Overview and Benefits

It’s a dish for dinner that you can just dump and go. Put everything in your crock pot, cover it, and leave it alone. When you’re ready to serve, come back and shred the chicken. Let it marinate in the sauce until then. It doesn’t get any easier.
The chicken is very soft and juicy.If you add olive oil and apple cider vinegar to the chicken, it will make it moist and easy to shred. I don’t often like chicken in the crockpot since it can get a little dry, but this recipe has changed my mind.
Works great in the freezer.Make a double batch and put half of it away for another busy night. In a freezer-safe, airtight container, this will freeze readily for about three months.
Perfect for weeknights when you’re busy!You can make this in the morning and have it ready when you’re ready to eat. This is great if you want to meal prep or know you’re going to have a busy night of practices, events, and more. You don’t have to stand over the fire to feed the whole family!
There are many ways to serve.You could use regular hamburger buns, but there are a lot of other ways to make them different. We love to put this pulled chicken on toasted brioche buns, lettuce wraps, tacos with slaw on top, BBQ chicken nachos, salads, and more. You know what they say: “Think outside the bun.”

Ingredients

For this pulled chicken recipe, boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs are best. The chicken thighs will be a little less likely to fail since they are fattier and will keep more moisture. But I still think the chicken breast works really nicely!
The bell pepper gives some vegetables and a little crunch, but you don’t have to add it if you don’t want to. If you want, you can also use a green bell pepper.
onion: a little onion that has been sliced up very small. We usually use yellow onion, but red onion works too.
For flavor, I mix garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. If you don’t have smoked paprika, normal paprika will do. I sometimes add a pinch of cayenne for some spice, but not usually.
Use the BBQ sauce you like most. We normally use Stubb’s original or Sweet Baby Ray’s, but you may use any barbecue sauce you like to change this recipe up. If you have a homemade BBQ sauce that you enjoy, you could even use that!
I have prepared this recipe without the olive oil, and the chicken was not nearly as moist and tender. Don’t overlook this step; I think it’s the secret ingredient!
Just a little Worcestershire sauce makes the flavor better.
Apple cider vinegar helps make this shredded BBQ chicken more tender, too. Keeps it juicy and tasty!

• 1 ½ to 2 pounds of chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon of smoky paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
• ½ tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• ½ tsp. crushed mustard
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• ½ tsp. cracked pepper
• 1 ¼ c BBQ sauce, divided
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar

Preparation Instructions

1. Put the onion and red pepper on the bottom of the crock cooker. Put the chicken breasts on top.
2. Mix the spices, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Cover both sides of the chicken with the mixture and rub it in.
3. Mix together 1 cup of BBQ sauce, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken and make sure it is well covered.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours.
5. You can shred the chicken once it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and starts to fall apart easily. When the chicken is done cooking, use two forks to shred it and mix it thoroughly so it can soak up the sauce.
6. Add the rest of the BBQ sauce.
7. Put on toasted buns and serve with your favorite sides.

Tips for Best Results

• Use chicken that has already thawed. It can take a long time for frozen chicken to reach the right internal temperature. Using frozen meat can also make you sick with foodborne illness.
• Use chicken that is all the same size. If one piece of chicken is significantly bigger than the rest, pound it to make sure they are all the same size. This will help the food cook evenly.
• You can use a crockpot liner to make cleaning up easier. I don’t really like crockpot liners since I think they change the flavor of the food sometimes. But they can definitely assist with cleaning up, so go ahead and use one!
• Some individuals like to use an electric hand mixer to break up their chicken. This is another nice choice for shredding, but I don’t need to get it out because the forks work so well.

Storage and Variations

Storage: You can keep leftover BBQ pulled chicken in the fridge for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.

Let the chicken cool all the way down before freezing it. Put in a container or freezer bags that can go in the freezer and freeze for up to three months. For optimal results, let it thaw all the way before heating.

We love this Slow Cooker BBQ chicken just the way it is, but there are many more ways to change it as well!

• Put in some pineapple or a little bit of pineapple juice
• Add bacon that has been cut up
• Add a diced jalapeño or green chile to the mix.
• A little bit of your favorite hot sauce
• Add some brown sugar and change up the BBQ sauce or make your own.

Serving Suggestions

We usually serve some kind of potato dish with this lunch. These Parmesan Roasted Potatoes or this Cajun Potato Salad are the best. We love this recipe for Crispy Smoky Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries the most when it comes to sweet potatoes.
Try this Street Corn with Garlic Feta Butter if you’re ready to light up the grill. If you don’t want to grill, you may also prepare the corn in the oven.
Pasta salad is one of our favorite picnic side dishes since it tastes like picnic cuisine. You may also make this Easy Lemon Zucchini Pasta Salad, Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad, or Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad.
Chips. Chips on the side are always a good idea!
A salad is also always a good choice. This Strawberry Goat Cheese Arugula Salad would be great without the chicken!

Nutritional Information

Nutritional information is given as a courtesy and should not be taken as a promise. Lemons + Zest does not guarantee that this information is correct, and the ingredients may change.

Food
There are 270 calories, 28 grams of carbs, 25 grams of protein, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 3 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0.01 grams of trans fat, 73 milligrams of cholesterol, 957 milligrams of sodium, 654 milligrams of potassium, 2 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, 963 IU of vitamin A, 29 milligrams of vitamin C, 36 milligrams of calcium, and 1 milligram of iron.
The nutrition information is automatically calculated, thus it should only be used as a rough guide.