Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken

It's been hot in Milwaukee. I'm talking 94 degrees with humidity like you're standing in the shower hot. Now I'm not complaining, I'll take this weather over snow any day, but I don't particularly want to turn on the oven. So I busted out my crock pot.


Most people relegate the crock pot to winter months, but it can be just as handy in the summer. Dinner is waiting for you when you get home from work, and you don't need to make your kitchen any hotter than it already is. So bring that sucker back out from the basement, and start using it.


You can start with this Barbecue Chicken...

Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken
Adapted from howsweeteats.com

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6), frozen or thawed
1 tablespoon chili powder
28 ounces barbecue sauce
8 ounces beer (I haven't tried it, but I bet it would be awesome if you substituted root beer. I'm totally trying this next time.)

Place chicken breasts (either frozen or thawed) in your slow cooker. Sprinkle with chili powder. Pour barbecue sauce and beer on top.

If your chicken is raw, it will probably only need 3-4 hours on low heat. If your chicken is frozen, you should cook it longer. I've found that frozen chicken breasts are usually cooked through in about 5-6 hours on low. That said, when I go to work, I'm out of the house for 8 hours. So, I leave my slow cooker for 8 hours on low heat, and the chicken is just fine.

There are a plethora of ways to serve Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken. Here are a few ideas:

Serve the chicken breasts whole, drizzled with extra sauce, with Simple Cheese Grits (like I did in the picture below) or Beer Bread.

Shred the chicken with two forks, then pour on enough barbecue cooking liquid to make the mixture saucy....

...and serve it on a fresh roll (or bread, if you're like me and too lazy to go to the grocery store to buy rolls) topped with coleslaw. Dreamy.

P.S. Did you notice the plastic bag lining my crock pot? It's a slow cooker liner. I use them because I hate scrubbing things. Reynolds makes the ones I have, and they work really well. They're not paying me to say this, but I just wanted to share a handy tip. You probably hate scrubbing, too.