Slow-Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken
Updated July 11, 2024

- Total Time
- About 3 ½ hours
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 3 ½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½ cups tomato-based barbecue sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 to 2chipotle chiles in adobo (depending on heat tolerance), plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 2tablespoons Worcestershire or soy sauce
- 1½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1½ to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1½ to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and black pepper
Preparation
- Step 1
In a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker, stir together 1 cup barbecue sauce, chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, Worcestershire sauce and onion powder. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cover and cook on low until the chicken shreds easily when pulled with a fork, 3 to 5 hours.
- Step 2
Working right in the slow cooker, use two forks to shred the meat into large, bite-size pieces. Stir in the remaining ½ cup barbecue sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Private Notes
Comments
To pressure cook in the Instant Pot, you need to add liquid to the recipe so the tomato-based BBQ sauce doesn't give you a burn error. Start with 1/2 cup of chicken broth then add all the ingredients other than the BBQ sauce and stir. Pour 1 cup of the BBQ sauce on top of the chicken and don't stir. Use poultry setting or 15 minutes HIGH. Natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release. Shred, saute on high (while stirring) to reduce excess liquid, then add the remaining BBQ sauce.
This is delicious! I used only chicken thighs since I thought the breasts might be tough. I used the included recipe for homemade barbecue sauce. To cut down on the amount of liquid left at the end, I put the cooked thighs in a bowl and put the sauce from the crockpot into a saucepan, boiled it until reduced by half (about 10-15 mins) and returned it to the shredded thighs. Perfect!
I'm curious how even the comment section on a cooking site could devolve into name calling. What exactly have we become as a community? And I also respect myself as well as my my fellow readers!
This is an easy weeknight winner. Add some slaw and a quality bun, and you’ve got yourself a great sandwich.
Curious if people have a preference between soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce for this. TIA! I’m sure it’s been mentioned but I’m not about to sift through the thighs vs breast debate.
Made in instant pot 15 mins on high with natural release. Reduced pan sauce while shredding the chicken. Used chicken breast and blue ribbon bbq sauce. Delish and easy dinner on hamburger rolls.