A flavorful recipe for Crockpot barbecue chicken that cooks in the slow cooker while you go about your day! This easy Crockpot BBQ chicken recipe can be served as pulled BBQ chicken for sandwiches and sliders or leave the chicken breasts whole and serve with your favorite sides.
I had to dust off the old crockpot yesterday. Now that school has started back, so has gymnastics, karate, piano, and homework. Busy days mean that I become a shuttle bus and the crockpot becomes my best friend. I don't know what I would do without this lifesaver appliance this time of year. I decided to make this simple Crockpot Barbecue Chicken in the morning, so we can come home to a good healthy meal without a lot of prep or fuss. This also happens to be one of the kid's favorite meals.
Healthy slow cooker recipes keep us from grabbing fast food on hectic days. This Crockpot chicken recipe is a quick and easy weeknight staple. A few more family Crockpot favorite recipes are Crockpot Southern Style Barbecue, Crockpot Southwest Beef Roast, and this Simple Crockpot Italian Chicken.
Side Dish Ideas For Crockpot BBQ Chicken
I love to serve this barbecue chicken with baked sweet potatoes and southern vinegar slaw. You can also shred it and serve on whole wheat or brioche buns for an epic sandwich. A few more delicious side dish ideas for this recipe would be lightened-up southern macaroni and cheese, Roosevelt baked beans (they are SO good...definitely could be a meal in itself!), or sweet potato fries. You also can never go wrong with avocado deviled eggs or Texas caviar!
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken breasts- boneless and skinless
- Butter- extra virgin olive oil can be used here, too
- Premade barbecue sauce- go with your favorite brand here. I like to change it up with different sauces and flavors
- Fresh green pepper- finely chopped
- Sweet onion- finely chopped
- Fresh garlic- minced
- Can of crushed pineapple- drained well
- Spices-smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper add great flavor
- Non-stick cooking spray
Recipe Steps
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large pan on medium heat. Sauté green peppers and onions until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Spray the crockpot with olive oil cooking spray. Pour the barbecue sauce into the crockpot and add the green peppers and onions. Add the drained pineapple to the crockpot. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the sauté pan. Brown chicken breasts on one side over medium-high heat. Flip breasts over and add the garlic to the pan. Cook the garlic until lightly golden while browning the other side of the breasts, this takes about 2-3 minutes per side. Add garlic and chicken to the crockpot mixture, then season with smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir all together and cook for 6 hours on low. Serve with your favorite sides.
Look at all that saucy goodness. 🙂
Tips For Cooking Chicken In A Slowcooker
The best way to get good results when cooking any meat is to check the internal temperature for doneness. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F when cooked. In a slow cooker, this usually takes 3-4 hours on High and 6-7 hours on Low for boneless chicken breasts. I used smaller 4oz chicken breasts when making this recipe so it was cooked to a perfect shredding texture and internal temperature at 6 hours on Low. You may need to adjust the time to the size and thickness of the breasts you are using.
Recipe Tip
To keep things easy I use a premade barbecue sauce for this recipe, but if you want to take the time to make your own this homemade tomato soup BBQ sauce is the bomb! This has always been my mom's go-to BBQ sauce for grilled chicken and ribs and it's my all-time favorite. When choosing a store-bought sauce, I try to go for a barbecue sauce that is lower in sugar and made with real sugar, brown sugar, or molasses instead of high fructose corn syrup. This keeps the overall sugar and carb count lower for the recipe. Gourmet Warehouse Sweet Heat is a personal favorite.
Note: This post was originally published in August 2011. It has been updated throughout.
Crockpot Barbecue Chicken
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless organic chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoon butter or extra virgin olive oil
- 18 oz bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
- ½ green pepper chopped fine
- ½ large sweet onion chopped fine
- 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 10 oz canned crushed pineapple, drained
- Non-stick olive oil cooking spray
- 1 ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large pan on medium heat.
- Sauté green peppers and onions until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Spray the crockpot with cooking spray.
- Pour the barbecue sauce into the crockpot and add the green peppers and onions.
- Add the drained pineapple to the crockpot.
- Add the remaining tablespoon butter to the sauté pan.
- Brown chicken breasts on one side over medium-high heat.
- Flip breasts over and add the garlic to the pan. Cook the garlic until lightly golden and brown the other side of the breasts.
- Add garlic and chicken to the crockpot mixture and season with spices.
- Stir all together and cook for 6 hours on low.
- Serve with your favorite sides.
Nutrition
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Lark (SparkyLarky)@ Lark's Country Heart
Oh this looks finger licking good!
The Better Baker
Oh how I love BBQ...and the way this is dripping off the meat is soo inviting. thanks - those crockpots are great huh?
basilmomma: Heather Tallman
This looks awesome! Right up our alley! I am going to try it 🙂
Amee
thanks, ladies! 🙂 Yes, I do LOVE the crockpot!!
Anonymous
i very rarely buy herbs for my meals, because they are so expensive and don't keep long. Have any other substitutions or ideas?
Amee Livingston
I don't have any herbs in this recipe. You could substitute a tsp of garlic powder for the garlic, if you wish.
sakuracnd
How many does this recipe serve. I am always cooking for about 18 people....
Amee Livingston
This recipe only serves 6-8 people. I usually count about one breast per person.
Anonymous
What size can of crushed pineapple?
Amee Livingston
It's a 15.5oz can. Thank you for pointing this out, I added the size of the can to the recipe. 🙂
Chez LaLA
This looks so delish...and I love that there are not many ingredients !! 🙂
avril
Love the recipe but I'm in the UK so what size is "bottle" of sauce please?
Amee Livingston
Hi Avril! An 18 oz bottle would be perfect.
Catherine
We love this recipe! We shared it in our 25 Delicious Crockpot Meals for Busy Families roundup on The Shopping Mama!!
Amee Livingston
Thank you for including my recipe, Catherine!