This is an easy Dutch oven shredded chicken recipe that makes a great chicken slider. Put your Dutch Oven to work for this wonderfully easy BBQ Pulled Chicken. Classic in flavor with a tangy twist, and popular with all. Your hungry party crowd will thank you.
And speaking of easy chicken dinner, don’t miss this recipe for Rotisserie Chicken Tacos.
What You Can Expect From This Recipe
- Who: Who is this recipe for? For home cooks, whether beginner, intermediate or expert, looking for an easy, versatile and flavorful shredded chicken recipe.
- What It Is: This large batch recipe works very well for feeding that hungry game day crowd, or for dividing into portions for meal prep.
- How To Make It: Mix together the sweet and tangy BBQ sauce ingredients, peel and quarter some onion. Place chicken breasts in your Dutch Oven. Top with onions and BBQ sauce and bake for 1 ½ hours. All that’s left to do is shred the chicken and grab some slider buns.
- Why You’ll Love It: The unique ingredients in this BBQ sauce is a perfect blend of sweet and tangy. It’s a super easy, one pot recipe to make for a really tasty weeknight dinner, or perfect party food. I can’t imagine anyone turning up their nose at this one. It’s perfect.
Why Use A Dutch Oven For Shredded Chicken?
- First of all, I think it’s easier than making it in the Crock Pot. It’s faster and works just as well for tender juicy, fall-apart meat.
- Using a good quality heavy Dutch Oven is a perfect vessel to build flavors on each other, combining the chicken-y juices with the stellar lineup of flavors in the BBQ Sauce. A good Dutch oven and it’s heavy lid traps moisture and marries those flavors beautifully.
- One pot meal = easy cleanup.
Perfect Shredded Chicken Sliders
I like to serve Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken as sliders. Who can argue with little hand held shredded chicken slider topped with a scoop of coleslaw? Easy to eat and easy on the palate.
In a nutshell, Dutch Oven shredded chicken tossed in a lively BBQ sauce is piled into soft buns and smothered with creamy coleslaw for some delicious sandwiches. Let your Dutch Oven do all of the work and to please that crowd.
Table of contents
- What You Can Expect From This Recipe
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- Step by Step Instructions – It’s SO Easy
- Question You May Have
- Meal Prep and Storage
- What Goes With Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken Sliders?
- Topping Ideas
- More Ways To Use Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken
- Recipe For Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken
- Related Recipes
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ve probably got all the ingredients on hand to make Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken.
- A combination of boneless skinless Chicken Breasts and Chicken Thighs: You can use all breast meat or all thigh meat. I’ve made it with all chicken breasts, or a combo. Both work well.
- Pineapple Juice
- Hot Sauce: Your favorite brand.
- Ketchup
- Onion: Sweet onion or yellow onion is recommended.
- BBQ Sauce: Use your favorite brand. For us, I usually grab Stubbs Brand. For a very special treat, make your own bbq sauce like I do for BBQ Meatballs. It’s totally scrumptious.
- Brown Sugar: Either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work here. Dark Brown Sugar will give you a richer molasses -ish flavor.
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Slider Buns
Ingredient Subs and Swaps
- Pineapple Juice: I recommend using pineapple juice for this recipe, but if you want, substitute orange juice.
- Vinegar: You can use about any type of vinegar here. White vinegar will work just fine, a red-wine vinegar would be a good choice, and if you have Sherry Vinegar, give that a try. Sherry vinegar will bring a special and beautiful rich flavor.
- Buns: The end flavor of this bbq chicken is a sweet one, so I usually choose regular slider buns. But for a sweeter experience, Kings Hawaiian Slider buns would be a popular choice.
Choose bone in chicken. Whenever a bone is involved, there’s more flavor involved. It will just make the task of shredding the chicken a little bit more time intensive.
Step by Step Instructions – It’s SO Easy
Let your Dutch Oven do the work for you by simply adding boneless skinless chicken and bbq sauce, voila = easy Dutch Oven pulled chicken.
- Step 1: Add pineapple juice, hot sauce, ketchup, bbq sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce to a small bowl.
- Step 2: Using a fork or a whisk, mix and stir until well blended.
- Step 3: Add the chicken breasts and quartered onions to the Dutch Oven.
- Step 4: Pour in the BBQ Sauce mixture. Cook 1 ½ hours, covered.
- Step 5: Remove the cooked chicken to a cutting board or sheet pan. Using two forks, shred the chicken for the pulled chicken sliders. Shred small enough to fit on a slider bun. Add about a cup of the sauce from the Dutch Oven and stir well.
Question You May Have
Yes, Unfortunately this is not a dump it and leave it type of meal to cook all day for when you get home from work. Unlike tougher pieces of meat like a pot roast, you can over-cook chicken breasts. Even though they’re swimming in liquid, cooking chicken breasts too long will result in a dry texture. Don’t cook the chicken more than 4 hours.
If you’re short on time, rotisserie chicken would be a good option for shredded chicken sliders. Just place the bbq sauce ingredients into a medium saucepan. Simmer the bbq sauce for about 15 minutes so that it will blend flavors and thicken. Add the shredded chicken and heat through.
Absolutely not. Unless you want to risk salmonella poisoning. Only used thawed chicken for Dutch Oven pulled chicken. Why? Frozen chicken will not likely reach the temperature of 165 within the "safe window" of time in the Dutch Oven. It’s just too risky.
This chicken will be so tender, using two forks works well here. Just use the pull apart method with the forks facing down. Your hands are also good tools here. I’ve also seen people use a stand mixer. Just place the chicken meat in a large bowl and beat on a low speed.
Pro Tip: Some chicken breasts are injected with a water solution for "plumping" reasons. If you have purchased these you will find it swimming in liquid once it's cooked. Purchase high quality chicken breasts (recommended) for this recipe. You'll find the chicken at Whole Foods or reputable quality butcher shops are natural without injected liquids. The end result will be a chicken cooking in natural juices.
Meal Prep and Storage
- Meal Prep: I always love a recipe that you can make on a leisurely Sunday and divide into portions for meal prep for the week. Once the chicken is shredded and cooled to room temperature, divide into freezer safe containers or freezer bags. I like to fill zip-lock style bags, squeeze the air out, seal well, then lay flat in the freezer to optimize freezer safe.
- Defrost: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat individual servings. The 50% power feature on the microwave is your best friend here. Just heat in 30 second increments until warmed.
- Storage: Shredded chicken will keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What Goes With Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken Sliders?
In a perfect world, we’d have access to fresh grown sweet corn and watermelon year round. Here are some other side dish ideas if you’re making this recipe during Winter months.
Topping Ideas
Coleslaw seems like a natural for a traditional topping for these bbq shredded chicken sliders. I’m picky about coleslaw and like this Bobby Flay Coleslaw Recipe. But have some fun and offer guests a selection of toppings.
- Smashed avocado.
- Dill pickles or spicy pickles.
- Slices of fresh or pickled jalapeno.
- Red Onion. Even though you have cooked onion in the cooked bbq sauce, a slice of red onion for a topping will add a nice crunch and bold flavor.
- If you want to add a creamy topping experience, consider a drizzle of Jalapeno Aioli.
More Ways To Use Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken
Think outside that bun. Aside from the classic bbq chicken sandwich, here are some more ideas.
- BBQ Chicken Wraps: Use a flour tortilla or a wrap and roll with lettuce, avocado, and cheddar.
- Grilled Cheese: Layer bbq chicken and cheddar between two slices of bread. Butter the outsides of the bread and toast in a skillet.
- BBQ Chicken Quesadillas: Layer some bbq chicken, cheese on a flour or corn tortilla and fry up crispy. Take a look at my post for Corn Tortilla Quesadillas for tips on how to make them.
- Pizza: BBQ shredded chicken works really well as a topping for BBQ Chicken Pizza.
Recipe For Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken
If you’re looking for an incredibly easy shredded chicken recipe to feed a crowd, consider this Dutch Oven version. It’s such a great recipe for feeding a football crowd, or to take to a pot luck gathering.
It’s an easy sliders recipe that is guaranteed to wow that crowd. And don’t miss my Chicken Recipe Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes including the most favorite on my site for my Chicken Mushroom and Spinach Skillet.
Related Recipes
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Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups ketchup
- ½ cup barbecue sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- Tabasco sauce to taste abut 4 shakes for us
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 pounds Boneless skinless chicken breasts or a combo of boneless thighs and breasts
- 2 medium onions peeled and cut into fourths
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
- 16 Slider buns
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Spray inside of Dutch Oven with cooking spray. Add chicken pieces and quartered onions. Pour sauce over chicken and onions.
- Cook chicken for 1 ½ hours. Remove chicken from Dutch Oven and shred with two forks.
- Add about a cup of the sauce from the Dutch Oven to the shredded chicken. If there's not too much liquid in the pot, return the meat to the pot and set on warm. Serve on heated or grilled buns with coleslaw or guacamole.
Notes
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Shredded Chicken Sliders … They’re Whats For Dinner
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Thanks, Lea Ann.. Your BBQ chicken recipe was a great fix the day before our friends from home came. We went down town to the art museum- an all day trip and this meal was a snap to serve. OK, yes my husband Jim prepared it for me and we both agreed we would fix it again 😊. I may be careful about how much brown sugar to use but mainly consider how sweet the Brand of BBQ since they vary. Actually the buns tend to mellow this so not a problem. Thanks again, Lea Ann for this great recipe
What a terrific recipe! Really like the idea of chicken sliders, and these look totally delish. Winner!
I want to make these but have some questions. What brand and flavor of Bbq sauce was it Stubbs? Also did you use light or dark brown sugar? Also was the pineapple juice fresh, canned, sweetened or unsweetened? What type of buns did you use? Thanks for your prompt reply.
Katherine
Hi Katherine. Sorry for the poor instruction in the recipe. I will update it soon. I usually use Stubbs or K.C. Masterpiece. Light brown sugar. Canned pineapple juice, sweetened and use small hamburger buns.
loving the pineapple juice and summer is the best time for crockpots, no oven. I love yellow watermelons!!
That darn yellow watermelon was fabulous. And so pretty on the plate.
So glad you liked this Lea Ann. I appreciate the feedback. It is not quite Carolina BBQ but could be if you add more vinegar. Your plate looks delicious!
I appreciate the recipe Penny! DEElicious.
Gorgeous! I love the yellow watermelon! I’ve been thinking about making BBQ chicken sandwiches, I’ll have to try this!
That yellow watermelon was really really good. It came from my CSA, Monroe Farms.
These sandwiches look delicious. I bet the pineapple juice added an unexpected bright flavor.
I loved that addition of pineapple juice.
Nah, just 3 Tbsp isn’t enough vinegar for a Carolina kick, those use Vinegar as one of the main components. It sounds like a good sauce too me but I’d have to try it.
I’ve had carolina sauce once and do remember a much stronger vinegar flavor. This is a great recipe for a crockpot meal Chris. I’m sure nothing like a “real” smoked barbeque chicken recipe.
This sounds perfect. Since I go back to school next week 🙁 I’m looking for easy slow cooker recipes!
They’re great for quick dinners when you get home. Hope you like this recipe Pam.
I am totally with you – I’m printing this out for this weekend! Delicious looking plate, all that yellow is gorgeous and makes me want a bite of everything. I would love to try that corn, but I’m pretty sure it’s not available up here, darn it!
I doubt it’s available in MT, but heck, I think all sweet corn is wonderful.
I hope so, because I have EIGHT stalks of corn starting to produce. I am cracking up about this tiny crop of corn – my garden had a rough start with a goofy spring and and a rare hail storm. I don’t even know if 8 plants will pollinate okay, but I’ll be assisting that process in hopes of harvesting freshly picked corn. 🙂
I wish your corn crop all kinds of luck Vickie. This weather has been a challenge for everyone. Including my poor little tomato plants.
Your plate looks delicious – it’s great to have access to nice fresh veggies. Our last patch of corn should be ready next week. If I were making the dish, I’d consider adding a little liquid smoke to the sauce for more of a cooked in a smoker flavor.
I love your liquid smoke idea Larry …. that’s why they pay you the big bucks. 🙂
Can’t beat using a crock pot during the summer… it’s always nice to have dinner ready without a lot of work. The sauce here sounds good… like the addition of pineapple juice!
I thought the pineapple juice was a winner.