Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken is fall apart tender cooked chicken breasts that are seasoned with a bbq dry rub, then cooked in your electric pressure cooker.
Pull it and shred it and then mix it up with your favorite BBQ sauce and serve it on a bun topped with delicious coleslaw for an amazing pulled chicken sandwich, which make a really easy dinner!
This pulled barbecue chicken would also be amazing on my BBQ Chicken Sliders!
If you love BBQ – definitely check out my Instant Pot Boneless BBQ Ribs! But, if you are looking for a non-barbecue pulled chicken, check out this recipe for Instant Pot All Purpose Pulled Chicken.
How to Make BBQ Pulled Chicken in the Instant Pot
Start by cutting your boneless skinless chicken breasts into 4 pieces each. This will allow more surface area for flavor! If you want to use a mix of chicken breasts and chicken thighs for a dark/white mix, you can absolutely do that!
Make a delicious bbq dry rub, which will impart extra bbq flavor! Mix together:
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon each: onion powder and garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
Sprinkle the dry rub on all sides of the chicken, pressing it in so it sticks.
In the Instant Pot pour 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ tablespoon cider vinegar, and 3 crushed garlic cloves. Place the seasoned chicken in the pot.
Using the trivet is optional.
Close the pot and set to cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
Do a 5 minute natural release and then finish with a quick release.
Frozen Chicken
Yes you can definitely use frozen chicken, however note that it will not be quite as tender.
Make sure that your chicken breasts are seperated and not frozen in one chunk.
Increase the cook time to 12 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Shred the Chicken
Remove the chicken from the pot and pull or shred it. My very favorite way to shred chicken is in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, it makes really quick work of it! Just make sure the chicken is warm and watch so it doesn’t over shred.
You can also shred it by using two forks pulling each chicken piece apart.
Add the BBQ Sauce
Mix your shredded chicken with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like a stickier KC style BBQ sauce . For this amount of chicken I use between ½ to ¾ cup sauce.
Serving your Pulled BBQ Chicken
My very favorite way to serve this chicken is on a bun for Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, top it with a little coleslaw and I am in heaven!
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Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 lbs fresh – boneless skinless chicken breast - each breast cut into 4 pieces (see frozen chicken notes below)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon each – onion powder & garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 fresh garlic cloves - crushed or smashed
- BBQ Sauce – your favorite brand or flavor
Serving
- Buns
Instructions
- Mix the BBQ dry rub in a small bowl – 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt , 1 teaspoon black pepper , ½ teaspoon onion powder , 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika.
- Sprinkle the dry rub on all sides of the cut chicken breasts. Press the seasoning in so it will stick to the chicken.
- Pour 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar and the crushed garlic cloves into the Instant Pot. Put all the seasoned chicken breasts in the Instant Pot
- Close the pot and lock the pressure valve in place. Set it to cook on pressure mode, high for 8 minutes.
- Do a 5 minute natural release, then do a quick release for any remaining pressure.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and shred/pull it. Kitchen Tip: put the warm chicken in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for easy and fast shredding!!! Discard the liquid in the pot.
- Mix the shredded chicken with desired amount of BBQ sauce. We like between ½-3/4 cup BBQ sauce.
- Serve on buns for amazing pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches.
Julie says
Made this once without the apple cider (I didn’t realize I had some!) and it still turned out sooo yummy even with frozen chicken. I’m making it again and was wondering if the recipe could be doubled? Thanks!
Susie Weinrich says
Definitely can be doubled, as long as it fits in your Instant Pot without going over the “max fill line”. You will not need to double the cook time.
Angie says
Can you make this recipe in the crockpot?
Susie Weinrich says
That should work- 3-4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.