Yes. Plain cooked chicken is one of the better things you can actually give a cat. High protein, low fat, very digestible — it checks a lot of boxes for an obligate carnivore. Most cats are enthusiastic about it in a way they're not about most treats.
How to serve it
Plain and unseasoned. Boiled or baked. No garlic, no onion, no salt, no butter — those are all either toxic or unhelpful for cats. Just cook the chicken plainly, let it cool, shred it or cut it into small pieces, and serve.
Remove bones before giving it to your cat. Cooked chicken bones splinter easily and can cause choking or internal injuries. This is the one firm rule.
How much
Treats should be roughly 10% or less of your cat's daily calories. A tablespoon or two of shredded chicken a few times a week is a reasonable supplement. Chicken is nutritious but not complete — it's missing some vitamins and minerals cats need — so it should complement regular cat food, not replace it.
If you want to feed chicken more regularly as part of a homemade diet, that's a different and more involved topic. Homemade cat diets can work but they need to be carefully formulated to avoid deficiencies. A few pieces of chicken as a treat is much simpler.
What about raw?
This is where it gets contested. Cats in the wild eat raw prey, and some cat owners feed raw diets. The ASPCA recommends against raw chicken specifically because of Salmonella and Campylobacter risks — not just to the cat, but to humans handling the food and cleaning up after it. Cooked chicken eliminates those risks without any real downside. Cats like cooked chicken just as much.
If you're interested in a raw diet for your cat more broadly, it's worth a conversation with a vet who can help you do it in a way that's actually balanced. For casual chicken treats, stick with cooked.
For comparison, canned tuna is also popular with cats but comes with more caveats around mercury and nutritional imbalance if fed too frequently. Chicken is a cleaner option for regular treats.