Instant Pot BBQ Chicken! Sweet, fall-apart tender and perfect for sandwiches, salads, BBQ plates and more!
This Instant Pot BBQ Chicken is an easy recipe you can make for a weeknight meal. You can use in so many ways!
I like serving it on buns for chicken sandwiches or for a delicious meal over rice. It is also one of my favorite recipe for meal prep!
It’s also delicious in a BBQ chicken salad with romaine, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado and ranch dressing. This chicken is versatile, easy and delicious!
However you serve it, this easy instant pot barbecue chicken is one of my favorite recipes for busy weeknights!
Table of Contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe uses a combination of boneless chicken breasts and boneless thighs. I like the texture when
Onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, brown sugar and grated onion give this chicken delicious flavor.
The flavor of this BBQ chicken really depends on what kind of BBQ sauce you use. Use your favorite bbq sauce for this instant pot bbq chicken recipe!
How to Make Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
This instant pot pulled chicken can be made in 4 easy steps.
- Place the ingredients in the instant pot in this order: chicken broth (or water), chicken, onion powder, garlic, powder, paprika, salt, BBQ sauce, grated onion, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. (Do NOT stir. You want the water to stay on the bottom of the pot so the instant pot comes to pressure.)
- Place the lid on the instant pot making sure the valve is in the sealing position. Press manual (high pressure) and set the cook time to 15 minutes.
- Let the pressure natural release for 10 minutes. Then quick release the venting position to remove the remaining pressure.
- Remove the cooked chicken and shred it. Reduce the liquid by pressing the “saute” button and simmering the sauce until thickened if necessary. Add the shredded meat back into the sauce.
Note: This recipe has been updated since the video was published. In recent years I’ve recommended add a cup of water or chicken broth, not stirring, removing the chicken and reducing the liquid, then adding the chicken back in. This ensures the instant pot doesn’t give you the dreaded burn notice!
I like using a combination of chicken breasts and chicken thighs for the meat. The meat turns out so much more moist this way than compared to using all chicken breasts.
I used to make BBQ chicken in the slow cooker all the time, but now I prefer it in the instant pot. It is so easy to throw everything in and walk away. Plus it takes just a fraction of the time.
For an allergy-friendly meal, enjoy this on toasted gluten-free buns with a side of my favorite Dairy-Free Coleslaw! You also might like these bbq nachos.
Expert Tips and Tricks
Use Gluten-Free Worcestershire Sauce: Not all brands are gluten-free so check the label! I use Lea and Perrins which is gluten-free.
Choose a Good BBQ Sauce: The flavor of this chicken is highly dependent on what kind of BBQ sauce you use. I love the flavor of Sweet Baby Ray’s – but lately I’ve been using Stubbs Sweet Sticky BBQ sauce (such a good price on Amazon!) because it doesn’t contain high-fructose corn syrup. Use your favorite barbecue sauce!
Chicken Breasts + Thighs = Yum: I like using a combination of chicken breast and thighs in this recipe. The chicken thighs keep the dish moist and delicious!
More Instant Pot Recipes
I hope you like this recipe as much as we do! If you try it be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 2 lbs chicken thighs
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup grated onion plus juice
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Place the ingredients in the instant pot in this order: chicken stock (or water), chicken, onion powder, garlic, powder, paprika, salt, BBQ sauce, grated onion, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Do NOT stir. You want the water to stay on the bottom of the pot so the instant pot comes to pressure.
- Place the lid on the instant pot making sure the valve is in the sealing position. Press manual (high pressure) and set to 15 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Then quick release the venting position to release the remaining pressure and open the pot.
- Remove the chicken and shred it. If necessary, reduce the liquid by pressing the "saute" button and simmering the sauce, stirring often, until thickened. Add the chicken back to the sauce before serving.
- Add more BBQ sauce if desired. Shred and enjoy on sandwiches, salads, BBQ plates and more!
If Not fully defrosted-Add another 10 Mins.
AMAZING. This was my first time using my instant pot, and it turned out so yummy. The flavour was to die for (I used sweet baby rays BBQ sauce as recommended) and the chicken pulled apart so easily. I will definitely be making this recipe again!!!! Thank you Erin!
Just cook this for my family tonight and The Taste is delicious. The only issue I had was a cup of broth made it too watery so I used the exact amount of ingredients that the recipe called for so has anyone tried half a cup of broth instead of 1 cup of broth? That was my only issue. I just used a slotted spoon got the taste but would like to see it less moist.
Hi Catherine! It’s kind a tricky situation with this recipe because you need the liquid so the instant pot will come to pressure properly. I would recommend removing the meal and simmering the sauce to reduce it to your liking. You can also thicken it with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water – mix this together then add to the sauce while it’s simmering. I hope this helps!
Would this work with pork as well?
The cooking time would be very different for pork and it would vary based on what cut you use. So it’s hard to say for sure!
Easy to follow and can’t wait to try it out. I’m sure its going to be amazing!!! Thank you for the recipe!!!!
Yum yum yummmmmm
Incredible recipe. Used the sauté function with cornstarch after taking the chicken out to thicken the sauce.
I made this yesterday and it was the best thing I’ve made so far in my Instant Pot, hands down! I used two bone in, skin on chicken breasts and removed skin/bones and it was wonderful. So juicy and tasty! It will go into my regular rotation of meals.
Fabulous recipe! Made it in a 3 qt mini by halving the recipe. The chicken shreds beautifully!
Our favorite recipe in our instapot!
This was so good! Thank you for the recipe. I used Lillie’s Q Gold South Carolina mustard BBQ sauce, which was great. I used the sauté setting on high to thicken the sauce. It took more than a few minutes but the sauce did eventually simmer down to a nice thickness. Our whole house smells like BBQ now…in a great way! Loved the sauce but might try something spicier next time or add a hot pepper.
recipe looks great but way too much sodium especially for someone on low sodium diet. Any easy way to reduce sodium?
Loved it best thing I’ve insta potted so far. I would add red pepper flakes as well tho. 🙂
To everyone posting about frozen chicken. I haven’t made this recipe, yet, but cook frozen chicken in mine all of the time. I always cook frozen chicken an hour. It’s very tender and tastes great. Hope this helps.
Erin,
Thanks for this Instant Pot recipe for pulled bbq chicken. Since I have a 3 qt. mini, I’ll halve the recipe amounts. I really appreciate that you included the Nutrition Information at the end.
Nancy
Is this for frozen or thawed chicken?