Instant Pot BBQ Chicken is zesty and sweet, easily and quickly made in a pressure cooker. Pressure Cooker Zesty BBQ Chicken is perfect for weeknight meals.
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
With minimal ingredients, Instant Pot Zesty BBQ Pulled Chicken makes a great meal in your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker any night of the week, without any preparation or thought.We will be adding more “dump and push style” pulled chicken recipes, which are found in our Instant Pot Pulled Chicken Collection.
Cast of Ingredients for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
This is such a great recipe for a quick lunch or for a weekend gathering. The time it takes to prepare and cook is under 30 minutes. Kids love eating messy barbecue chicken and they will enjoy this recipe so much.
My very Easy Coleslaw recipe is always wonderful on top of the shredded chicken and adds another layer of flavor. Copycat KFC Coleslaw Recipe (like the restaurant) is also good with this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sandwich. Both of these coleslaw recipes are easy to throw together and can be made a couple of days in advance.
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Special Ingredients Needed for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken.
- Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce –Sweet Baby Ray’s is good and quite sweet. Stubb’s Mesquite BBQ Sauce is terrific and not quite as sweet.
- Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning gives the chicken sandwich a delicious kick of flavor.
Chop Up Onions
How to Make Instant Pot Barbecue Pulled Chicken.
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken is simple to make using an Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker.
Use a good knife to dice up the onions and trim and cut the chicken. Diced onions, chicken, seasonings and sauce are added.
The chicken cooks up quickly and is then shredded.
Onions Are Added to Pressure Cooker First
Can I use Only Chicken Thighs?
- Yes, you can and you will have a much juicier Instant Pot BBQ pulled chicken sandwich.
- Dark meat is juicer and much more forgiving when cooking in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker.
Place Chicken On Top of Onions
Can I use Frozen Chicken for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken?
- Yes, you can, but it does not come out as well.
- If you do use frozen chicken, please reduce the cook time by one minute.
- The Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker will take longer to come to pressure and therefore, you do not need to add time.
Can I Use Only Chicken Breasts for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken?
- Yes, of course, however, the Instant Pot BBQ won’t be as juicy as when using both dark and white meat chicken.
- As white meat chicken has less fat than dark meat chicken, it needs less of a cook time and a bit of water.
- For white meat chicken, the cook time is only 3 minutes.
Seasonings and Barbecue Sauce Over Chicken
How To Prevent Burn Notice Using BBQ Sauce
The chicken will give off plenty of liquid, so that the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker can come up to pressure.
The onions on the bottom will release water, which turns into steam. The onions are the first ingredient added to the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, so that there is a slight buffer on the bottom of the pot.
The barbecue sauce is spread over the chicken with a spatula to keep it on top. Once the cooking pot begins to heat up and water is released, the barbecue sauce will mix with the liquid and the chicken.
Chicken is Ready to Shred
Chicken gives off a ton of liquid. The liquid will be absorbed into the chicken as it is being shredded.
This makes for some very, very juicy chicken sandwiches.
Use Electric Hand Mixer to Shred Chicken
How to Shred Instant Pot BBQ Chicken.
- An electric hand held mixer is the best and easiest way to shred chicken.
- You will need some type of splatter guard, so that barbecue sauce doesn’t shoot out all over the place and make a mess.
- Alternatively, pulled pork claws or two forks work; it just takes longer.
Check my Instant Pot Shredded Buffalo Chicken recipe to see a video of shredding chicken with an electric mixer.
Tips and Tricks for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken.
- Add the diced onions to the pot first, to act as a buffer from the barbecue sauce and help the pot come to pressure.
- Use a combination of dark and white meat chicken for a perfect balance of flavor and juiciness.
- Use an electric hand held mixer to shred the chicken.
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
More Instant Pot BBQ Sandwiches to Love.
- Instant Pot BBQ Ranch Chicken
- Pressure Cooker Salsa Chicken w/ Cilantro Lime Rice
- Instant Pot Spicy Crack Chicken (Pressure Cooker)
- Pressure Cooker Chinese BBQ Char Siu Pulled Pork
- Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas {Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork}
There are at least six more pulled chicken recipes coming up. If you have an idea for another pulled chicken sandwich, let me know in the comments below and I will try to accommodate your request.
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot DUO Mini Plus 3 Quart Pressure Cooker
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
- Sweet Baby Ray’s, Stubb’s Mesquite BBQ Sauce or your favorite
- Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning
- Cuisinart Electric Hand Mixer – for baking and shredding chicken!
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 large Yellow/Brown Onion diced (1.5 cups or more)
- 1.5 pounds Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs trimmed and cut in half
- 1 pound Chicken Breasts Boneless/Skinless trimmed and cut in half
- 1 packet Good Seasons Zesty Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Dry/Ground Mustard Seed
- 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (optional for more zest)
- 18 ounces Barbecue Sauce
- 10 Hamburger Buns
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Instructions
- Add onions and chicken halves to pressure cooker cooking pot.
- Sprinkle on zesty Italian dressing and ground mustard.
- Pour in Worcestershire Sauce and Barbecue Sauce. Lightly mix the sauce to cover the top of chicken.
- Lock on lid and close pressure valve. Cook at high pressure for 4 minutes.
- When beep sounds, wait 5 minutes and then carefully release the rest of the pressure.
- Use an electric hand held mixer, pulled meat claws or two forks and shred the chicken. The liquid will absorb into the chicken as it is being shredded.
- Pile Instant Pot Zesty BBQ Chicken onto hamburger buns and top with slices of dill pickles.
Notes
How to Shred Instant Pot BBQ Chicken.
- An electric hand held mixer is the best and easiest way to shred chicken.
- You will need some type of splatter guard, so that barbecue sauce doesn't shoot out all over the place and make a mess.
- Alternatively, pulled pork claws or two forks work; it just takes longer.
White Meat v Dark Meat Chicken
- If you want to use all white meat chicken, remember that it has much less fat and cooks faster than dark meat. You may need to add a little extra liquid.
- When using both white and dark meat chicken, the BBQ Chicken will be much juicer.
- You can also use all dark meat chicken as well. We like the combo of using breasts and thighs
- If you do decide to use all white meat chicken breasts, use a 3 minute cook time instead.
Cooking with Little Liquid
There is so much liquid from just the chicken and onions, you really do not want to water it down by adding a liquid right away. The onions on the bottom will help as a barrier between the chicken so that the pot can easily come to pressure. Onions are very heavy with water and will release enough liquid. That being said, sometimes when cooking a recipe like this, which calls for no added liquid, you may need to push the lid down slightly after about 5 minutes, as this will help the pressure pin pop up.What To Serve with Instant Pot BBQ Chicken.
Nutrition
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Instant Pot BBQ Chicken (Pressure Cooker)
