Throw out your sugary store bought BBQ sauce because this Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken is going to blow your mind. An easy homemade sauce replaces that sugary store bought bbq sauce, mixed with chicken thighs and an onion it is cooked to perfection in the crockpot for a great BBQ pulled chicken!
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Healthy Barbecue Chicken Recipe
I love me a good barbecue, it is such a comforting food. Often associated with a beautiful summer evening with friends and family hanging out on the deck laughing, smelling the fragrant grill doing all of the hard work, but unfortunately that feeling doesn’t happen every night for dinner right?
That is where this delicious and easy slow cooker BBQ chicken comes into play. Whether you are just looking for a great weeknight meal or you are looking to ditch all of that sugar that comes in those store bought barbecue sauces this recipe is for you.
The first thing I wanted to do with this recipe is ditch the store bought sauce and the ungodly amounts of high fructose corn syrup they contain. Not that I am above a balanced lifestyle (hello, I cannot say no to ice cream) but when you are looking for a solid weeknight meal I don’t want it dripping in sugar.
So to avoid the store bought sauce I figured I would have to replicate a good clean bbq sauce myself to put with the chicken. So I started off by thinking about just making a good blend of spices close to what a ‘rib rub’ or barbecue rub would be. From there I thought about what style of sauce would be the least sugary, and a good vinegar based sauce much like a Carolina style was certainly my answer.
So from there I tested multiple variations of spices, vinegars, sauces, fruits, and pastes until I had a version I was happy with!
PLEASE NOTE: If you are expecting this to taste like store bought bbq sauce you might be let down. This is a refined-sugar free recipe and most bbq sauces are dependant on A LOT of sugar. This recipe is an alternative to those sugary sauces so the flavor might differ from what you are used to.
So What Ingredients are in Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken?
Great question. To start I chose to use chicken thighs, as far as texture and flavor goes that is what you are going to want to use if you want the best pulled chicken in general. A simple family pack of boneless skinless thighs does the trick perfectly.
Next I opted to include a diced onion in the chicken for flavor and texture. Just a simple white, yellow, or sweet onion diced up will do the trick perfectly.
Now for the sauce. For the base I opted to go with tomato paste. I tried tomato sauce and the chicken was way to watery and could have used a bit of a bolder flavor, so tomato paste won.
For the sweetener I stayed away from high fructose corn syrup and went with a can of crushed pineapple in 100% juice. I went with this for one of two reasons. Pineapple juice is apparently ‘the secret ingredient’ for the Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce and because I know crushed pineapple does wonders with shredded meats because I also used crushed pineapple in my Slow Cooker Chipotle Pineapple Carnitas.
For the vinegar I went with Apple Cider Vinegar, not to tangy but just enough to give this sauce the tang it needs.
And for the spices I went with a collection of paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, onion powder, and a dash of cayenne. Lastly I added a little liquid smoke extract, if you don’t have liquid smoke you can do without but I definitely think this plays big into the smokiness level of the final product. Liquid Smoke usually comes in either a hickory or mesquite flavor (I have hickory) and can usually be found near the pre-packed seasoning packets at our grocery store.
How to Make Barbecue Pulled Chicken in the Slow Cooker
To start you will need to make the quick sauce, in a mixing bowl add the tomato paste, pineapple, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Mix to combine the ingredients to create a sauce.
Add the chicken thighs, diced onion, and sauce to the slow cooker. Stir to combine to make sure all of the chicken thighs are covered in the sauce.
Set on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 until chicken starts to fall apart. I think this recipe actually does best on high for about 3 hours but low and slow works just as good!
Before eating shred the chicken with two forks. I think it tastes best if you let it rest in the sauce for a few minutes.
Best served with coleslaw and served over buns, in wraps, in grain bowls, on a sweet potato, or on its own. I personally love serving the coleslaw on top of the pulled chicken in the sandwich, it adds a great layer to the meal. You could use Vinegar Coleslaw Recipe or Coleslaw Recipe Without Celery Seed.
tips, tricks and questions
What to serve with BBQ Pulled Chicken?
A good Baked Potato or Sweet Potato is a great option. So are Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes! Or if you want to ditch the potatoes try my Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower.
Salads are perfect to serve along side this meal too. Healthier Bacon Ranch Potato Salad, Greek Quinoa Chickpea Salad, Marinated Chickpea Chopped Salad, and Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Strawberries are all great options.
If you like this Pulled Chicken Crockpot Recipe you might also like:
Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken
an easy homemade sauce replaces that sugary store bought bbq sauce perfect for BBQ pulled chicken in the slow cooker
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs ('family pack')
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 (6oz) can tomato paste
- 1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke*
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- dash cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl add tomato paste, pineapple, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Mix to combine to create a sauce.
- Add chicken thighs, onion, and sauce to the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Set on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 until chicken starts to fall apart.
- Before eating shread chicken with two forks, best if left to rest in the sauce for a few minutes. Best served with coleslaw, serve over buns, in wraps, in grain bowls, or on its own.
Notes
PLEASE NOTE: If you are expecting this to taste like store bought bbq sauce you might be let down. This is a refined-sugar free recipe and most bbq sauces are dependant on A LOT of sugar. This recipe is an alternative to those sugary sauces so the flavor might differ from what you are used to.
*optional but encouraged, liquid smoke is an extract that usually comes in hickory or mesquite, often found near the pre-packaged spice packets in the grocery store
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 328Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 208mgSodium: 463mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 2gSugar: 8gProtein: 43g
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This was delicious! Ive tried so many sugar free barbeque recipes and none of them have been edible. I was blown away by how awesome this tastes! And it was so easy too. Will definitely be making again.
So glad to hear Samantha! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! -Lauren
Cooking it right now, and it smells delicious. Had a quick taste and dang I’m so ready to devour it!
Yay! So glad you like it Jehadi!
What is the measurement of one serving?
roughly 1/8 of the dish, sorry I just realized I don’t have the true measurement, I will get that out soon
@Lauren Schmidt,
What is the serving side for this dish? I’m confused by the 1/8.
It is very good!!
LOVE this recipe– have made it for my picky husband 3 times now and we both really enjoy it. The only consistent issue that I have had is that the sauce itself is very runny and liquidy, and will often make the bun soggy very quickly. And suggestions on how to thicken it up a bit?
Great question, because soggy buns aren’t fun. My first instinct is to do what I do in my Crockpot Carnitas recipe, which is transfer the shredded chicken with about 1/4 cup of the sauce to a sheet pan and place it in the middle rack of the oven under the broil for about 5 minutes. Now I haven’t tried this so I cannot say how it will turn out because you might make your chicken too crispy doing it that way but I know with my carnitas is definitely solves the too much liquid problem. If you try this I would absolutely love to hear how it works. OR you could also try to thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry, mix together about 2 tablespoons of both water & cornstarch and then add it to the mixture at the end of cooking, this won’t give you less liquid but it will maybe thicken it so it isn’t as runny. Hope this helps and I am glad you enjoy the recipe!
I’m very confused. Your recipe states that this is sugar free, yet there is crushed pineapple in it which contains 15g sugar per half cup serving, so apparently it isn’t sugar free. Are you prepared with sugar free alternatives to the pineapple to make it a genuinely sugar free recipe?
This is a refined sugar free recipe, the pineapple will contain naturally occurring sugars, you could try the recipe without the pineapple but tomato paste also contains quite a bit of naturally occurring sugar. Sorry about the confusion.
Would this work with bone in thighs? And would I put the chicken in there raw, or boil first?
Bone-in thighs could work, only downside is that it might get messy if you are trying to shred the chicken off the bones. And you would put the chicken in raw.
Does the taste of the pineapple come through in the chicken’s flavor or is it just primarily used for its sweetness? I enjoy pineapple but others in my house don’t so just curious. Thanks in advance!
Oh good question, because the pineapple is crushed it kind of mixes throughout the chicken so luckily there isn’t huge chunks which helps but I do feel like there is definitely a hint of pineapple flavor in the dish. You could always try just pineapple juice instead of crushed pineapples, that might make the pineapple flavor a little more subtle? Hope that helps!
@Lauren Schmidt thank you! Can’t wait to try it
I don’t often cook the same thing twice. This recipe makes the cook again list! This is my go to for pulled chicken sandwiches. So good and easy!
That makes me so happy to hear Hannah! Thanks for taking time to leave a comment!
This was lacking in BBQ flavor, it tasted like tomato paste coated chicken. I understand that this is lower in sugar, but was hoping that the spices and liquid smoke would help. I used bone in, skinless thighs and after five hours on low, the chicken was quite mushy. I would pass on this recipe. Quite a waste of ingredients.
I found this recipe and I have made it twice in the past month for meal prepping. So good and the pineapple is the best hidden secret! Thank you!
You are welcome! And I totally agree the pineapple it is a game changer!
Love this recipe. Finally a healthy bbq chicken that doesn’t make me hate my diet haha. Most recently I used frozen pineapple chunks with a quarter cup water in lieu of the crushed pineapple and it worked great. Highly recommend!