This crockpot BBQ chicken recipe is so easy to toss together and makes a great sandwich! Add everything to your slow cooker and let the magic happen. You’ll come home to juicy BBQ pulled chicken and a house that smells amazing.
My boys are suckers for any kind of saucy shredded meat on a bun, and these crockpot BBQ chicken sandwiches do not disappoint!
We keep it simple by using the crockpot and doing a bit of doctoring to a bottled sauce.
This turns out so saucy and full of flavor, the chicken is super tender, and everyone just loves this dish!
I like to turn this slow cooker BBQ chicken into sandwiches, topped with this easy coleslaw recipe, but it’s also good over rice or with a side of our baked mashed potatoes.
BBQ Chicken Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts – Thighs would also work well.
Bottled BBQ Sauce – We like Sweet Baby Ray’s, but use your favorite.
Seasonings – We’re doctoring up the sauce by adding brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and onion powder. Bring on the flavor!
Coleslaw – Follow the link for my mama’s homemade recipe!
Hamburger Buns
What Readers are Saying!
“I made this and it was perfect. Other recipes (on other blogs) have made the chicken too stringy and not very tasty. I’ll be making this one again.”
-Diedra
How to Make Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken:
Chicken: Toss those chicken breasts (or thighs!) right into the bottom of your slow cooker.
BBQ Sauce: Add the bottled sauce and remaining ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. This really amps up the flavor! Pour the sauce over the chicken.
BBQ Sauce Options:
- Sweet Baby Ray’s is a good, classic sauce that works well with these additions.
- Use a Texas style sauce for a spicier, peppery sauce.
- We don’t recommend the thinner sauces that are heavy on the vinegar in this one, though you can certainly try and see what you think.
Slow Cook: Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for four hours. When the chicken is finished, it’ll shred easily with a fork.
Helpful TipS!
For best results…
- You might be tempted to add some extra liquid to your slow cooker, but please don’t. The chicken will release plenty of juices as it starts to cook and the slow cooker keeps all that steamy goodness right inside, so everything is perfectly moist. No extra liquid required!
- It’s important to keep in mind that every slow cooker cooks a bit differently – some run hotter and cook faster than others.
Special Tools Needed To Make BBQ Pulled Chicken:
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate and member of other qualifying programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Slow Cooker: We really love this model. It has multiple functions, cooks evenly, and has rave reviews on Amazon.
What to serve with crockpot BBQ chicken:
Anything that goes well with pulled pork is going to go great with this slow cooker barbecue chicken!
Our favorites are my classic macaroni salad recipe, cheesy ranch potatoes, and Instant Pot mac and cheese. For dessert, this banana pudding seems like a win.
Yes! Back in the day it may not have been safe as older slowc cookers took too long to heat up, but modern slow cookers heat food quickly enough to avoid the ‘danger zone.’
All slow cookers cook a bit differently, so you can’t rely on just timing alone. You’ll know your chicken is fully cooked when it’s tender enough to easily shred apart with a fork.
Yes, you just want to give it plenty of time to cook through! In this recipe, you’ll likely need to increase the cook time to 6-8 hours if starting with frozen chicken breasts.
This slow cooker barbecue chicken comes out tender, juicy, sweet, and tangy. The red pepper flakes add a bit of heat, but we don’t find it overwhelming at all. Feel free to reduce the amount of red pepper to suit your tastes.
Give this crockpot BBQ chicken recipe a try and let me know what you think! Snap a photo of your dinner and tag me at #bunsinmyoven on Instagram!
More Crockpot Recipes:
- Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
- Slow Cooker Ribs
- Crockpot Chicken and Gravy
- Crockpot Lasagna
- Crockpot Smothered Pork Chops
- Slow Cooker Pork Roast
Crockpot BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 6 hamburger buns
- 1 recipe coleslaw
Instructions
- Add the chicken breasts to a slow cooker.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Pour the barbecue sauce mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is easily shred with a fork.
- Spoon the chicken onto the sandwich buns and top with coleslaw just before serving.
Kieran says
Hi Karly, thanks for the recipe I look forward to trying it. How would the ingredients change if you was using the Sweet Baby Ray sauce? Thanks!
Karly says
Hi Kieran! No changes at all.
Kieran says
Perfect – thanks! How much do you add?
Karly says
Hi Keiran! Just follow the recipe. It already calls for bottled BBQ sauce added to the rest of the ingredients.
Tori says
So good! This will be my go-to from now on! At first I thought the sauce was thin too. But I tried it as-is and it was juicy and delicious! I had almost 2 1/2 lbs chicken breasts (just two large ones) so I cooked it more like 8 hours. Perfect!!
Richie says
Thank you, I look forward to trying this. One question, I don’t have onion powder at my home right now. Do you think chopping up an onion and adding it to the crockpot will have a similar effect on the taste?
Either way, will let you all know how it turns out.
Karly says
Yes, that would work for sure! My family is picky about onion chunks so I usually go for the onion powder. 😉
Diedra says
I made this and it was perfect. Other recipes (on other blogs) have made the chicken too stringy and not very tasty. I’ll be making this one again.
David Friess says
Recipe is delicious and the chicken is juicy and tender but the BBQ sauce is a bit thinner than I prefer but other than that I will definitely do this one again.
Karly says
You could add in a bit of cornstarch to thicken it up, if you like. 🙂 Remove the chicken, add the cornstarch, and whisk well. Cook on high heat until thickened.
Ivory says
We eat pull pork, BBQ everything, and this recipe will be a pleasure to add to our must eat list. Thanks for sharing.
Hyeon Jeong | Gilded Gingerbread says
Yum yum yum yum yum! Drooling looking at this. Sweet Baby Ray’s is my favourite sauce. Thanks for the recipe. ??
Kristy Murray says
I love your site! You have great recipes and photos. This BBQ Chicken looks fantastic and the crockpot is for sure a bonus!
Tori//Gringalicious.com says
Omg, my family would love this recipe! You basically had me sold at crockpot. I love simple dinners!
Anna says
The bbq chicken looks so good, I will be making it soon. I had to check out your macaroni salad because it looks a lot like the one I grew up eating. It is almost the same!!! We add some olive juice with the mayo and diced green peppers. It is so different from others but it is what macaroni salad is to me. I was so happy to see your recipe.
Karly says
Ooh, I bet olive juice makes a great addition to the macaroni salad!
Sue says
Looks very good and so easy.. Would it be ok to use chicken thighs. or only good with chicken breasts?? thank you for recipe..
Karly says
Chicken thighs should be fine. 🙂
Sue Erskine says
Thank you for your fast reply… Sue
mjskitchen says
So simple and so tasty! I don’t have a slowcooker, but I don’t mind doing it the old-fashioned way. Great BBQ Chicken! And we’re moving into that season where I start craving BBQ sandwiches.
Karly says
Yes! BBQ all the things! 🙂