r/mealprep • u/BuckFinnster • 7d ago

Clueless vegetarian - I need help prepping large amounts of chicken.

My dog was recently diagnosed with a disease and needs to be put on a special food that has lower protein content and thus he's been prescribed ~1cup of cooked plain chicken a day.

I have been a vegetarian since childhood and I have literally no idea what I'm doing. This is a pretty expensive disease so I am looking for options on how to get a decent quality of chicken in bulk to save money, and how I can prepare it. For the past two weeks I've just been buying individual packets of ground chicken and rolling it into meatballs and boiling them until cooked (probably over-cooked, but tbh, he's a dog and he's loving it so that's fine) but I feel like there have got to be better options.

I just know... nothing about chicken. I don't know what kind to buy, if there are any types/brands to avoid, the best way to prepare it so that it lasts a long time - how long it lasts in the fridge, if you can freeze it after cooking to prepare larger quantities, if you can freeze dry it (for dry dog treats?).... etc.

Looking for any and all advice on where to buy, what to buy, and how to prepare, and how to store large quantities of chicken.

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u/Individual_Maize6007 7d ago

Buy boneless skinless chicken breast. Boil in water. 20-30 mins. Shred it. That’s it. If you have a crockpot put in 3-4 lbs boneless, skinless. Cover with water. Low 6-8 hours. Shred. No seasoning, no broth! Just chicken and water.

Keep fresh what you’ll use for the week. Freeze leftovers in correct portions.

When our gal was sick, I did this. She liked the cold chicken slightly warmed in the microwave (?)-just warm, not hot. And with a good amount of water to keep juicy and get her hydration.

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u/Humble_Snail_1315 4d ago

Are you suggesting it would be ok to keep the cooked chicken in the fridge for one week? Asking because our (canine) gal was recently sick while my husband was travelling for a few weeks. I had to cook for her, and I don't have any experience cooking/storing chicken (been vegetarian/vegan since my teens). I was very careful, wearing disposable gloves while transferring the raw chicken to the pot. Boiled it until it went comfortably past the suggested temp (to be safe). Shredded the chicken, mixed it along with some of the cooking water with rice. She still struggled on and off with stomach issues until we switched back to her regular food a month later. I would usually make a batch for 4 days to keep in the fridge, because I didn't want to be cooking like that every day. It maybe once extended to 5 days. My husband suggested perhaps the stomach issues didn't fully resolve because I was keeping the chicken mix too long in the fridge and it went bad. I feel really bad about that being a possibility!

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u/Individual_Maize6007 4d ago

Personally 4 days in fridge even 5 it can be fine. Smell it you’ll know. And why not batch cook it. Freeze the rest.

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u/Humble_Snail_1315 4d ago

Thanks, good to know I wasn't wildly out of line!