It’s a dinner recipe that you can just dump and go. Put everything in your crock pot, cover it, and leave. After shredding, let the chicken soak in the sauce until you are ready to serve. Doesn’t get any easier.

The chicken is very tender and juicy.Adding apple cider vinegar and olive oil to the chicken will make it juicy and easy to shred. I don’t always like chicken in the crockpot because it can get a little dry, but this recipe has changed everything.

Very easy to store in the freezer.Make two batches and save one for a night when you’re busy again. In an airtight container that is safe for the freezer, this will freeze easily for about three months.

Perfect for weeknights when you’re busy!If you like to plan meals ahead of time or know you’re going to have a busy night with practices, activities, and more, you can make this in the morning and have it ready when anyone is ready to eat. You can feed the whole family without having to stay in the kitchen!

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?

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!

• ◯ 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

1. Start by adding the chopped onion and peppers to the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Add the chicken and cover with the spice blend and gently rub into the breasts on both sides. I think it’s best to mix all the spices together first to make a rub, and then add it to the chicken.
3. Whisk together 1 cup barbecue sauce, the apple cider vinegar, olive oil and Worcestershire sauce. Pour mixture over the chicken to cover completely.
4. Set slow cooker to cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
5. 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.
6. Place the shredded chicken back in the crockpot and allow it to cook in the sauce until ready to serve.
7. Before serving, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce.

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.

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.

You can keep leftover BBQ pulled chicken in the fridge for 3 to 4 days in a container that doesn’t let air in.

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.

• 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

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 also a great choice. This Strawberry Goat Cheese Arugula Salad would be great without the chicken!

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.