Don't throw away that chicken with freezer burn. Learn how easy it is to salvage it. A simple braising fluid of chicken broth and pantry ingredients can moisturize and flavor the dehydrated burned chicken. Then, add other flavors to use in almost any shredded chicken recipe.
In the example, I'm using chicken for some Mexican dishes, like enchiladas and burritos, so I use tomato sauce and spices for the final step in the rescue.
🐓Ingredients
Freezer burn chicken—skinless boneless chicken breasts
Onions and garlic
Chicken broth
Spices—salt, cumin (optional)
OPTIONAL FOR SHREDDED MEXICAN
Tomato sauce
Pantry Ingredients—chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐓Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Cook Freezer Burnt Chicken—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 🤔What does freezer burn look like?
- ⚕️Is it safe to eat freezer-burned chicken or other foods?
- 👨🍳What can be done with freezer-burned chicken
- ♨️How to use rescued freezer-burnt chicken
- 🤔What causes freezer burn?
- 👍How to prevent freezer burn
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment by Ed:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Thanks! I managed to freezer burn a 5 pound bag of already frozen chicken breasts. The results were way beyond what I was expecting, hence the 5 stars."
Is it safe to eat freezer-burnt chicken? What does freezer burn look like? What caused it? What can you do with it? And how to prevent it? Let's get those answers and more.
The first step in salvaging freezer-burnt chicken breasts is to rehydrate them with braising fluid of chicken broth, onion, garlic, and spices. Next, we will add more spicing for flavors to match your planned usage.
In this example, I'm making Mexican food, so I added tomato sauce and spices. However, rescued freezer-burnt chicken can be used in most flavorful recipes that use shredded chicken. I suggest Mexican food, chili, or soups.
👨🍳How to Cook Freezer Burnt Chicken—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Part one—rehydration and adding some flavor
1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Chop onions. Also, you can trim off the worst of the freezer burn.
3. Add onion, chicken broth, garlic, and salt to a Dutch oven, boil, cover, and move to the oven for 1 hour.
4. Remove the breasts, and when cooled, hand shred them. Reserve part of the liquid for later use.
Part two—adding lots of flavors
5. Add the chicken and seasonings you want for your final use to the Dutch oven. I'm adding tomato sauce, spices, and some of the reserved fluid.
6. Simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes until the moisture looks good. Remove from heat and use in burritos, enchiladas, etc.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🤔What does freezer burn look like?
Freezer-burned chicken or other meat or foods will have a covering of ice crystals that looks like icy snow. As the burn becomes worse, the color will change to grayish-white.
⚕️Is it safe to eat freezer-burned chicken or other foods?
Yes, it is safe to eat freezer-burned food. It is dehydrated, not spoiled. However, the texture and flavor rapidly deteriorate as the water leaves the cells. If cooked with attention to the damage, the results will be leathery and lacking most of its flavor.
👨🍳What can be done with freezer-burned chicken
If the freezer burn is minor, cutting it off may be acceptable. However, the damage is usually deeper, and most cooking methods will pull water out of the cells. So, cooking normally rarely yields good results.
Brining the chicken can help rehydrate the meat, and you can add some flavors to compensate for the lack of flavor and occasional "off" taste. However, brining is passive, so it won't do much if you have more than a little problem.
The severely damaged meat should be discarded, but we can save most of it by braising it. If you are unfamiliar with braising, it involves heating the meat slowly in liquid in a sealed container to prevent evaporation. It's similar to simmering but covered.
♨️How to use rescued freezer-burnt chicken
Although the texture and taste may be slightly off, most people won't notice, especially if the dish is covered with cheese, sauces, and flavors—a great way to hide any shortfalls.
Look for recipes that allow precooked shredded or rotisserie chicken to be added late in cooking, have a robust and flavorful sauce, and cheese are big pluses. They will never know it was freezer-burnt chicken. So, Mexican, chili, or flavorful soups are good choices.
I prefer to use it for Mexican food, where the spices and cheese cover any "off flavors." Check out these recipes: Healthy Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, or Traditional Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
🤔What causes freezer burn?
Freezer burn is just dehydration of meat or other foods. In meat, it is caused by the moisture in the meat cells freezing and forming ice crystals that damage the cells. The water molecules can then escape the cells. With the water escaping, the taste and texture also change. If the package is intact, you will probably see ice crystals.
But even foods without cells, like ice cream, get some ice crystals for the same effect. It may or may not be due to poor storage.
No-frost freezers tend to have more of an issue with freezer burn due to the small temperature changes, which is how they are "no-frost." And the longer the time in the freeze, the more likely to have freezer burn.
👍How to prevent freezer burn
You can not always prevent freezer burn, but here are some things to help.
- Set your freezer to 0°F and use a freezer thermometer.
- Never put hot food in the freezer.
- Use freezer-grade materials and containers. Use freezer paper, plastic wrap, and buy freezer zip-lock bags, not the cheap, thinner ones.
- Thicker food, like casseroles, should be protected by several layers. I use complete plastic wrap and two aluminum foil or freezer paper layers.
- Keep as much air as possible out of the storage containers—flatten that zip-lock bag.
- Leave room for air circulation around packages and use smaller packages.
- Keep track of how long things have been frozen.
❓FAQs
No, this is not a good idea. The cells are severely damaged, and they will not freeze well.
Sure, make enough braising fluid to cover the chicken you are using in an oven-safe pan with a lid. Cooking time remains the same. Adjust the part two ingredients amounts, and you can also change them to what you need.
📖 Recipe
Freezer Burnt Chicken Rescue—Shredded Mexican
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Ingredients
Step 1
- 4-5 thawed freezer burnt skinless boneless chicken breast
- 28 oz chicken broth
- 2 onions - chopped medium
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic - 4 cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
Step 2 for use in shredded chicken Mexican recipes
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
- 1 cup broth - from step one
- onion - most of the onion from step one
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°.
- Chop onions. You can also trim off the worst of the freezer burn.
- Add onion, 2 cans of chicken broth, 1 tablespoon crushed garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Mix well, add chicken, and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and move to the oven for 1 hour.
- Remove the breasts from the oven and transfer them to a plate to cool for 15 minutes. Discard the liquid except for 1 cup (or more), then shred them by hand.
- Add the chicken and all the ingredients from part two back to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes until most of the fluid has evaporated.
- Remove from heat and use in burritos, enchiladas, etc.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- It is OK to trim back the worst parts.
- Do as many breasts as you want as long as they are covered by broth.
- Once rehydrated, you can change the spices and use another way.
- Be sure to hand shred so you can sort out any parts with bad texture.
- OK to refrigerate for 2-3 days, but do not refreeze.
- Some breasts are just too far gone for this to work well.
- Limit your usage to recipes that use rotisserie chicken and have flavorful sauces.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally published July 19, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
JL says
I made 5 spice chicken broth with your idea of dehydrating the chicken. Cooked it, shredded the chicken and we served the broth over budda bowls, it was amazing.
cindy h says
Fantastic solution to lightly freezer burned chicken. I cut off the parts that were so FB as to be white, then followed the 2 steps of the recipe. Took a portion, strained it, and made quesadillas with it, adding cheese and pickled jalapenos. loved it!
Marilyn Lafave says
I do not understand second part of recipe when you have discarded all broth except one cup and then you return chicken to pot with "Step 2 " ingredients. Could you explain this better?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Marilyn,
Welcome to the blog.
You have removed and shredded the chicken at that point and the Dutch oven is empty. Add the shredded chicken and the ingredients listed in part 2 of the recipe (which includes the 1 cup of broth you saved.) Then bring to a boil and then decrease to simmer until the fluid is reduced.
Dan
Karen says
Can all the cooking liquid from cooki g the freezer burnt food be saved to use as a base for soup?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Karen,
Welcome to the blog.
Yep, you can freeze it for 3-4 months or refrigerate for a few days. I don't have a recipe for you though.
Dan
Kathy says
I had quite a large package of freezer burned chicken and rescued them with your recipe. It turned out great. I made two large casseroles of enchiladas. I have one question. You say the chicken can be refrigerated for 2-3 days, but not to refreeze it. My question is, I cooked both casseroles, but we only ate one of them. Can the 2nd casserole of cooked enchiladas be frozen and reheated for another meal? (They're very moist.)Thank You
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kathy,
Welcome to the blog.
You can absolutely freeze it again in a casserole. Seal tight and I would say 1-2 months. Normally I would freeze a casserole for up to 3-4 months but the meat cells are still damaged - damaged but rehydrated - so they will leak fluid easily so I suggest not freeze for the long term.
I would not refreeze the meat by itself. You are just asking for it to dehydrate again quickly. But in a cheesy saucy casserole... I think that is different.
Glad it worked for you. Thanks for the rating and let me know if you have questions.
Dan
Jill says
Do you think this would work in a crock pot, too? Thanks!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jill,
Welcome to the blog.
I believe it would work well. Fortunately, I haven't needed to do this for years. I would guess the times would be about double. That is a guess but my guesses are usually fairly good.
Make sure the chicken reaches 165 before shredding. If you do it, please come back a comment so others will know.
Dan
Ed says
Thanks! I managed to freezer burn a 5 pound bag of already frozen chicken breasts. The results were way beyond what I was expecting hence the 5 stars.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Ed,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. It was just something I had to do.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Kate Gilgan says
Yahoo! Thank you for this fabulous resource! I was gifted some wickedly freezer burned chicken breasts and your formula was a winner! I am so very pleased to have found someone willing to save food rather than just buying buying buying more!!
DrDan says
Hi Kate,
Welcome to the blog.
I grew up poor in Iowa. This never happened and you didn't discard food that was safe to eat. I can easily afford to replace it but it is just wrong to me.
I got rid of my large freezer to prevent this sort of thing from happening but still get an occasional touch of freezer burn. I just make sure I do this or a similar cooking method and use it. I won't claim it is the best chicken ever but it is quite good.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
STony says
Our chicken breasts were not that freezer burnt, but had some after being there over 9 months and recipe worked great. I used three cloves of garlic in the first part and about four ounces of tomato sauce and 7 ounces of Pato brand chili sauce with a little less chili powder in 2nd part. We used some, without a lot of the sauce, for tacos tonight and I will make enchiladas out of the rest, using a lot of the sauce. Looks like a lot of other good recipes/ideas on your website. Thanks.
Aimee says
So glad I found this recipe to put some slightly freezer burned chicken breasts to good use! They made such tasty tacos that I don't think I'll ever use beef again! Thanks for the awesome recipe :)
Lida says
This is really good! Especially, like was said, for something that was just going to be tossed anyway. And this is the only recipe I could find worth while for FB chicken. I plan on making homemade tortillas and using the chicken for tacos. Thanks!
Dr Dan says
I glad it worked out for you.
Andy Kintopf says
I made this recipe and put it in your enchilada recipe and also used your sauce recipe. It was so good! Thank you so much!
Alannah says
I found this from googling freezer burned chicken recipe and happened to have all the ingredients on hand so I thought "what the hell, otherwise its garbage". It was so amazing that I'm now making it for the second time with un-freezer burned chicken breasts specially bought for this! Thanks for the great recipe, cheers
Dr Dan says
I looked for other solutions but found nothing so I just winged it. I just had my second meal off it a few minutes ago and was great as leftovers also.
Sage says
Love that you were able to salvage and I am sure it tasted as if it had not been in such bad shape.
Sounds like a grat recipe.
Rita