Aggie's Kitchen

{All Purpose} Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Chicken

bowl of shredded barbecue chicken

Today’s recipe is one of those that I wasn’t sure about sharing because it’s so easy, but from experience I know you all love those the best. 🙂 It’s my go-to way to make shredded barbecue chicken in the slow cooker – I use this chicken in so many different recipes (not just barbecue chicken sandwiches!). I love making shredded chicken like this because 1) it makes a lot so we get a couple of meals out of it and 2) it is very versatile (it’s seasoned well, but without sauce). You can always freeze what you don’t use as well. With a family a 5 I usually don’t have a problem using it all up, over a couple of meals.

Ideas for this all-purpose Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Chicken:

  • serve on rolls with barbecue sauce for sandwiches
  • use as a topping for pizza (traditional, pita, flatbread, English muffins) for barbecue chicken pizza
  • use as added protein to a big salad (all the veggies, chickpeas, shredded cheddar and a light ranch sounds good!)
  • tuck into tortillas for quesadillas
  • add into baked potatoes, top with cheese and broil for a few minutes
  • stir fried with rice or quinoa and vegetables

bowl of shredded bbq chicken

See, the ideas go on and on. I try to make chicken like this (or a salsa chicken) in the crockpot every week or so to make the rest of the week’s meals a little easier. I’m all about prepping as much as I can ahead of time.

Do you have any go-to recipes that help make your week easier? 

Here are a few more healthy dinner ideas for you.

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{All Purpose} Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Chicken

  • Author: Aggie's Kitchen
  • Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
  • Category: Chicken
  • Method: Slow cooker

Make a weekly batch of this Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Chicken recipe – so many ways to use it in meals!


Ingredients

  • 2lbs boneless chicken breast
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

  1. Place chicken breasts and thighs into your slow cooker bowl. Season well with salt and pepper.  In a small mixing bowl combine all of your spices. Drizzle olive oil over chicken and sprinkle mixed spices over chicken. Using tongs or your hands, toss chicken making sure that chicken is completely rubbed with seasoning mixture.
  2. Cook in slow cooker on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 4-5 hours. Once chicken is cooked, carefully shred chicken using two forks. At this time I like to let it sit on low setting in it’s juices for more time to get all the flavors.

Notes

I don’t add any liquid to this shredded chicken recipe because from experience I find that the chicken usually produces enough water while cooking. Feel free to add a few tablespoons of water if not adding liquid is a concern for you. Also the chicken cooks pretty quickly which is another reason I don’t add liquid, if it were to be cooking longer some liquid might be necessary.

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5 comments on “{All Purpose} Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Chicken”

  1. Aggie, I love how simple this is, and I bet it’s delicious, too! Thanks for the great dinner idea!

  2. Made this last night!!  Big hit and love having plenty of leftovers for future dinners.
    Thank you!

  3. Could you freeze the leftovers?

    • Definitely! I freeze them in freezer quart sized bags, usually if I have a lot I’ll divide into two portions to use for two meals.