast and not paying attention to the temperature is a quick and easy method without additional effort.
But the problem is that in doubt it can become very dry and firm. That’s why I recommend you rather poach the chicken breast at a certain temperature.
By keeping the temperature consistent, the meat will be cooked evenly throughout. This keeps your chicken breast buttery, flavorful and juicy. Just what you want.
I personally use two different temperature ranges depending on how I want to eat the chicken:
- If you want to serve the chicken warm, I recommend using the 60 – 62 °C (140 – 143.6°F) temperature. It stays very juicy and very soft that way. But is a bit too “raw” for me when cooled. Important: To get a really “safe food” you should keep the chicken at this temperature for about 30 minutes.
- So if you want to serve the chicken cold, as in my post, I recommend 66 °C (150.8 °F). The meat will then have minimal fibrousness and be easier to cut but still juicy. Important: To get a really “safe food” you should keep the chicken at this temperature for about 3-4 minutes.
