Simple Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ Chicken

Brioche bun with pulled barbecue chicken and chopped parsley on white plate.

5 from 17 votes

Simple Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ Chicken

This simple Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken is a great dinner for busy weeknights. An easy recipe that only requires about 10 minutes of prep and perfect for pulled bbq sandwiches and more! Leftovers freeze well too!

Prep Time10

Cook Time4

Total Time4 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Lorie Yarro

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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. Set to warm until ready to eat. Add remaining BBQ sauce and stir just before serving. Serve on toasted buns and with your favorite sides.

Notes

Use thawed chicken versus frozen. Frozen chicken can take a long time to come to the correct internal temperature. It can also cause food borne illness if using frozen meat.

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!

Nutrition