As you know, in the hot summer months we love utilizing our outdoor gas grill to quickly make grilled chicken breasts for an easy dinner or meal prep. But in the cooler months of winter, we turn to our trusty slow cooker. It is the perfect cooking technique to make a delicious dinner that you can set-and-forget to cook all day long. We absolutely love this juicy and tender chicken for a barbecue dinner!
Do You Have a Smoker?
If you do, you definitely need to try our Smoked Pulled Chicken! Love that added smokey flavor!
Key Ingredients + Substitutions
- boneless skinless chicken breasts – this is the cut of chicken that we used, but you could also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They are smaller in size, so depending on how much you need, you may need a few more of them.
- barbecue sauce – we cannot recommend our homemade bbq sauce more – so good!
How to Make Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
Best Ways To Serve Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
There are so many great ways to enjoy this saucy pulled chicken! Here are a few of our favorites:
- By itself: simply serve in a bowl with some more bbq sauce and your favorite side dishes, like creamy coleslaw or herb butter boiled potatoes!
- BBQ Chicken Sandwich: enjoy on a hamburger bun of your choice with a generous drizzle of sauce, plus some cool & creamy coleslaw on top.
- Tacos: make some BBQ Chicken Tacos! A fun twist to your typical Taco Tuesday!
- Salads: looking to add some more veggies to your dinner? Try making a BBQ Chicken Salad.
- Dip: on your next game day Sunday, consider making our BBQ Chicken Dip to share with the crowd!
Store & Reheat
Leftover bbq chicken can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If refrigerated, the chicken can be reheated in the microwave or place in a clean slow cooker on the warm setting until warmed through. Cooked, frozen bbq chicken can be thawed in the fridge overnight and then warmed in the slow cooker. Raw chicken and bbq sauce can also be place in a freezer-safe container and frozen before cooking. This frozen chicken can be cooked right in the crock pot but will need a longer cook time. Make sure the chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F before shredding.
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- Cooking on high vs. low: we recommend cooking the chicken on low if you have time, it stays more moist that way. But if you don’t have time, the high setting works too.
- Want to add some spice? If you like a little kick of heat, try adding some red pepper flakes to your crock pot pulled chicken.
- Can you put bbq sauce on raw chicken and cook? Absolutely! That is exactly what we did in this recipe card to help prevent the chicken from drying out.
- Can I make this bbq chicken ahead of time? Yes! Simply cook and then follow our store & reheat instructions.
Made this recipe and loved it?!
We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
An easy, go-to Crock Pot BBQ Chicken recipe for easy weeknights. Serve in tacos, as a sandwich or just eat plain with some coleslaw!
Instructions
- Prep Crock Pot: Place chicken breasts in the crock pot and pour 1 cup bbq sauce over top.
- Cook: Cover and cook on HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8 hours.
- Shred: Once chicken is done cooking, shred with two forks. The sauce will be thinned out due to the heat, but as it cools and you mix the shredded chicken around, it will thicken back up. Add the additional 1/2 cup bbq sauce (or more if you want); stir to combine.
- Serve: Enjoy any way you want – we love making a BBQ Chicken Sandwich!
Notes
- BBQ Sauce: highly recommend making our easy homemade bbq sauce, but you can use any of your favorite store-bought sauces too!
- Paleo/Whole30: we recommend this Whole30 compliant BBQ sauce – so good!
- Storage: leftover BBQ chicken can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 172
- Sugar: 20.7 g
- Sodium: 438.6 mg
- Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 24.9 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 13.3 g
- Cholesterol: 41.4 mg
Colleen says
A super easy dinner that I made on a Sunday and will enjoy multiple ways all week! Highly recommend this recipe
Erin says
So glad to hear that, Colleen!!
Joan BBQ says
Lovely one 😋 … Prepared it with a ready made BBQ sauce.
I need ideas of homemade BBQ sauce.
Erin says
Here is a homemade BBQ sauce for you to try! https://thewoodenskillet.com/homemade-bbq-sauce/