Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken: Two boneless chicken breasts are ideal for shredding, making meal prepping a breeze, or substitute it with 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The chicken is perfect for delicious meals such as chicken tacos, enchiladas, white chicken chili, casseroles, and chicken spinach wraps.
- Spices: Season the Dutch oven pulled chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, smoked paprika, dried thyme, and black pepper.
- Olive Oil: Sear the chicken breasts in extra-virgin olive oil.
- Chicken Broth: Finish cooking the chicken in chicken broth or chicken stock to ensure it’s extra juicy and tender.
Additions and Substitutions
- Experiment with different seasonings. Replace my go-to chicken seasoning with Italian seasoning, taco seasoning (low sodium taco seasoning), Greek seasoning, or a Cajun spice blend like my Slap Ya Mama Seasoning recipe.
- Mix up the flavor. Once the chicken finishes cooking, toss it with your favorite sauce—BBQ sauce, salsa verde with tomatillo, buffalo sauce, pistachio pesto, or a tangy vinaigrette like basil balsamic vinaigrette.
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
Prepare the easy shredded chicken recipe in a ceramic or cast iron Dutch oven for even heat distribution. You will also need two forks, shredder claws, or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to pull the chicken.
How to Make Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Season the Chicken
Step 1: Season the chicken breasts on both sides with garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and dried thyme.
Sear the Chicken
Step 2: Warm the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once shimmering, carefully add the chicken breasts and sear for 5 minutes.
Braise the Chicken
Step 3: Use tongs to flip the chicken breasts. Deglaze with chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits bottom of the dutch oven.
Cover and braise for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C).
Tip: You may need to increase the cooking time for larger chicken breasts and reduce the time for chicken thighs.
Easy Ways to Shred Chicken
Step 4: Remove the chicken from the pan and shred it using two forks or shredder claws.
Tip: You can also place the cooked chicken breasts in the bowl of a stand mixer and process the chicken with the paddle attachment in a fraction of the time. Be sure to lock the tilt-head down if your stand mixer has one.
Toss and Serve
Step 5: After shredding, toss the chicken with the cooking juices to let it soak up even more flavor.
Expert Tips
- Check for doneness: Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken; the USDA recommends cooking chicken until it reaches 165°F (74°C).
- Make shredding easy. Shred the chicken while it is still warm for quicker shredding.
If you enjoy the shredded chicken recipe, try more Dutch oven recipes!
Ways to Use Shredded Chicken
Turn the juicy pulled chicken into your favorite dishes like chicken tinga tacos in warm corn tortillas, enchiladas, quesadillas, taco bowls, or a loaded plate of nachos.
Toss the Dutch oven pulled chicken with homemade barbecue sauce recipes such as raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce, Carolina gold BBQ sauce, or Cheerwine BBQ sauce to make shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches.
Pair the chicken with your favorite sides to complete the meal—corn on the cob, vinegar coleslaw, Dutch oven mac and cheese, potato chips, or jalapeno mashed potatoes.
What to do with the Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover chicken in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: Let the chicken cool and transfer it to a freezer-safe container or bag. Dutch oven pulled chicken freezes for 4-6 months.
- Thaw: Defrost the leftovers in the fridge overnight.
- Repurpose: The leftover pulled chicken is perfect for salad, grain bowls, chicken crust pizza with BBQ toppings, California chicken salad, and soup recipes like chikhirtma or chicken and dumpling soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make the recipe ahead of time?
Pulled chicken is a perfect make-ahead recipe. Prepare the chicken in the Dutch oven and keep it in the fridge up to four days in advance.
Why is chicken sticking to the dutch oven?
There are two things to keep in mind when cooking chicken in the Dutch oven. First, heat the pan before adding the olive oil and chicken to get a nice sear. Second, when you add the chicken broth or stock, deglaze the pan by scraping up any flavorful bits left from searing.
More Chicken Recipes:
Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken
- Forks or Stand Mixer with a Paddle Attachment
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- Season the chicken breasts on both sides with garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and dried thyme.
- Warm the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once shimmering, carefully add the chicken breasts to and sear for 5 minutes.
- Use tongs to flip the chicken breasts. Deglaze with chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits bottom of the dutch oven. Cover and braise for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C).Tip: You may need to increase the cooking time for larger chicken breasts and reduce the time for chicken thighs.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and shred it using two forks or shredder claws.Tip: You can also place the cooked chicken breasts in the bowl of a stand mixer and process the chicken with the paddle attachment in a fraction of the time. Be sure to lock the tilt-head down if your stand mixer has one.
- After shredding, toss the chicken with the cooking juices to let it soak up even more flavor.
- Check for doneness: Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken; the USDA recommends cooking chicken until it reaches 165°F (74°C).
- Make shredding easy. Shred the chicken while it is still warm for quicker shredding.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.