Kitchen Helper
Free sample · Low & Slow

Sweet Pot-Shredded Chicken

Boneless breasts cook in a brown sugar barbecue sauce until they pull into strips. A short uncovered finish leaves the sauce thick enough to cling.

Sweet Pot-Shredded Chicken, as cooked from this recipe
Serves6
Hands-on16 min
Cook5 h 20 min
Total5 h 36 min
SettingLOW 5 hours, then HIGH 20 minutes with the lid off (or HIGH 3 hours covered, then the same 20 minutes)

Times follow the LOW path, 5 hours plus 20 minutes uncovered; the HIGH path is 3 hours covered, then the same 20 minutes.

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Ingredients

  • 2 lb (907 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
  • 1/2 tsp (3 g) kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp (0.5 g) black pepper
  • 3/4 cup (180 ml) barbecue sauce labeled gluten-free
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml) Italian salad dressing labeled gluten-free
  • 3 tbsp (38 g) packed brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) gluten-free Worcestershire sauce labeled gluten-free

Gluten-free: Written so a reader with celiac disease can cook it when every packaged ingredient is one whose label says gluten-free. Read the package you actually buy. This page does not promise a meal with zero gluten.

Method

  1. Blot the thawed breasts dry and season both sides with the salt and black pepper.
  2. Stir the brown sugar into the Worcestershire sauce until the grains dissolve, then stir in the barbecue sauce and the Italian salad dressing.
  3. Lay the breasts in a 6-quart cooker, pour the sauce over them, and set the lid on.
  4. Leave the pot on LOW for 5 hours. If you need supper sooner, use HIGH for 3 hours instead.
  5. The center of the thickest breast should read 165 F (74 C) before you shred.
  6. Move the breasts to a board and pull the meat into strips.
  7. Return the strips to the pot, leave the lid off, and cook on HIGH for 20 minutes, until the sauce coats a spoon.

Notes

  • Thaw the breasts in the refrigerator first. A covered slow cooker is the wrong place for frozen poultry.
  • The barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, and Worcestershire sauce each need a gluten-free label on the bottle you buy.
  • For a looser sauce, serve as soon as the meat shreds and skip the uncovered 20 minutes.
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This recipe is one of 50 in Low & Slow.
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