This simple Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken is a great dinner for busy weeknights. An easy recipe that only requires about 10 minutes of prep and perfect for pulled bbq sandwiches and more! Leftovers freeze well too!
Why You Will Love This BBQ Shredded Chicken:
- It’s a dump and go dinner recipe. Add everything to your crock pot, cover and walk away. Come back and shred and then allow the chicken to soak in the sauce until you are ready to serve. Doesn’t get easier.
- The chicken is so moist and tender. Adding olive oil and apple cider vinegar to the chicken will make for user juicy shredded chicken. I am not always a huge fan of chicken in the crockpot since it can dry out a touch, but this recipe has been a game changer.
- Super freezer friendly. Make a double batch and save half for another busy night. This will easily freeze for about 3 months in a freezer safe airtight container.
- Great for busy weeknights! If you like to meal prep or if you know you are going to have a hectic night of practices, activities and more, this can be made in the morning and ready when whoever is ready to eat. Feed the whole family without having to hover over the stove!
- Lots of options for serving. Sure you could do the traditional hamburger buns, but there are plenty of ways to change it up as well. We love serving this pulled chicken on toasted Brioche buns, as a lettuce wrap, as tacos with slaw over top, BBQ chicken nachos, on top of salads and more. Think outside the bun, right?
Recipe Ingredients:
- chicken: boneless skinless chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs are ideal for this pulled chicken recipe. The chicken thighs will be a bit more fail-proof as they are less lean and will retain more moisture. But I find the chicken breast to still work very well!
- red bell pepper: the bell pepper adds some veggies and a bit of a crunch, but if you don’t want to add this, you can omit it. You can also use a green bell pepper instead if desired.
- onion: a small onion, very finely chopped. Usually we use yellow onion, but red onion is good as well
- seasoning/spices: I make a spice rub using garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, ground mustard, salt and pepper. If you don’t have smoked paprika, regular paprika will work. Sometimes I add a pinch of cayenne for a bit of heat as well, but not always.
- BBQ sauce: use your favorite BBQ sauce. We usually use Stubb’s original or Sweet Baby Ray’s but the best way to vary this recipe is in the barbecue sauce, so feel free to use any that you love! You could even use homemade BBQ sauce if you have one you like!
- olive oil: I have made this recipe without the olive oil and found that the chicken just wasn’t nearly as moist and tender. I think this is the secret ingredient so don’t skip it!
- Worcestershire sauce: just a touch rounds out the flavor.
- apple cider vinegar: helps tenderize this shredded BBQ chicken as well. Keeps it extra juicy and flavorful!
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Start by adding the chopped onion and peppers to the bottom of the crock pot.
- Add the chicken and cover with the spice blend and gently rub into the breasts on both sides. I find it’s best to whisk together all of the seasoning first to make a rub and then add it the chicken.
- Whisk together 1 cup barbecue sauce, the apple cider vinegar, olive oil and Worcestershire sauce. Pour mixture over the chicken to cover completely.
- Set slow cooker to cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
- Once the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F, and starts to easily fall apart, you can shred it. Using two forks, pull the chicken into shredded pieces. You can remove it from the crockpot to do this or keep it in.
- Place the shredded chicken back in the crockpot and allow it to cook in the sauce until ready to serve.
- Before serving, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce.
Shredded BBQ Chicken Recipe Tips:
- Use thawed chicken versus frozen. Frozen chicken can take a long time to come to the correct internal temperature. It can also cause food borne illness if using frozen meat.
- Use chicken that is uniformly sized. If you have one piece of chicken that is much larger than the others, pound the chicken to keep sizing even. This will make for even cooking.
- For easier clean up, you can use a crockpot liner. I am not a huge fan of crockpot liners as I find sometimes the flavor is slightly different in the dish when using one. However, they can certainly help when it comes to clean up so feel free to use one!
- Some people like to use an electric hand mixer to shred their chicken. This is another good option when shredding, but I find the forks work so well that there is no need to get it out.
Storage:
Store leftover BBQ pulled chicken in an airtight container for about 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
To freeze, allow the chicken to cool completely first. Place in a freezer safe container or freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw completely before heating for best results.
Ways to Vary This Recipe:
We love this Slow Cooker BBQ chicken as is, but there are plenty of ways also to vary it!
- add pineapple or a touch of pineapple juice
- add chopped bacon
- toss in a diced jalapeño or diced green chiles
- a splash of your favorite hot sauce
- sprinkle in some brown sugar
- vary the BBQ sauce or use a homemade sauce
What to serve with this Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ Chicken:
- Most of the time we serve some sort of potato side dish with this meal. This Cajun Potato Salad or these Parmesan Roasted Potatoes are top picks. Our very favorite option for sweet potatoes is this recipe for Crispy Smoky Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries.
- If you are up for firing up the grill, try this Street Corn with Garlic Feta Butter. You can make the corn in the oven as well if you are not up for grilling!
- This feels like picnic food so one of our favorite side dishes for a picnic is pasta salad! Try this Simple Lemon Zucchini Pasta Salad, Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad or Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad!
- Chips. You can never go wrong with some chips on the side!
- A salad is always a great option as well. This Strawberry Goat Cheese Arugula Salad would be nice, just skip the chicken!
Ingredients
- 1 ½-2 lb chicken breast, boneless skinless chicken thighs work too
- 1 red pepper, small diced
- 1 small onion, small diced
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp ground mustard
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp cracked pepper
- 1 ¼ c BBQ sauce, separated
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place the red pepper and onion on the bottom of crock pot. Place the chicken breasts on top.
- Whisk together the spices, salt and pepper and cover the chicken on both sides, rubbing into the chicken.
- Whisk together 1 cup BBQ sauce, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken and cover completely.
- Close and heat on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
- When chicken is cooked through, using two forks, shred chicken and stir well to allow it to absorb the sauce. Add remaining BBQ sauce. Serve on toasted buns and with your favorite sides.
Notes
- Use thawed chicken versus frozen. Frozen chicken can take a long time to come to the correct internal temperature. It can also cause food borne illness if using frozen meat.
- Use chicken that is uniformly sized. If you have one piece of chicken that is much larger than the others, pound the chicken to keep sizing even. This will make for even cooking.
- For easier clean up, you can use a crockpot liner. I am not a huge fan of crockpot liners as I find sometimes the flavor is slightly different in the dish when using one. However, they can certainly help when it comes to clean up so feel free to use one!
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Lemons + Zest makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Calories: 270kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 957mg, Potassium: 654mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 22g, Vitamin A: 963IU, Vitamin C: 29mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.