Description
This Shredded BBQ Chicken recipe is a comforting slow-cooker dish that infuses tender chicken breasts with a rich, smoky, and slightly sweet barbecue sauce made from Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory & Brown Sugar sauce and a blend of spices. Perfect for sandwiches, tacos, or serving alongside your favorite sides, it’s an easy, hands-off recipe that delivers big flavor with minimal effort.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken
- 3 chicken breasts
BBQ Sauce Mixture
- 1 18 oz Bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory & Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp chipotle chili powder
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
Instructions
- Prepare Chicken: Place the 3 chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot, ensuring they are evenly spaced.
- Set Slow Cooker: Turn the Crock-Pot heat setting to low to allow gentle, slow cooking for tender meat.
- Mix Sauce Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce, light brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, chipotle chili powder, and ground white pepper.
- Whisk Sauce: Use a whisk to thoroughly stir and combine all the barbecue sauce ingredients until smooth and well blended.
- Add Sauce to Chicken: Pour the barbecue sauce mixture over the chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot, making sure to cover all pieces evenly.
- Coat Chicken: Stir gently with a spoon to ensure the chicken breasts are fully coated with the barbecue sauce mixture.
- Shred Chicken: Once the chicken has cooked and is tender (after about 7 hours), use two forks inside the Crock-Pot to shred the chicken directly.
- Combine: Mix the shredded chicken thoroughly with the sauce in the Crock-Pot until all pieces are well coated with the barbecue sauce, ready to serve.
Notes
- You can use chicken thighs as an alternative for juicier meat.
- Adjust the level of chipotle chili powder to control the spiciness.
- Serve on buns for sandwiches, with rice, or in tacos for versatile meals.
- Leftovers store well in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for longer storage.
- To speed up cooking, use the high setting on the Crock-Pot for about 3-4 hours, but low and slow yields more tender chicken.
