BBQ Pulled Chicken
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
- 1½teaspoons sweet paprika
- ½teaspoon ground cumin, plus more as needed
- ½teaspoon ground cayenne
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ¼cup olive oil
- 3tablespoons canola oil
- ½cup minced shallots (from 2 to 3 shallots)
- 1(12-ounce) bottle stout beer
- ½cup cider vinegar
- ⅓cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓cup tomato paste
- ¼packed cup dark brown sugar
- 2tablespoons honey
- 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2garlic cloves, finely grated
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
863 calories; 55 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 27 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 19 grams sugars; 58 grams protein; 1070 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Pat the chicken thighs and breasts dry and place them on a sheet pan. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon paprika with the ½ teaspoon cumin, cayenne, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Whisk in the olive oil, then pour over the chicken and toss to coat.
- Step 2
Roast the chicken for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces, until an internal thermometer registers 165 degrees in both the thighs and breasts. Set aside until cool enough to handle, reserving the pan drippings.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, heat the canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the beer, vinegar, Worcestershire, tomato paste, brown sugar, honey, mustard, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, plus the remaining ½ teaspoon paprika and a pinch of cumin; whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened.
- Step 4
Remove the meat from the thighs and breasts, discarding the bones and skin. Tear the meat into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the reserved drippings and toss to coat.
- Step 5
If serving immediately, add the chicken to the sauce, toss and warm through over medium heat. If making in advance, add the sauce to the chicken, toss well, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in a saucepan set over medium heat before serving, or partly covered in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Tom O
This is making this way too hard. Season and brown chicken place in slow cooker then add 1/2 to 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce. Cook on low all day. Shread with fork after you get home from work. Serve to family and make them clean up. Relax.
Tropic of Claypool
This is making this way too hard. Crack open a can of premium chunk chicken breast and slather on a luxurious coating of Sweet Baby Ray's after you get back from the card room. Serve to family and make them pay. Relax. I mean, if you don't like cooking, that's fine but why throw a negative comment at very simple recipe for being... well, a recipe. Making your own barbecue sauce ain't a big deal.
Darby Doo
I agree with Tom O. However, I used the recipe for the sauce. I browned the chicken, added the chicken and all the ingredients to the crockpot and cooked it on low for ~ 6 hours. Made great chicken tacos!
susan r
When you cook the chicken in the BBQ sauce as Tom O. recommends, it becomes a mixture that resembles sloppy joes except with chicken. Also, you are essentially boiling the chikcen in BBQ sauce. If you cook the chicken in the oven with the skin on and a dry rub, it intensifies the chicken flavor and keeps the chicken moist. You can use the sauce as a coating to the chicken meat. The first method is boiled chicken. The Times method is dry rubbed pulled chicken. Two totally different flavors.
M.J.
I was initially in the "they're making this way too hard camp" then I read Tropic of Claypool's comment and remembered that's why I read and cook NYT recipes. Anyone can crack open cans and mix them together and there's nothing wrong with that, but these recipes give us an opportunity to try something more interesting, complex, challenging, and, most likely, flavorful. It turns out, this wasn't way too hard at all, and it was quite tasty.
Anne
If you're going to remove the skin on the chicken anyway why not buy skinless chicken to begin with instead of having all of that unhealthy fat and calories added to the dish? There's enough fat in the thigh meat itself to still taste rich.
DPCNYC
I guess the point of the recipe was not about slow cooking but was, in fact, more about the art of cooking something from scratch rather than using a bottled sauce. Made this along with buttermilk biscuits (from scratch), cole slaw (also from scratch) and Mac-and-Cheese (yup, also from scratch). Yummy!
Equilibrist
Please don’t discard the bones and skin! Save them for stock!
Andrea Sommer
I did like Tom O's idea on those days when you just feel like taking it easy but most times just enjoy using fresh ingredients from scratch, and the end result just appeals to my taste buds more - plus I enjoy the process of assembling it all and making it happen : )
J
No bottled sauce I've ever tried was anything like this. There's a reason why we cook from scratch - uniqueness, freshness, joy of cooking. We can always go to a fast-food place for the standard pulled meat sandwich, but it won't be like this.
Janelle
I found that there was way too much sauce for the 2lbs of chicken that I had, so either half the recipe for the sauce or reserve half of it in a jar to add to chicken wings, pulled pork, brisket, etc. It also took much longer than 25 minutes for the sauce to thicken to my liking. I let it simmer on low for maybe 15-20 more minutes while I shredded the chicken and made the accompanying slaw. Other than that, it was delicious!
Ellen McManus
OMG you guys this is NOT a recipe for slow cooker chicken! How is roasting a chicken making things too hard? Love this recipe and I use it when I'm in the mood for something that isn't out of a bottle and when I have the time.
Joan
I just loved this recipe. It was a lot of work, yes, but it turned out just gorgeous and was absolutely worth every bite. I felt very accomplished making every step on my own. My only thought is that next time I'll double the brown sugar in the sauce (just a taste preference). When I added the sauce to the pulled chicken, I reserved about half a cup in case we wanted saucier sammies. Will absolutely be making again.
John Danaher
Much better than slow cooked and the sauce is.great. I had some sweet Italian sausage and added to the chicken for more flavor. Very nice.
KC
I made this today. It is delicious. Served on buns with cole slaw and extra sauce. It was not hard at all! Very easy. Great recipe for few or more.
JC
Waaay too much Worcester sauce IMO. Overpowered everything. Not enough acid either.
Klpinco
This is one of the best bbq recipes I’ve ever made. I used rotisserie chicken breasts and added them to the sauce. I also substituted chicken stock for the beer. Followed the recipe for the sauce. Will definitely make this again.
Lisa
Would this work with left-over or rotisserie chicken?
Pamela
I made this pulled chicken dish following the instructions as written, and it’s absolutely delicious! It’s well worth the time and effort to make your own sauce and flavor the chicken as stated. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed and had many compliments.
MoonTiger
Made this for a preschool picnic…I used white meat, skipped the oven browning, and did it for 6 hours in the slow cooker. Served as a slider on Hawaiian rolls with a sweet and tangy apple/cabbage cole slaw. I’m sure adding the oven roast would give a better result, but it was a crowd pleaser!
Kmgshade
Use roasters, veg oil rub, onions not shallots, any beer or stock from cooked chickens(scrape roasting pan brown bits with water (more flavor than beer), pickle juice instead of vinegar(half dill/half sweet), less sugar because pickle juice, x honey, tbl sp molasses(powerful), any mustard, garlic powder instead, no oil for onions, use chicken drippings. BBQ chic wich sell fast as bbq pork wich, faster. Cheaper to buy, easier to build, less utilities used, charge same price as pork. Frugality.
Bill
Budget mined in these times!
Jude
Very tasty and easy but too sweet for me. Next time I would cut down on brown sugar and honey and taste as I go along. Maybe add lemon. I simmered boneless and skinless thighs and breasts with bay leaf, peppercorns, whole garlic cloves and lemons slice and then shredded when done. Less likely to dry out than with roasting. Took a while to thicken.
Pat
Doubled the recipe but used thighs only as skin on breasts hard to find. Otherwise followed recipe and folks raved - served on Kings Hawaiian pretzel rolls with coleslaw. So easy with very little hands on time. A definite keeper.
Erin
Did 3rd time w/3 packages boneless skinless chix thighs (10-12 lbs): on sheet pans for 30 minutes covered @350 convection roast, until registered ~200 (for shredding) uncovered, with ~3/4-1 c H2O/baking sheet. Doubled BBQ sauce & used all on chix (not sure if flavorful enough). Sent w/Doug in crockpot.
Erin
Made for HRA potluck. Roasted for 1 1/4 hr w/just S&P (spray olive oil) b/c I wanted bones & skins from 8 lb thighs. Made just 1 recipe BBQ sauce, w/onion, Guinness & forgot Worcestershire; simmered for 15 minutes longer to thicken. Thought more sauce would have been helpful for 2x chicken (at least for side); Doug said not needed. Reheated in crockpot
Susan
So good! Tender and tasty. Have made it several times. Big hit every time. A keeper.
Mike
I cook chicken for 1.5 - 2 hours at 350, so the meat drops from the bone. 35-40 minutes of cooking, huh? Why bother?
Christa
I made this with my 10 year old daughter as the recipe states, plus the Pickeback Slaw, because we enjoy the process. Did it take a bit? Sure. But she measured and mixed the sauce while the chicken was roasting and while I made the slaw. The best thing we did was make this in the mid-afternoon. When the chicken was done, we put it in a dish and tented it (away from the dog's possible counter surfing tendencies). We let the sauce cool, and put the slaw in the fridge and went to the pool.
Bocaboy
I made this last night but cut the recipe in half and used only thighs. It was delicious and the sauce had a very distinct taste from the combination of dark beer (I used Modelo dark) and honey. I agree with those who have said that just cooking chicken in Bottled BBQ sauce is not the same as this recipe. My wife and I enjoyed this and I will definitely make this again.
Ed
This is making this way too hard. Just go to your local fast food joint and buy something. So easy!
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