This super-easy Pulled Chicken Sandwich is made in a crock pot. No need to spend hours preparing the recipe. Just throw everything in the crock pot and go about your day as your home starts to smell aaamazinggg!
If you love chicken dinner ideas, check out my lemon lavender chicken, lemon chicken pasta or my crock pot salsa fresca chicken recipes.
Recipe Quick Look: Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Great for: meal prep, easy dinners or leftovers for lunches
- Main Ingredients: chicken, BBQ sauce and spices
- Serves: 4 people
- Difficulty: easy!
- Bonus: Reheats well since the flavors have time to marinate!
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This recipe got me first place in our office cook off!!! - Juanita
Why I Love This Recipe
This recipe creates such a flavorful BBQ chicken. After the crock pot does the hard work all you have to do is take two forks to shred the chicken, which falls apart super easily, and stir into the homemade sauce in the crock pot.
Boom, you got BBQ sliders ready to go!
Ingredients
- Chicken breast
- BBQ sauce
- Water
- Dijon mustard
- 1 small jalapeno
- Garlic
- Smoked paprika
- Ground cumin
- Chili powder
- Salt and pepper
You can keep this recipe simple with just BBQ sauce and water, but I promise it will taste 10x better with the extras!
The spices are what give the flavor, and after marinating in the crock pot for half the day - I promise you're gonna love it!
I absolutely recommend using smoked paprika rather than just regular paprika. It gives it that smokiness that is hard to get unless the meat is truly smoked, but if you have to use just regular paprika, that'll work too!
I love a little spice, and if you do too, then you'll love the addition of the jalapeno. It's just a slight bit of spice, not much at all. So if you're not big on spice, it should be tolerable.
How to Make Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
To make the recipe, add all the ingredients to the crock pot and stir until well mixed. Add the chicken breast and coat them in the sauce.
Turn the crock pot on low or high - whichever works for you - and go about your day!
You'll come back to the most delish smell of BBQ. Open the crock pot and pull the chicken apart with two forks.
It'll fall apart easily, and the chicken should be tender. There'll be enough sauce to coat the shredded chicken well.
I never feel like I need extra BBQ sauce, but if you do, add what you need.
Serving Chicken Sliders
Who doesn't love coleslaw on BBQ, right? After moving to the South, I've learned there are two types of coleslaw: vinegar and mayo-based.
I like to take the mayo creamy-based coleslaw and mix it with plain coleslaw and make that my first layer.
The next layer could be pickled beets or this fermented cabbage, beets and carrots combo. I tried it recently and loved it with the BBQ flavor.
Make your third layer the shredded BBQ chicken and you got a gorgeous and delicious sandwich.
Sadly, these pictures don't show the three layers, but I can guarantee you they are delish and sooo colorful!
Sides dishes to pair could include my roasted brussels sprouts recipe, simple guacamole, Mediterranean bean salad or edamame salad.
Pulled Chicken Sandwiches FAQs
Essentially, yes! You can interchange the words, and you will still get the same thing: tender chicken you can shred or pull easily with a fork or knife.
It will last for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
So many options! I love anything fermented - pickled onions, peppers, cabbage. Try different greens that sound good to you, such as spinach or arugula for a peppery flavor.
If you tried this Pulled Chicken Sandwiches or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know your thoughts in the comments or share your creation with me on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest!
Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breast
- ½ cup BBQ sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 small jalapeno (about 2 tablespoons chopped)
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add BBQ sauce, water, Dijon mustard, chopped jalapeno, garlic, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt and black pepper to the crock pot and stir to combine.
- Add chicken breast to crock pot and toss to coat well.
- Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
- Once done cooking, shred the chicken and mix with the sauce before serving.
Notes
- I find there is enough sauce to coat the shredded chicken well after it cooks; however, if you feel like it needs extra BBQ sauce, add what you need.
Nutrition
(Nutrition values are calculated by third-party software and an estimate that can vary based on product brands and cooking methods.)
Kena Ward says
It was so good and so easy!
Monica Nedeff says
So happy to hear it, Kena!
Juanita Robancho says
This recipe got me first place in our office cook off!!!
Monica Nedeff says
Oh my gosh!!! This made my day reading! Thank you so much for sharing! Cheers to getting first place!!
Zackary Schneider says
Good stuff