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2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

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2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

Holy cannoli! For those of you who missed it, I posted a roundup of Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes yesterday on the blog, and it absolutely crazy on Pinterest last night. I guess you all love your slow cookers!

I’m definitely a slow cooker fangirl too. In fact, the weather has cooled down and it’s now perfectly appropriate to cook dinner in the oven. But lately, I’ve still been letting my slow cooker do all of the work. It is just way too easy! And when it comes to 2-ingredients like this BBQ shredded chicken, it is even easier than easy. Yet the result is a big batch of shredded chicken that is still so flavorful, so moist, and so good. And it can be used in sandwiches, salads, soups, tacos, or whatever sounds good.

This Kansas City girl is definitely on board. Are you??

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

As you may have guessed, one of the two ingredients is non other than a delicious jar of BBQ sauce. I prefer to use my homemade bbq sauce recipe, which is also ridiculously easy to make. And it’s made Kansas City style, nice and thick and smoky and sweet. But as opposed to most store-bought brands, it is made without high fructose corn syrup and tons of extra sugar. And it is mmm, mmm, good.

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

As you probably also guessed, the second ingredient is chicken! (Yes, it really is that easy.)  I like to use boneless skinless chicken breasts, so that I don’t have to worry about bones. But boneless dark meat would also be especially good in this recipe.

To make this, simply lay your chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker and pour lots of bbq sauce on top.

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

And then give those chicken breasts a good toss so that they are coated in the sauce.

(If you really insist on a much sweeter sauce, you can add some additional brown sugar at this point. But I’d encourage you to go without, especially if you’re using my homemade sauce, as it’s already naturally sweetened with molasses.)

Then just let it cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours until the chicken is cooked.

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

Then shred it with two forks and toss it in the remaining juices so that it soaks them all up.

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

And then it’s ready to go!!

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

Then it’s up to you to decide how you want to enjoy the chicken. You can eat it plain, or add it to sandwiches, soups, tacos, wraps, pizzas…the sky’s the limit!

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

I served mine on some simple pretzel buns with a little extra BBQ sauce. (Because, again, I live in KC and there’s no such thing as too much sauce here.)  And oh man, were these tasty.

Bravo to my slow cooker for pulling (ha, get it, pulled chicken?) through once again. Enjoy!

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

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2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Prep Time: 2 minutes
  • Cook Time: 240 minutes
  • Total Time: 242 minutes
  • Yield: 4 -6 servings 1x

Description

This 2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken could not be easier, but it’s still wonderfully flavorful and moist.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 lbs.)
  • 1.5 cups (12 oz.) bbq sauce*, either homemade or store-bought

Instructions

  1. Lay chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker, and pour the bbq sauce on top. Toss once to combine so that the chicken is evenly coated in the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily.
  2. Use two forks to shred the chicken in the slow cooker, and toss it once more so that it soaks up the remaining juices.
  3. Serve chicken on buns or however you would like, drizzled with some extra bbq sauce if desired.

Notes

*If making this recipe gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free certified BBQ sauce.

**If you would like a sweeter BBQ chicken, you can also add in 1/3 cup packed brown sugar to the slow cooker.

 

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Chicken | gimmesomeoven.com #crockpot #slowcooker

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47 comments on “2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken”

  1. Is it bad that I reallyyyy want to eat this sandwich at 6:45 a.m.??

  2. ohh yummo.. Look at the sauce! definitely on my to make list

  3. Only 2 ingredients to chicken perfection? I might marry this dish. Ssh. Don’t tell my husband.
    This is awesome Ali, slow cooking FTW! Pinned!

  4. Girl, you are KILLIN’ it with all these easy dinners lately! LOVE.

  5. I love a slow cooker dish and only two ingredients…YES!

  6. Oh yum!!! This looks sooo goood!!! Can hardly wait to make it!!!!

  7. Now I definitely need to follow the link to your homemade BBQ sauce!

  8. This is pretty much my husband’s ideal meal of all time. I have got to make your BBQ sauce – we are huge molasses fans!

  9. We just got a slow cooker and have been pinning the heck out of recipes that we can make it in. Definitely adding this one!

  10. I have a soft spot for pulled chicken. And with homemade BBQ sauce, I’m all over this.

  11. My favorite BBQ sauce comes from Kansas City!

  12. I love shredded bbq chicken! YUM :D

  13. Love that you keep this simple! We did BBQ pulled chicken yesterday for football watching. I wish I had thought to put it on a pretzel bun. What a great unexpected flavor idea!

    xo Rachel

  14. Love anything on a pretzel bun! This definitely looks like something I need to put on my weeknight rotation!

  15. Mmmmm, BBQ sauce with molasses AND a pretzel bun….heavenly!

  16. Only you could make something in a slow cooker look this beautiful! I love how simple it is, not to mention all the delicious leftover it will make!

  17. Yum – this (and your bbq sauce) look so good!

  18. Love some Kansas City BBQ! I will definitely make this.

  19. This looks so good! Also, I’m convinced that everything tastes better on a pretzel bun.

  20. Hi Ali. These look delicious, I can’t wait to try! Are the buns homemade or store-bought? They look mouth-watering as well ;)

  21. These look so good! I have been planning on buying a slow cooker but was not sure if I really needed one!! Now I think I do!

  22. lols wow this is considered a recipe? Store-bought BBQ and boneless skinless chicken breasts in a crockpot? 

  23. This is awesome. I’m making it for the second day in a row – only this time I made a much larger batch. The first time I made it I cooked it on low – I checked it around 5 hrs and it was ready. This will definitely be made often in our household. 

    • Thanks Erin, I’m so glad you hear you and your family like it! I love meals that practically make themselves, and I’m a sucker for BBQ. Cheers! : )

  24. Looks yummy! Do I have to thaw the chicken first? 

    • I used refrigerated (thawed) chicken, but you could also make it with frozen chicken. It will just need to cook awhile longer, and it will probably be a little extra juicy with the extra water.

  25. Sauce is amazing.  Cut back honey to 1/4 cup instead of 1/3 since i don’t like my bbq sauce super sweet.  Also kicked up the spice with crushed red pepper and cayanne.  Absolutely perfect.  Hubby loved it.  
    Checked the chicken after 2 hrs on high. Dry, dry, dry.  And yes I put in plenty of sauce. It probaby would be uneatable if i left it cooking for 3 to 4 hrs per instructions.  Maybe my crockpot just runs a little hotter, but if you plan on trying this, check internal temp really early just be on the safe side.

    • Christine, we’re so glad you and your husband liked the sauce! So sorry your chicken turned out so dry, we’re not sure what the cause could have been, other than a hotter slow cooker. :( But that definitely shouldn’t have happened. Thanks for sharing, and we hope you’ll give it another try!

  26. Am 83 years old and love my slow cooker, making this BBQ chicken right now, can’t wait to eat it.  So simple to make, I sure
    hope I am successful.  I’m using store bought BBQ sauce much simpler for me.  Made with four chicken breasts so will have
    lots to freeze to eat at a later time.
    Thank you for this recipe.
    Do you have one for liver and onions?  Mu husband (now deceased) use to make it and I really loved it, he did not use a slow
    cooker or leave any recipes, everything was in his head, he was a fantastic cook. 

    • Good for you Jeanne, we hope you enjoyed the recipe, and that’s smart of you to freeze! Unfortunately we don’t have a recipe for liver and onions, but we found this one, and it looks promising! We hope that’s helpful — thanks again for trying the BBQ Chicken recipe! :)

  27. How would this work with doubling the recipe?

  28. Would this recipe work using teriyaki sauce in place of  BBQ sauce? 

    • Hi Sophia! We actually have a slow cooker teriyaki chicken recipe you might be interested in! :)

  29. Can this be made a day or 2 b4 and reheated in the oven?

  30. I used boneless chicken thighs..super delicious!
    Being a mom of three, I love simple! 
    Thanks so much!

  31. How kind would I cook this if I only had 3 chicken breasts?

    • Hi Andrea — that’s how many we used (anytime we’re referring to chicken breasts in a recipe, we don’t mean the whole breast). Hope this makes sense.

  32. Is it ok if the chicken is still frozen?

    • Hi Jessica! We wouldn’t recommend using frozen chicken in a slow cooker. We’ve learned that putting frozen ingredients in a slow cooker (especially frozen meats) isn’t the safest thing to do. Slow cookers often can’t get frozen meats up to a safe temperature in time, which means your meat will spend too long in the “danger zone” – 40-140 degrees). This While we’ve tried using frozen meats before and been fine (it does work), it’s just too risky, as it raises the likelihood of unsafe bacteria forming, and the possibility of food borne-illnesses.

  33. Delicious..was a big hit in my home.. Made this into sandwiches with homemade fries and stuffed potatoes.. Great Recipe!






  34. Turned out great. Only had 3 chicken breasts and it was not enough for 3 adults, as it was so delicious!
    I also made the bbq sauce recipe & it was very tasty too.

  35. Delicious and oh so easy!!!






  36. The bbq sauce recipe is fantastic. You can control the sodium by using no salt added tomato sauce and paste. It’s delicious!