The Best Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken.
{Today I’m partnering with Dixie to bring you this easy slow cooker BBQ chicken, it’s my family’s favorite!}
Slow Cooker. BBQ. Chicken. Meaning… no oven – no fuss. Yes, please.
Happy Saturday everyone! Seeing that we are at the height of BBQ season, I wanted to share a special post with you all today. This is one of my family’s favorite BBQ recipes. If any of you happen to know about my family even a little, than you know we have some of the pickiest eaters around as part of our clan. My younger brother, Kai has gone twenty-one years without eating a fresh peach slice or wedge of watermelon, and my mother will not go anywhere near fish (neither will Creighton, Trevor, Kai, or Asher…). So you see, I have some seriously picky eaters to deal with.
When I make a simple (but still delicious) meal like this BBQ chicken all of my family is suddenly at my house and ready to eat. It’s like they the know the days I am cooking “their” kind of food. And when I make cocktails? I swear some of them have a cocktail radar on me. They just know what’s happening down at the barn and the second I finish up shooting, ah wait, scratch that…they’re here long before I finish shooting, just frothing at the mouth, waiting for their drinks. <–yep, my family everyone.
Anyway, on days when the entire family (and friends) show up, that’s when I break out my Dixie Ultra Strong paper plates. Not going to lie, I hate doing dishes like no other, and my Ultra Strong Dixie plates save the day for big summertime family meals outside, and summer BBQ’s with friends. They work especially well when serving up extra saucy foods like this BBQ chicken. Because let’s be real, no one wants to clean twenty plus plates that have been piled high with extra saucy BBQ chicken, slaw, corn, bread, etc.
I mean, right? Ah yeah, most definitely.
This is one of those recipes that I’ve been wanting to share with you guys for some time now, but just haven’t had the chance. It’s a recipe I make at least once a month, one because everyone loves it, and two, because it’s so simple and easy to throw together. While I do make this chicken all year round, I especially love it in the summer months. I know grilling is huge right now, but sometimes I just need an easy dinner that won’t heat up my house and will be ready for eating after a long day hiking or being outside.
Plus, with our big fam, summer parties almost never leave enough room on the grill. Cooking the chicken in the crockpot frees up space for corn, veggies, or whatever else I might be grilling. Love this!
OKok. So I think we all get why a summer slow cooker recipe is a must, but let’s actually chat about why this chicken is SO good.
There are two very important key players to this BBQ chicken recipe.
Key player #1: Homemade BBQ sauce, YUM. But you guys, don’t worry it is so simple and easy. Just mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and DONE. No cooking and almost no time involved. And the best part? It is 110% more delicious than anything you can buy in the store.
Trust me on this.
Key player #2: The spice rub…it’s essential. It’s a rough recipe handed down to me from one of my mom’s friends Mrs. Mooney (whom you may or may not remember from this gumbo). Her secret is using just a touch of cinnamon, which gives the otherwise spicy BBQ chicken a nice warmth that leaves everyone going back for more.
Again, just trust me, it’s delish.
And that’s it. Just toss the chicken in the spice rub, add the BBQ sauce, slow cook for a few hours and you’ll have the most perfect, moist, tender, and extra saucy BBQ chicken.
You can use the shredded chicken to make sandwiches or tacos or spoon the chicken over rice or polenta (my mom’s personal favorite). You can even use the chicken as a topping for pizza and flatbread. Really…the options are endless.
Oh, and a side of grilled corn is kind of a must if you ask me. Just sayin’.
PS. Be sure to check out the #RaisingTheBBQ event today in Kansas city or tune in on Dixie’s Facebook Live feed.
Have a great Saturday!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
The Best Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
By halfbakedharvest
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken dinner, easy recipe, slow cooker recipe
This bbq chicken really is the best!
Ingredients
BBQ Sauce
- 1 1/4 cups ketchup, preferably organic
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and pepper
BBQ Chicken
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thighs or a mix of the two
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
-
1. To make the BBQ sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 months.
2. To make the chicken. Place the chicken in the bowl of a crockpot. Add the honey, smoked paprika, chipotle chile powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat the chicken. Pour in half of the BBQ sauce. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours.
3. Once the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the sauce and shred with two forks, return the chicken to the sauce and toss, adding more of the reserved sauce as desired. Serve over rice or as sandwiches alongside your favorite sides.
Recipe Notes
*4-8 hours cooking time required (depends on settings)
{This post is sponsored by Dixie. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Half Baked Harvest cooking!!}
Perfect as always ! Thank you so much !
So happy you like them as always (: Thank you!
How can I make this recipe if I don’t own a slow cooker? Can I just cook it on the stove and adjust the cooking time?
Hey Ema! Yes, cooking on the stove will work great! Just add everything to a large pot and simmer over medium until the chicken is cooked through, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, 1-2 hours more or until you want to eat. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the chicken!
Love all that smoky flavor from the paprika and chipotle! I used those same plates for a bbq yesterday 🙂 I made pulled pork, but I”ll be trying this recipe next time.
Sounds so fun and yummy! Hope this one is just as good next time, thanks Lauren!
Love bbq and grilled corn. YUM!!
Thank you!!
Mmmmm, me like diss!! Haha!! Honestly never thought to make ‘pulled’ chicken before, and I particularly like the sneaky way you’ve made it so that we will all be making some kind off BBQ meat dish within the next 2 months of making this recipe, by only using half of the sauce! Genius ?
YAY!! SO happy you are liking the chicken Tim! Hope you guys love it, thanks !
I use a conversion chart for changing oven time to slow cooker, so it should surely work in reverse.
oven; 15-30min slow; 4-6hr high;2-3hr
35-45min 6-8hr 3-4hr
50-3hr 8-10hr 4-6hr
Hope this helps.
Ooo! Thanks so much for converting the times!
Why only use half of the sauce ?
Hi Linda! The remaining sauce is used at the end of the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love the chicken!
I have to experience more with my slow cooker, would you recommend this for a party served on sliders and garnished with coleslaw.
Hi! Yes, this chicken served on a slider with coleslaw would be great for a party. Love that idea! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love the chicken! 🙂
Tieghan! This looks delish! We are going camping with 10 people and I am going to make this! How many sandwiches do you think the 2 1/2 pounds of chicken would yield?? It seems like enough for 10 but I don’t wanna run out!
Hey Nikki! I think this make at least 10 sandwiches, but it you wanted to be safe, you could up the chicken to 3 1/2 pounds. There is enough seasoning and sauce for that amount of chicken. Let me know if you have questions. I hope the chicken is a huge hit!
Sounds really good have to try it!
Hope you love it, thank you!
The recipe looks good. I will try it tommorw
Hope you love it, thank you Shirley!
Thanks for the recipe, I’m on my way to making it, bbq sauce – done and i must say it’s delish, it’s sweet but my family loves sweet bbq. This is going to be a very simple and easy throw together meal, the ones i love the best.
Ooo! Perfect, I hope you guys all really enjoy it! Thanks for making it Jules!
Mine is in the slow cooker as i type..the sauce is perfect with a sweet honey molasses and smoky cinammon bite..saw this today and made it..thank you for sharing your recipe!
So happy you decided to make it Mike! I hope you love it! Thank you (:
How many people would this feed?
This will feed 8-10 people. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the recipe!
I love homemade BBQ sauce (just made some recently myself!), and this recipe is seriously making my mouth water!
Ah yes its the best!! Hope you get to try it!
I made this for dinner last night- just fabulous! I put mine in a taco and have it over rice for lunch today. The BBQ is absolutely wonderful. Thanks for a great easy recipe!!
SO SO happy you liked it Sam! Sounds like a delicious way to prepare it! Thank you!
On your quantities for salt and pepper is that equal amounts of each? Seems like a lot of pepper to Mr.
It’s equal amounts, but please feel free to use as little or as much pepper as you’d like. Let me know if you have questions.
Some of the earliest cowboy sauces used a little coffee in them. it intensifies the molasses and chili taste. Put a couple spoonfuls of hot coffee in the sauce to get the Kansas City flavor to burst wide open
That sounds like a pretty awesome touch to BBQ! Thanks Stan!
PS: It looks like it would be good on pulled pork. Did you try this recipe on that?
Pulled pork would be amazing!
Hello, writing you from France where barbecues are summer favorites … but usually with Dijon mustard and not these sweet delicious american flavors!
So I made this chicken last night, put a little less sugar and honey (in order not to scare anyone away) and and we. all. loved. it!
Thanks for this easy, cook-by-itself recipe which I will try with pork and asian flavors next time.
PS-Your blog is amazing, keep up the mouth-watering recipe & photos!
Awh so happy everyone enjoyed it! Thank you so much means a lot (:
In the cooker! I’ll report back in 6 hours 🙂
Ooo!! Hope you love it!
This was delicious, and so easy to make too! I cut back on the honey and the brown sugar in the sauce, as we aren’t big sweet fans. Also, I used part of the sauce to make barbecued tofu for sandwiches, since we are a mixed family, and it was really good there too (drain the tofu, slice it into thin strips, saute in olive oil and then simmer in barbecue sauce to cover. Both meat and tofu were served on toasted pretzel buns topped with coleslaw. Thanks for a great recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Vivian! Oh and with tofu sounds so yummy as well! Thanks so much! ?
How would you do this with a whole chicken? Would you break it down first or just increase time in the slow cooker?
I would break the chicken down first for a more even cooking time. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love the chicken!
Truthfully, there is nothing about this recipe i should like but it sounded good so I decided to try it. I made and now it is a family favorite! Everything I normally don’t like, smoky paprika, Chipotle, and spicy, I now love! This will be a weekly dish on our table.
Wow so glad to hear that! Thank you so much Deborah!
Hi Teighan!! I’ve made this BBQ Chicken before and absolutely LOVE it! I am making it this week for our “Framily” and would love to know if you have any suggestions on making this BBQ sauce Keto-friendly?
Thanks!
Do you add something else than this chicken to those sandwiches?
HI! I just serve the chicken on toasted bread. Normally I add a spicy corn salad or slaw! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! x Tieghan
Could you freeze this after cooking? I think I may try it. Perhaps after I’ve thawed the cooked meal add some more bbq sauce upon heating?
Hey Emily! Yes, you can freeze after cooking, then thaw and add more BBQ sauce to revive it a bit. That will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! x Tieghan
Sounds fabulous! I received an Instant Pot for Christmas, but I haven’t used it yet. Would this recipe work in an Instant Pot??
HI! I am sure it would be fine in the instant pot. I would cook in high pressure for 12 minutes. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan, I noticed you recommend 12 minutes on high pressure if using an instant pot. Would you do a natural or quick release with that? I ask because I don’t cook with chicken very often. Thank you!
Hi Rachel! I typically use the quick release, but natural release will work too! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I made this in the instant pot (1 pound of chicken breast for 20 minutes and then quick release). I added a little water to make sure there was enough steam (I added about 1/2 cup water but only 1/4 cup would have probably been ok because I had to thicken the sauce at the end on sauté mode).
This was awesome! I wish I hadn’t halved the recipe because we only had one serving left for lunch the next day. I liked the sweetness from the cinnamon. We will definitely make this regularly. I put a little coleslaw on the sandwich which gave it some crunch. Yum!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Amber! Thank you for giving it a try! xTieghan
This is literally THE BEST barbecue chicken recipe I’ve ever made. So easy, so flavorful – I will be making it again and again!
Thank you so much Jennifer! xTieghan
This was really good, very flavorful and smelled amazing while cooking. I’m not sure if I need to cut back on cayenne or if my chipotle chili powder might’ve been the culprit but this was pretty spicy so I’ll modify slightly next time. Served on Hawaiian rolls, so the sweetness balanced out the spice! Cooked 6 hours on low and it was perfect. Didn’t add anymore BBQ sauce at the end but I probably poured about 3/4 on to start and shredded it in all the juices a few minutes before serving. Plan to use leftovers for a BBQ chicken pizza…
Amazing!! So glad this turned out so well for you Megan! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Yummiest pulled chicken I’ve ever eaten! She’s right, the cinnamon totally makes this dish even more amazing…the only thing I tweaked was adding a diced onion to the crock pot. I used 1/2 chicken breast and 1/2 thighs…I’m going to be making this a LOT 🙂
Yes!! So happy to hear that! Thank you so much Suzanne! xTieghan
This was easy to make with items we have on hand during this quarantine, and my whole family enjoyed it. Thank you!
Thank you so much Julie! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hi there! I have made your BBQ sauce recipe before and it is great. Could I do the chicken in the instant pot? How much more liquid (besides the BBQ sauce) would I have to add? Thank you!
PS- I just made your crispy chipotle tacos with the lime cilantro sauce and they were the BEST I ever made. Thank you for that recipe.
Hi Juliet,
I have not tested this recipe in the instant pot so I am not sure how it will come out. I would recommend adding an extra 1/2 cup of water to the pot. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
If we don’t have time to make the homemade barbecue sauce, do you have a recommendation for how much store-bought sauce we should have on hand instead?
Hey Shannon,
I would say about a jar or two of bbq sauce depending on how large they are! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This is an excellent recipe and so easy to make. The chicken was moist and the bar-b-que sauce delish! Will make this again.
Thank you so much Kathi! xTieghan
Could you turn this into a bbq pulled pork recipe?
Hey Gabrielle,
Sure that would work. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Is there a way to do this in the insta-pot, to speed up the process??
Hey Emily,
I would cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I used both bone in thighs and boneless breast. Super good. I put over cilantro lime rice which was also a great combo. I will definitely make again!
Hey Judy,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
So easy and so, so delicious. My husband says this is his new favorite pulled chicken and he’s picky!
Hey Bianca,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan