A few hours before cooking your meal, take your frozen chicken out of the freezer to defrost. You can leave it out on the counter on a towel or you can leave it in your sink. Letting your chicken defrost with time ensures that it is ready to be cooked when you start preparing your meal. However, if you forget to take the chicken out, you may have to find another method of defrosting to avoid having a late dinner.
If you’re looking for a quick fix (like when you forget to take the chicken out of the freezer), put your tray of chicken under running hot water. The hot water should speed up the defrost process. Just make sure you move the chicken around and keep an eye on it. Try not to do this often to avoid wasting water. Depending on how much chicken you are defrosting, it should be ready to cook in about 15-20 minutes.