Have you forgotten to take chicken out of the freezer? If you don’t have time to defrost it, you may be able to cook it while frozen. Read on to learn how to cook frozen chicken. Frozen chicken can be successfully cooked in the oven, on the stovetop, on the grill, or in the crockpot. Usually, frozen chicken will take 50% longer to cook than unfrozen chicken. The USDA recommends cooking frozen chicken in the oven or on the stove top, to ensure that it is thoroughly cooked. No matter which method you use, make sure you check the chicken carefully at the end of the cooking time to ensure it has been thoroughly cooked.
Step 1: How to Cook Frozen Individual Boneless Breasts
If you froze boneless breasts individually, they are very easy to cook directly from the frozen state. Place them in a baking dish and cover with sauce. They will take about an hour to bake at 350 F. Poach them gently in a skillet with chicken stock, fruit juice or water for 30 minutes. Thicken the cooking liquid with a mixture of 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water. Place them in a crockpot with 1 cup of sauce. Consider teriyaki sauce with 1 cup of pineapple, or Russian dressing with 1 cup of canned peaches. Cook on low for 8 hours. Lay the chicken out individually – you don’t want to stack the pieces.
Step 2: How to Cook Frozen Whole Chicken
Frozen whole chicken can only be safely cooked by poaching, as other methods will leave the inside raw or undercooked, while the outer parts are dried out. It will take about an hour to poach a frozen whole chicken.
Step 3: How to Cook Frozen Chicken Parts
If the chicken parts have been frozen individually, you can cover them with sauce, and bake for 1 1/4- 1 1/2 hours. If they were frozen together, you should boil them briefly – about 10 minutes should be fine – to thaw them enough so that the pieces can be separated. They can then be baked, grilled, or cooked in the crockpot.
