Crockpot chicken with frozen tenders

[Brooksy Chuck]

Hi I am trying to find good quick and easy one arm food plans-- i have some frozen chicken breast tenders and i am wondering if i can just toss em in the crockpot frozen and cook em up.. i have read conflicting info on line as we know- wondering if i can cook em on low or do i need high to be safe around the bacteria issue.. or do i really have to defrost them? i tried defrosting 2 breasts the other day and they weren't totally defrosted even after 12 hours in fridge. this is a basic cooking skill i should have learned by now but haven't. thanks

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I use my crockpot daily in winter. Chicken at low for 2 hours, then shred it with two folks. Add cumin, pasta sauce, garlic, tabasco, grilled red peppers (you buy them in a jar), some frozen corn and serve it as a burrito with black beans.

I just made turkey and ham soup after the holidays to make use of leftoevers

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

that sounds really good Nelson! i am so hungry.. just walked to store and liquor store for more ice.. oddly i picked up tomato paste at the store! yay ! so i think i have all the ingredients!
can i do this with frozen chicken or do i need to thaw it ? i would love to just be able to go from freezer to crock pot- otherwise i will start thawing some tonight for a batch tomorrow!

thanks for the easy recipe! Love it!

 

[Rorinsmith]

I would NEVER try to cook frozen chicken in a crock pot even on a high setting. It must be thawed first. If you do this frozen you'll need continually check each piece with a meat thermometer and make sure it registers between 160 and 180 degrees. Also, remember that each time you remove the lid while the unit is running you loose a tremendous amount of cooking heat and your cooking time is going to be prolonged. The lid should always remain on the pot until cooking time is finished. Do you have a microwave with a defrost setting? I use mine for this for those times when I've forgotten to take meat out of the freezer. I rarely defrost anything in the fridge because it does take for ever. Here's what I like to do: Before I go to bed at night I take a bag of frozen chicken breasts and lay it in the shallow garbage disposal end of my cast iron kitchen sink. On top of it I lay a 7" X 7" block of frozen Blue Ice. By morning the chicken is completely thawed but still icy cold. It then goes in fridge until I'm ready to cook it up.


Love the sound of Nelson's burrito recipe. Gotta try this one!

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

I do have a microwave with a defrost setting but doesn't work so good. Have heard that isn't very safe either. Ok there must be an easy way. The fridge it is for defrost I guess

 

[SoCalSurfer]

Frozen chicken in crock-pot bad idea... if its the tenders put them in water and thaw them out. doesn't take to long. if your cooking them in a pan then they can go in frozen.
I have cooked a whole chicken in the crock-pot. make a bed of onions on the bottom, put spices you like on the top and cook slow all day. it will fall apart when its done.
You can do the same with Ribs, a pot roast for pulled pork etc... just done put it in frozen.

if you are using chicken tenders and not breast then you can cook those right in the pan. I know those breast from costco are really thick so I butterfly those and cook them open then stuff them and cook until done. If you put veggies in the middle you have to adjust for the veggies cook time not to over cook the.

A good recipe. A little olive oil, salt pepper, oregano and Italian seasoning on the chicken tenders (frozen). Cook until done cut in blocks mix in Alfredo sauce and put over corn pasta.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

thanks SoCalsurfer! i really dont know anything about cooking.. like how do i tell when the chicken is done when i am pan frying? i guess when the juices run clear? i believ i have heard that before.
i put 3 frozen chicken breast in fridge to thaw out yesterday around 5pm and they are still frozen.. i thought they would be thawed and ready for the crockpot by now.. i guess i will wait until tomorrow.

 

[SoCalSurfer]

Hi
I don't do breast in the crock-pot only whole chickens.
To tell if they are done you can use a thermometer, Target sales these mini ones that you can use for each one. I think they come in a pack of 4. I use them for steaks and thick chicken breasts.
3-4 min on one side (depending on how thick) then pop a mini thermometer in till done, or if all else fails, cut into them and make sure they are not pink. If you ever see a chef cooking they use a digital thermometer all the time when cooking meat.
If I am going to use chicken breast the next day; I put them in a ziplock bag and put in a bowl of water overnight. Then in the morning put back in refrigerator, should be thawed out by then. Other way to cook them fast is something like the George Foreman grill cooks them on both sides at the same time. 5-10 min till done.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

Nelson i tried your recipe for the crockpot chicken today! it was really really easy and came out pretty good! my crock pot is really old it only has 2 settings and at 2.5hours t wasn't quite done..i may have left it a bit longer than i needed too..but it still came out really good! it is exciting to learn to make healthy food for myself that actually tastes good! thank you..
is there a recipe section on the forum?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

This guy has bunches of videos with easy one-pot recipes. He is a funny Australian.

 

[Rabbit91476]

3 pound. Bag frozen thighs and 3 pound bag frozen breast. 12 min in instapot. Then shred. Use juice left over to steam rice in