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!
Great easy BBQ pulled chicken recipe. I put coleslaw , pulled chicken on mini flour street tacos. They were a big hit at our backyard party. Turned out great. I only used chicken breasts, skinless 2lbs made enough for our group of 8. This was the easiest great tasting recipe I have found. Kudos to you!!!
Made this last night. DEEE-lish! Thanks!
What a great recipe! You can use shredded chicken in so many ways! I usually just buy a rotisserie from the store, but I love the idea of making one myself and spicing it how I need it!
I’m glad you like the recipe! 🙂
This was so good! Had some favourite BBQ to use up, only had chicken breasts (used 4 large ones) and left out the sugar. It was super yummy in a tortilla tonightThank you!
This was delicious, I loved the mix of breasts and thighs! I will definitely saute for a few minutes next time, I had lots of liquid left over too. Great flavor in this dish, we served it with roasted sweet potatoes and coleslaw. Will definitely make this again!
I love this recipe! I’ve done it twice now. I’m planning on making it for a big group of people..:about 5 pounds of chicken. Can the instapot hold that much? Would the cooking time and ingredients change? Thanks!
I changed the recipe a bit but really appreciated the extra tutorial on how to use the pot! It’s so new to me. This chicken was so delicious! We’re making this almost every other week now.
This is a delicious and easy recipe that my family loved. I’m an Instant Pot newbie and wasn’t sure that my pot was working correctly but I figured out some important things: 1). The Instant Pot will let off steam while it is pressuring up, even though the steam valve is closed. 2) Because of the amount of chicken, it may take up to 30 minutes for the Instant Pot to begin the countdown. Sit tight and be patient. 3) After the 10 minute natural release process has ended and the lid is opened, don’t worry if the liquid sauce seems too abundant or too runny. Once the chicken is shredded and tossed in the sauce, the amount of sauce will be just right. Of course, the author noted that more can be added if desired. Thanks again for providing a really good and simple shredded chicken recipe!
Was going to use a slow cooker to do similar but my brother reminded me about my pressure cooker; it had not been used for years. Just used chicken breast, and had no onion powder, but this was delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Is it okay to use frozen chicken?
I was left with a lot of watery sauce. Do you have any ideas why?
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!
I’ve made this twice now, in my Instant Pot and both times, it has been amazing. I used chicken breast only and a GF BBQ sauce. I followed the instructions as shown, with the liquid on the bottom, and both times – perfection. The chicken falls apart before I can get it out of the pot to tear it apart. My teens love it too. Thanks for this!!
Great recipe. The only thing I do differently is to pre mix all the ingredients except chicken and stock outside the pot then pourt on top of the placed chicken without mixing with the stock and chicken. Comes out great
I cook the chicken with just water or broth first. Then as I shred the thighs I add the BBQ sauce. I like real simple!
Used an 8QT IP and followed the recipe with a couple of weeks. I added the brown sugar and blended it with some chicken broth to spread more equally. I used 1.5 lbs breasts and 1..5 chicken thighs. Added pico de Gallo into the final chicken and sauce, yummy! Thank you for a great recipe using both breasts and thighs!