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This crockpot pulled chicken is so easy to make – everything just goes into the slow cooker without any special prep. It’s fall-apart tender, juicy and delicious. We put it on rolls with our coconut coleslaw and crisp dill pickle chips.
It was sweet, salty, savory and so satisfying. I invited my family over for crockpot bbq chicken sliders and everyone loved them. My son even asked for refills on the chicken (which is a big deal). l’m pretty sure all of the adults had seconds. Great reviews all around on this one! If the picture above hasn’t convinced you yet, the next one will!
This is a great way to make meat for company or your family when you don’t have time to stand over the stove. You can throw everything in your slow cooker before church and it’s ready when you come home. Such a treat! PS. the coleslaw can be made when you start the chicken – just refrigerate it until ready to serve..
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken:
3 lbs (about 5-6 count) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
1 1/2 cups BBQ Sauce (Try Homemade BBQ Sauce or Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ)
1/2 medium onion, grated (with juice)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
How to Make Crockpot BBQ Chicken:
1. Stir together all sauce ingredients in a 5-6 qt slow cooker.
2. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and cook on high 2 to 3 hours or on low for 6 to 7 hours. Check on it early since timing can depend on the thickness of your chicken and the size of your slow cooker. It will also cook faster if making a smaller batch. Chicken is done when cooked through to an internal temperature of 167˚F and easy to shred.
3. Remove chicken to a cutting board and shred each breast using two forks. Place shredded chicken back in the crock pot and stir to coat with the yummy sauce
↑↑↑ Wishing I had leftovers…
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken breasts, (boneless, skinless)
- 1 1/2 cups BBQ Sauce, I used Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ
- 1/2 medium onion, grated (with juice)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Stir together all sauce ingredients in a 5-6 qt slow cooker.
- Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or for 6 to 7 hours on low. Check on the chicken earlier if using smaller chicken pieces, if making a smaller batch, or if you know your slow cooker runs hot. Chicken is done when cooked through to an internal temperature of 165˚F and is easy to shred.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board and shred each breast using two forks. Place shredded chicken back in the crock pot and stir to coat with the yummy sauce.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Serve in buns with the best coconut coleslaw and dill pickle chips. Yum!!
This was fantastic and amazing! I used your homemade bbq recipe and it was simply delicious. Added a couple of jalapeños to the bottom of the crockpot— oh so good. I should have doubled the recipe, except that it’s just me :)! Thanks for posting, I can’t wait to make it again.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Sara!
Really confused by all of the high ratings. This doesn’t turn in to a a nice bbq sauce. It’s pure liquid due to the water I guess evaporating from the chicken? It also tastes terrible probably due the entire onion. Also, the cooking time on high was way too long (I even put it in for a half hour less than was suggested) and the chicken is so overcooked. Not sure what I’m doing wrong here.
Hi Melissa, I’m sorry it didn’t meet your expectations. Does your instant pot run hot normally? also if you used smaller chicken breasts, it can take less time to cook through.
Love this, we’ve made it several times! It’s a Home Run!
Hi! Thinking of making this next weekend for a group of 20 for my son’s 1st bday bbq. If I move the scale to 20 servings do I just follow the recipe from there?
Hi Cristy! This recipe doubles well as long as your slow cooker is large enough to fit everything. I’m not sure if increasing it any further would work unless your slow cooker is larger. It will probably require a longer cook time. I would aim for the higher end of the cook times (i.e., 4 hours on high or 7 hours on low) and check for doneness.
Okay thanks so much I’ll double it and try that!
Should the chicken be seasoning with anything like salt/pepper? If so, how much? I’ll be using the same bbq sauce noted in the recipe. Thanks in advance!
Hello Amira! I didn’t add any seasoning as the chicken breasts are seasoned with a mixture of grated onion, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar, combined with BBQ sauce. But if you want a tastier chicken, you can add a bit of seasoning like salt and pepper.
It wasn’t terrible but I wouldn’t make it again. The taste is just not there for me
Hi Alexis, this normally has a lot of flavor – did you change anything in the recipe? Also, I’m curious – what kind of BBQ sauce did you use?
What an easy and delicious recipe! I opted to use chicken thighs instead of breast and it was awesome. Definitely will make when I want hands off cooking! Thank you.
If I use your homemade barbecue sauce, do I still add the Worcestershire sauce and Brown Sugar?
If the homemade bbq sauce is already sweet for your taste, there’s no need to add brown sugar. If you’d like to enhance the flavor and make it sweeter, then feel free to add it in there.
I like to make meals and bring them to my 94-year-old father to eat for later. Would this freeze well if I portioned it out? Any other of your recipes that freeze well would be appreciated. This is my favorite recipe site and I cook a lot of the different things but I’m never sure what items feel free as well and which will not.
Yes, you can make this recipe ahead and freeze it. Make sure that it has been cooled completely, store the portions in airtight freezer-safe containers or resealable freezer bags. Don’t forget the add label (date) so you won’t forget it.
On the amount of chicken needed depending upon the number of people you are serving, why does the lbs of chicken change, but where it reads about 5-6 count – that stays the same? I assume that means 5-6 pieces of chicken, and that should change as the lbs of chicken needed changes. Very confusing to me.
Hi Linda! Unfortunately the notes next to the ingredients and the instructions do not update with scaling the recipe up or down. It’s not a feature available at the moment. We’re working on getting the recipe cards updated to avoid confusion like this in the future. Thanks for pointing it out so we can update it.
I fell in love with this recipe! I served it with Hawaiian Cole slaw as suggested. My family loved it. I used slow cook mode on my instant pot for this recipe.
I had Kinder’s bbq sauce/hickory brown sugar on hand and the dish turned out really good.
BBQ chicken in slow cooker is great! Thank you for the recipe. I added 1/4 cup of white wine to enhance flavors even more.
I don’t have a crock pot, can I make in a Dutch oven pot on stovetop? If so, how long should I cook?
Hi Linda! You can follow my instructions for the sweet and spicy baked chicken to bake it, but you can make it on the stovetop too. Just cook it covered until the internal temperature reaches 165, flipping it half way through. Likely it will take about 20-30mins depending on how thick your chicken breast are.
Adding to my recipe collection! I’m not a big fan of crockpots, so I cooked in my dutch oven. I seared the chicken on both sides, added all of the ingredients (added more than 1.5 cups of bbq sauce), then cooked in the oven at 250 degrees for 4.5 hours. Super easy and very good.
Can I use boneless chicken thighs for this?
Hi Melissa! I haven’t tried that but it should be fine. We’ve had people try this recipe with thighs, pork etc. and loved the results.
How much is a serving per your nutrition facts? Sorry if it’s stated somewhere but I couldn’t find it.
Hi Katie, The serving size can be found at the beginning of the print-friendly recipe card (located at the bottom of the recipe post). The nutrition label shows counts “per serving. The serving size for the whole recipe is 8 (if used in sandwiches) the nutrition facts is per serving. Just divide the whole recipe by 8 to get each of the serving size. Hope that helps!
Just an optional suggestion:
Using a hand held mixer shreds the chicken right in the crockpot