Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

My delicious BBQ chicken in the slow cooker will make for an easy dinner tonight. A delicious recipe loaded with a smoky taste and great flavor. Serve piled in a warm sandwich topped with even more bbq sauce and slaw!

 

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Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the 
recipe card at the bottom of the post. 
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.

This isn't any basic barbecue chicken, my homemade bbq sauce brings the heat, tang, and smoke you want in a bbq pulled chicken. A perfect addition to a backyard summer gathering, lunch buffet, or family gathering.

This chicken has the flavor and texture of BBQ chicken that has been cooked low and slow, similar to pulled pork. To get this texture, I use a mixture of both chicken thighs and chicken breast but feel free to use all chicken breast if you prefer.

Try these tasty recipes alongside your pulled chicken: Homemade Refrigerator Pickles, Coleslaw, and Oven-roasted Cauliflower. This will quickly become a favorite meal to serve the family.

Ingredients for Slow-Cooker BBQ Chicken

• Boneless skinless chicken - For this recipe, I used half-boneless skinless chicken breasts and boneless chicken thighs. If you have one or the other, feel free to just use chicken breast OR thighs.
• BBQ seasoning - Try our homemade BBQ seasoning packed with smoked paprika, brown sugar, celery salt, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt, and pepper.
• BBQ sauce- Use your favorite barbecue sauce, Sweet Baby Rays is a delicious option! Or, give our homemade bbq sauce a try. Ketchup, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, chili powder, little apple cider vinegar, molasses, dry mustard, salt, cayenne pepper, and liquid smoke make up our bbq sauce. And it only takes about 10 minutes to put it together!

Tools needed for this recipe

• Slow Cooker

How To Make Shredded BBQ Chicken in the Crock pot

Place chicken in the slow cooker insert. Sprinkle with bbq seasoning and rub the seasoning into the chicken.

Add the tangy bbq sauce on top.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the insert and shred the chicken. I use my Kitchenaid mixer to speed up this process.

Return the chicken to the crock pot insert and stir in the bbq sauce. Add additional BBQ sauce if desired.

Serve your bbq shredded chicken and enjoy!

How to store BBQ chicken leftovers

Once your leftover chicken has cooled, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Can I freeze pulled bbq chicken? Yep! Allow the chicken to cool and place it in freezer-safe, airtight containers or plastic bags. Freeze for up to 3 months. Try freezing in individual servings.

What's the best way to shred chicken

Shredded bbq chicken can be prepared with two forks, as we've done for so long. The most recent discovery in shredding chicken starts with your stand mixer, believe it or not! You can just as well use a hand mixer too.

Simply add your cooked chicken breasts (this goes for boiled or baked as well) to the bowl of your stand mixer, and use the paddle attachment to shred the chicken in just a few minutes.

This method can also be done with any pulled pork or roast you want to be shredded or "pulled".

Serving Suggestions

I love serving crockpot bbq chicken between warm (sometimes toasted) brioche hamburger buns, topped with extra sauce, Monterey jack cheese, and cole slaw. BBQ shredded chicken can also be served with any of these tasty dishes:

• Baked Potatoes
• Corn on the cob
• Garden Salad
• Coleslaw
• Homemade Pickles

Notes

• If you're serving bbq chicken as part of a buffet, don't leave it out for longer than 2 hours. The temperature of the meat will drop, causing bacteria to grow.
• When serving at a buffet, try to maintain a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above.
• Feel free to double the recipe. Depending on how much you make should determine what size crockpot you should use. This recipe cooks perfectly in a smaller 3qt slow cooker.
• If using frozen chicken first, I recommend defrosting it before adding it to the slow cooker, as the USDA suggests. However, if you must add frozen chicken, cook it longer until it reaches a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Looking for more slow cooker recipes? Try these out:

• Slow Cooker Black Beans
• Super Easy Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes
• Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
• Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
• Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Mushrooms

 If you have tried this recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below!