Slow Cooker Island BBQ Chicken and Spicy Slaw Salad
Posted by Aggies Kitchen on January 27th, 2010. Filed under: Aggie's Kitchen Original, Barbeque, Chicken, Crockpot, Healthy, Healthy Meals, Main Dishes - Chicken, Salad.
My slow cooker has been a huge help lately. I’m really trying to use it on days where I know I’ll be in and out of the house and won’t be able to really spend a lot of time preparing any kind of dinner. I’ve been asking around Facebook for your favorite crock-pot recipes and one of my friends mentioned shredded barbecue chicken. Sounded good to me.
On Saturday as I was getting ready to throw everything in the crock-pot I realized that I didn’t have any “regular” barbecue sauce in the pantry. That is seriously unlike me, since I tend to stock up on sauces in a ridiculous kind of way. I did however have a “gourmet” Guava Barbecue sauce that I always pictured over chicken on the grill in some nice warm weather…I guess I thought it might be in a way “too good” for the crock-pot. Well…I got over that real quick and opened the bottle. With a little spontaneous creativity I added an almost empty box of raisins and sliced onion to the chicken and sauce and plugged it all in…and hoped for the best.
Well let me tell you, the best it was. It turned out so good! We ate it on sandwiches that night, but I’ve been eating the leftovers cold on a salad for the last two days for lunch. That night I paired it up with another “on the fly” creation…shredded romaine, shredded carrots, thin sliced jalapenos and leftover poppy seed dressing from my recent Spinach and Orzo salad. The sweetness from the chicken paired up very nicely with the spicy/sweet from the salad…will definitely be making this one again!
Slow Cooker Island BBQ Chicken
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen
2lbs skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle of barbecue sauce (preferably a fruity one i.e. guava, mango or papaya. I used Tom’s Guava BBQ Sauce found at Fresh Market, check your specialty markets or grocery stores for similar products) —- (see edit note below)
2 splashes balsamic vinegar
medium onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup raisins
salt and pepper, to taste
your favorite sandwich buns (I used Arnold’s Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins)
Place chicken breasts into slow cooker and sprinkle salt and pepper to both sides. Add sliced onion and raisins. Pour 3/4 bottle of barbecue sauce and 2 splashes balsamic vinegar over chicken and combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. When cooking is complete, take 2 forks and gently pull apart chicken breasts. Take remainder of barbecue sauce and pour over chicken and combine. I like to add a little water to the bottle and swirl to pick up any leftover sauce and add that as well. Let shredded chicken sit in crock-pot uncovered for about 15 minutes to warm up in additional sauce. Add shredded chicken to your favorite sandwich bun and enjoy!
Edited to note: If you are unable to find “fruity” barbecue sauce (like I was unable to today), try adding a couple of teaspoons of mango chutney and/or a diced mango. I added both to sweeten up the sauce and give it a little something something from the tropics. 
Spicy Slaw Salad
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen
1 heart of romaine, shredded thin
1-2 carrots, shredded
1 jalapeno, quartered lengthwise and sliced very thin
Jamie’s Poppy Seed dressing
Combine salad ingredients and gently toss with dressing.
January 27th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
You know how much my husband loves your pulled pork, now I’m going to just HAVE to make him this! This would be perfect for Super bowl too!! Hope your week is being good to you!
January 27th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
I am ALWAYS looking for something to throw in my slow cooker. I’ve done a roast with bbq sauce (my favorite is Stubs) but I’ve never done chicken. Everything looks great, but the slaw really tickles my fancy!
January 27th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
This looks fabulous! I love using my crock pot and my hubby will love this.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Wouldn’t we all love to have this waiting for us when we arrived home:D
January 27th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
delicious looking sandwich! lots of great flavors, I need to find that bbq sauce asap
January 28th, 2010 at 9:07 am
I just discovered the sandwich thins as well! YUM! This looks like a great way to use the crockpot, too!
January 28th, 2010 at 11:39 am
DROOL! I really need some BBQ soon!!!
January 28th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
This looks super good Aggie! You know how much I love to make pulled pork in my crockpot. This would be a nice change. The salad slaw looks yummy too.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Pulled chicken is one of my favorites but I’ve never done a fruity one. Looks awesome, I definitely want to try it.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
My hubby would love this meal! I need to get my hands on a slow cooker!
January 28th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
This sounds delicious! I love my slow cooker.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
mmmm, i’m crazy for meals like this, delicious!
January 30th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Yum – this looks great! And has me longing for warm weather…
January 30th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
This does look truly amazing! I am making this.
January 30th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
This looks great! My Hubby & I kind of go overboard on the bbq sauce/hot sauce buying as well. We love our Fresh Market, so I will have to look for the sauce this week.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
I’m grinning at your spontaneity with what you had on hand. Very cool. I can actually imagine the flavor on this.
Also, I am seriously curious about those sandwich thins. I have this thing about sandwich bread, especially buns or French rolls. To me, it’s far too much bread and masks the flavors of the fillings. These thins are calling my name! I must find them!
January 30th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Found em!
January 31st, 2010 at 4:43 am
i commend your use of the sandwich thins here–the ratio of juicy, saucy meat to bread is just perfect.
January 31st, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I love that spicy slaw! Great side for the sandwiches!
January 31st, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Yum! This looks awesome!
January 31st, 2010 at 7:24 pm
oh girl I’m so sorry I’ve been absent from your blog and all its goodies. now that I’m all moved I hope to have more time. I haven’t baked or created for a while and am so ANXIOUS to get back to it. I always make my slaws spicy. I love my slow cooker too, it’s like 15 years old and dying.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:41 am
Oh my, that BBQ chicken looks SO good! Love the idea of using romaine in slaw. That meal looks amazing.
Jenn
February 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Tried this Wednesday with a mango sauce. Mmmm Mmmm Good!!! And it was so easy. Had neighbors over and everybody loved it! Will definetly make this one again.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Oh…my…goodness that pork sandwich looks amazing!