Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
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The Easiest Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Breast Recipe! Use this shredded chicken on sliders, nachos or in quesadillas for a delicious dinner!
On busy weeknights, this slow cooker BBQ chicken is my go to recipe. The total prep time is less than 10 minutes and there are tons of ways you can use it.
This crockpot shredded BBQ chicken is great for tacos, nachos, wraps, quesadillas, or just eaten on top of some rice with some roasted veggies. The options are endless!
This is one of our favorite high protein chicken recipes!
tyler’s tips for the best slow cooker BBQ chicken
- Lower sugar barbecue sauce with high quality ingredients will make for a delicious and lighter bbq chicken.
- Chopped white or yellow onions will slowly caramelize and cook with the chicken and is the key to adding flavor to this recipe!
- Try to evenly space the chicken breasts along the bottom of the crockpot. You want to avoid stacking them on top of one another so they cook evenly.
- Don’t add extra water! The chicken breasts and onions release water as they cook so you don’t need any additional liquid in this recipe.
ingredients
substitutions
Chicken Breasts: You can substitute with boneless chicken thighs. You can use bone in chicken thighs, but it’s a little more difficult to shred them. Bone in split chicken breasts will also work, but it’s not as easy to shred! you can also use chicken legs, follow this Slow Cooker BBQ Drumsticks recipe!
Spices: Feel free to use more or less spice. You can use a BBQ rub you have on hand, but watch the salt in it- premade mixes are way saltier.
BBQ Sauce – Use whatever BBQ sauce you like. We like one that is lower in sugar. A lot of BBQ sauces have high fructose corn syrup added to them – so just check the ingredients or make a healthy homemade BBQ sauce.
Onion: An onion is optional but we highly recommend it!
How to Make Crockpot BBQ Chicken
- Place chicken breasts, diced onions, seasonings, and ¼ cup BBQ sauce in a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken and shred it in your stand mixer.
- Return the chicken and the remaining ¼ cup BBQ sauce to the crockpot and toss until evenly coated.
- Enjoy on its own, topped with BBQ sauce, or on a bun with coleslaw.
serving suggestions
Crock pot BBQ chicken is such a versatile protein and will go well with pretty much any side. We love serving it on a bun as a sandwich or on its own topped with extra BBQ sauce.
Here are some of our favorite sides to pair with this BBQ chicken:
- Healthy Cole Slaw and Orzo Salad (pictured below)
- Healthy Broccoli Salad and Baked French Fries
- Garlic Parmesan Potatoes and Honey Roasted Carrots
- Sweet Potato Fries and Quick Veggie Slaw
storing leftover shredded chicken
Storing: This will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container
Freezing: You can freeze this recipe for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing!
If you need more freezer friendly recipes check out our Fill Your Freezer Ebook with 22 easy freezer meals!
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in the microwave or on the stove top in an oiled pan. If you reheat in the toaster oven or oven they will be a little bit drier/crispier – but still delicious.
Other healthy crockpot recipes:
Love your crockpot? Check out these 40+ Healthy Crockpot Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy crockpot cookbook.
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce divided
- 1 cup diced onion
Instructions
- Layer chicken breasts in the base of the crockpot.
- Top with seasoning and diced onions. Drizzle with ¼ cup BBQ sauce (save the rest of it for later!)
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 4 hours (low is recommended!)
- When chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and shred with two forks. (Pro Tip: Shred the chicken breasts in your stand mixer! It’s way quicker.)
- Return the chicken to the pot to soak up the juices from cooking. Add remaining ¼ cup BBQ sauce to the chicken and toss until evenly coated.
- Serve on a sandwich, salad, or in bowls!
Used this for several different meal options. Our 8 month old was screaming for more!
Had this chicken over the weekend! Doubled the recipe and made leftover lunches for my husband! Highly recommend! Very easy and delicious!
Love this recipe!! It’s super easy to make and tastes great. I do the slow cooker version and I do not add liquid just like the recipe says not to and it turns out juicy and perfectly cooked! I’ve made this several times now and it turns out perfect each time. My favorite way to eat it is on a baked potato with Greek yogurt and green onions on top!
I’ve been learning to cook over the last couple of months and this is the easiest and most delicious recipe I’ve tried. Great to slow cook all day and ready for an easy dinner after work!
This was The Best and Easiest chicken barbecue recipe ever!! The chicken was so moist and the flavor was perfect. I was concerned there wouldn’t be enough sauce but it was just right. Everyone loved it! Served it with the Healthy Vinegar Coleslaw recipe and it was a great match. Thank you for sharing!
I make this almost weekly and I have it for lunch with either the healthy coleslaw, on top of a salad or in a wrap. Last me all week and it turns out perfect every time! Delicious.
Yum!! One of our fav ways to enjoy it too!
Made this for the first time yesterday and it was fabulous! Will definitely be on repeat in our house. Such great flavors, we loved it! Thank you!
Made this for dinner last night and it was a HUGE hit! We loved the tang of the BBQ sauce and the tenderness of the chicken! The spices were perfection and the shredding tip is genius! Thanks for a great recipe! <3
So glad you liked it, Krystle! Thank you so much!
The chicken was so moist and tender. I used a little less of the spices. So easy to make!
I followed this recipe exactly other than adding in a little low sodium chicken broth. It turned out perfect. The chicken is juicy and so flavorful. Perfect to use for the week on wraps, salads and sandwiches. I made the healthy coleslaw recipe and topped it with the chicken. So yummy! Keeps you full for hours and so easy. This will be a weekly meal on repeat in our house.
Sooo easy and delicious! Great for weekly meal prep too!
This was so good. I made it exactly as the recipe says. My daughter even went back for seconds to eat by itself.