Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ Chicken

5 from 6 votes

Aug 23, 2020

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This juicy and flavorful Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ Chicken is a tasty main dish, perfect for back-to-school lunches and dinners! Get the best barbecue flavor from your slow cooker with this easy chicken recipe.

Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

This shredded chicken recipe makes an irresistible nacho topping, sandwich filler, taco meat, and so much more. It’s full of savory barbeque flavor with a touch of sweetness from the brown sugar.

Not only is this recipe made with minimal ingredients, but it’s super low effort, too. Your slow cooker does pretty much all the work for you, and the chicken comes out as tender and juicy as can be. It’s great for family dinners, tailgating, and busy weeknights.

Recipe Ingredients

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Barbecue Sauce: Grab a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce or make your own from scratch!
Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Worcestershire Sauce
Light Brown Sugar
Dried Herbs

raw chicken breasts covered in barbecue sauce

How to Make BBQ Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Add Chicken to Slow Cooker: Add the chicken breasts to the insert of your slow cooker.
Make Sauce Mixture: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the barbecue sauce, chicken broth and worcestershire sauce. Then, whisk in the brown sugar and dried herbs until thoroughly incorporated.
Coat Chicken in Sauce: Add the barbecue sauce mixture to the chicken and turn to coat.
Cook: Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through. Check for doneness with an instant read thermometer. The chicken is cooked through when its internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
Shred Chicken: Remove the chicken from your slow cooker, transfer it to a cutting board and shred it. Return the shredded chicken to your slow cooker and stir it around to coat.
Serve & Enjoy: Serve your chicken over salads, on top of nachos, in burritos, tacos, etc.

Tips for the Best BBQ Chicken

Check Internal Temperature: Start checking the internal temperature of your chicken once it’s been cooking for 4 hours. If overcooked, the chicken could become tough and dry. Remove it from the crock pot when its internal temperature registers at 165˚F.
Return to Sauce After Shredding: Don’t forget to put your chicken back into the slow cooker with the sauce after you shred it. Let it soak up the flavor for a few minutes before serving.
Don’t Use Frozen Chicken: If all you have are frozen chicken breasts, be sure to thaw them completely in the fridge before making this barbecue chicken.

Serving Suggestions

The possibilities are endless when it comes to this shredded chicken. You can do something totally different with your leftovers to change it up. Here are some of my favorite ways to serve slow cooker BBQ chicken:

Serve in a Salad: I love incorporating my shredded chicken into a healthy homemade salad for a fresh and flavorful summer meal.
Make it a Sandwich: Grab a few buns and turn this slow cooker recipe into a barbecue chicken version of Sloppy Joes!
Serve over Lettuce Leaves: If I’m making this shredded chicken for lunch, I like to keep it simple and serve it over fresh lettuce leaves.
Use as Taco Filling: This crock pot chicken makes an amazing taco or burrito ingredient! Wrap it in a tortilla with rice and veggies for a comforting and delicious dinner.

side view of shredded bbq chicken croissant sandwich

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

Store leftover BBQ chicken in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy your leftover chicken within 3 or 4 days. If you want it to last longer, you can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months!
To reheat your shredded chicken, arrange it on a baking pan and cover it with foil. Bake it at 425°F for around 20 minutes, or until the chicken’s internal temperature reaches 165°F.

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5 from 6 votes