5 4 Published Sep 16, 2024, Updated Oct 29, 2024 It’s so easy to make… just toss your chicken breasts and homemade BBQ sauce ingredients into your slow cooker in the morning and you’ll have a delicious, flavor-packed meal ready to go for dinner! We usually serve it as a sandwich with coleslaw and the combo is SO good! I’ve been working on a greek yogurt coleslaw (recipe coming soon!), but it’s also delicious with my vinegar coleslaw.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Hands-Off – This recipe is perfect for busy days when you want a comforting meal but don’t have time to spend in the kitchen. Just toss everything into your slow cooker and let it do the work! Great for Meal Prep – This BBQ chicken is perfect for meal prep. Make a big batch to use in sandwiches, salads or even on top of a baked potato (or my personal fave… a baked sweet potato) throughout the week. Flavorful – This shredded BBQ chicken is jam-packed with sweet and smoky flavors thanks to the homemade BBQ sauce. It’s SO good!
chicken breast – I like using boneless, skinless chicken breasts for a lean option. onion and garlic – adds flavor and depth to the BBQ sauce as it cooks. tomato sauce – this forms the base of the BBQ sauce. Make sure to use plain tomato sauce (not marinara) for the best results. tomato paste – adds richness and helps to thicken the sauce. brown sugar or coconut sugar – a lot of store-bought BBQ sauces use corn syrup or white sugar as the sweetener, but for this recipe I went with coconut sugar or brown sugar, which adds the perfect caramelized flavor, IMO! molasses – this adds depth and a smoky sweetness to the sauce, giving it that classic BBQ flavor. If you don’t have molasses you can sub it for maple syrup or honey or just skip it all together! apple cider vinegar – provides the tangy element to balance the sweetness in the sauce. tamari or soy sauce and worcestershire sauce – these add a nice umami boost and salty flavor to the homemade sauce. mustard – regular yellow mustard works well here, adding a bit of tang to the sauce. spices – you’ll need sea salt, pepper, paprika and chili powder for this homemade sauce.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup Slow Cooker Chicken Wild Rice Soup Slow Cooker Butter Chicken Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Be sure to check out all of my chicken recipes as well as the full collection of slow cooker recipes on EBF!
On a salad – Serve this chicken over a bed of greens with your favorite veggies and dressing or more BBQ sauce. It would be delicious with this apple cider vinaigrette. On nachos – Amp up your nacho game by topping tortilla chips with this shredded chicken. You could also add this chicken to my sweet potato nachos or cauliflower nachos and serve it up for game day! In a taco – Switch up taco night and make BBQ chicken tacos instead. I’d recommend serving this chicken with hard shell tacos and topping it with shredded cheese. So good! In a quesadilla – Fill a tortilla with chicken and shredded cheese then toast it in a skillet until the cheese melts. As a stuffed sweet potato – Make a BBQ chicken stuffed sweet potato! In a grain bowl – Make a BBQ chicken grain bowl by serving this chicken over your favorite grain and roasted veggies!
This shredded chicken is also freezer-friendly! Just make sure it’s completely cooled then transfer it to a freezer-safe bag and store for up to 3 months. To reheat: You can easily reheat this chicken in a skillet over the stove or in the microwave. If you go the stovetop route, you might want to add a little water to add moisture as it heats up.
