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Barbecue Chicken Sliders

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These sliders are a huge hit for parties, week night dinners or late night snacks!  The barbecue sauce is rich, thick, sweet and smoky and provides a perfect bath for the chicken to soak in.  Make these immediately!!  

Ingredients

Scale

Chicken**

  • 4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 4 – 5 cups shredded chicken
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

Barbecue Sauce

  • 1 – 2 teaspoons olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of your pan
  • 4 teaspoons chili powder (I use ancho) *
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • ½ cup molasses
  • ½ cup brown sugar or honey
  • 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced / grated
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

Season the chicken breasts liberally with salt and pepper.  I’d say a good 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Set aside.

In a large sauté pan over medium/low heat, add the olive oil and chili powder, cumin, coriander and paprika.  Stir the spices constantly to bloom and allow the flavor to develop.  Stir this for about a minute or until they become fragrant.  Next, add the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar/honey, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic and chicken stock and bring it to a simmer.  Season it with salt and pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper).  Stir it constantly to try to avoid burning it.  Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce thickens up a bit.

Once the sauce thickens, add the seasoned chicken nestling it right into the sauce.  Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low for 25 – 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (internal temp 165 degrees F).  When chicken is done, remove it from the pan and set aside for 5 minutes before shredding it.  Keep the pan uncovered and over medium low heat and simmer again until thick.  

Meanwhile, shred the chicken and then add it back to the sauce and toss to combine.  

Serve this on top of small slider rolls with cabbage slaw with creamy yogurt sauce homemade (or store bought) pickles and potato chips. 

Notes

**If you don’t want to cook the chicken, buy a good quality rotisserie one!  Shred up all the chicken instead of only using the breasts. Save the bones for stock!!

*If you don’t want this to be a spicy sauce, leave the chili powder out.  Although I typically use ancho chili powder in place of all chili powder recommendations.  It’s mild enough that even my kids enjoy it.

*It will take you about 5 minutes to prep and then it took me about 10 minutes to shred 5 chicken breasts.

This recipe was adapted from Kelsey Nixon’s Instant Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken Sliders

Keywords: barbecue chicken, bbq chicken, sandwiches, sandwich

Find it online: https://amysblissfulkitchen.com/barbecue-chicken-sliders/