Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

Today I am sharing my favorite recipe for Instant Pot barbecue pulled chicken.  We don’t eat much pork in our house so this is our go to when we’re looking to fill a smoked meat craving.  That’s a thing right? 😉  While this recipe can be adapted for a crock pot or even on the stove, I like to make it in my Instant Pot/Pressure cooker since it only takes 10 minutes to cook.  It’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal or for a summer gathering.

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Why I’m obsessed with my Instant Pot

I held out for a long time guys.  I just didn’t understand why people were obsessing over pressure cookers.  Seriously, how great can they really be right?  Well a few months ago I finally broke down and bought on on Amazon.  Since then I’ve probably used this thing at least twice a week.  It’s made my life so much easier!  I’m cooking meals that I would have reserved for weekends during the week since it cuts way down on the cook times.  I’m also doing less dishes since it’s a one pot meal most of the time.

I did a bunch of research when I bought mine and went with the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 6 Quart.  It’s just me and my husband so I didn’t feel like we needed the larger 8 qt option.  But we like leftovers so the 3 qt in the other models would have been too small.  I also really liked that the Duo Evo Plus had handles on the pot.  I read a bunch of reviews that it was such a nice upgrade to earlier versions.  At this point I’ve only used the saute and pressure cook settings on mine but I’ll be trying out the other features soon.

Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken Recipe

You won’t need too many ingredients for this recipe.  I always have the spices on hand but I’ve linked to few that can be difficult to find at some stores just in case.

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Ingredients

Chicken Breast

Chicken Broth

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Salt

Pepper

Smoked Paprika

Liquid Smoke

BBQ Sauce

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Here is a brief rundown of the recipe with photos.  The full recipe can be found at the end of this post.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.

Rub the spices onto both sides of the chicken breast.

Fill the pressure cooker with 1 cup of chicken broth or water and then place the seasoned chicken breasts directly in the bottom.  No need for the metal rack.  Cook on the pressure setting on high for 10 minutes.  I like to let the Instant Pot depressurize on it’s own since it allows more time for the flavors to infuse into the meat.  For mine it took about 8 minutes to depressurize.  If you are pressed on time you could always release the pressure manually – just be sure to follow the manufacturers directions!

When it’s finished, release the lid and then place the chicken in a bowl.  Don’t discard the liquid in the Instant Pot.  You’ll need some of it later.  Shred the chicken using two forks.  You can also use a mixer to shred the chicken but that seems like more work than necessary to me.  Too many dishes.

Add your favorite BBQ sauce, some of the liquid from the Instant Pot and the liquid smoke then mix it all together.

My favorite way to eat BBQ pulled chicken is on a bun with some pickles.  I didn’t have any normal size buns so I had to use brioche rolls.  I guess it’s more of a slider than a typical sandwich in this case.  You can also add more barbecue sauce to the sandwich if you prefer.

Print

BBQ Pulled Chicken- Pressure Cooker

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Chicken

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 - 1.5 Lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup Chicken broth
• 1/2 Cup BBQ Sauce
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper
• 1/4 tsp Onion powder

Instructions

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a small bowl (salt, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper and onion powder)

   

2. Rub the dry ingredients on both sides of the chicken breasts covering them as much as you can.

   

3. Fill your pressure cooker with 1/2 cup of chicken broth or water and place the chicken breasts directly into the broth/water.

   

4. Following the manufacturers directions, cook the chicken in a pressure cooker on the pressure setting on high for 10 minutes. If you are not in a hurry, allow the cooker to depressurize automatically for added flavor. If you are in a rush you can manually depressurize if that is an option for your machine.

5. Remove the chicken from the pressure cooker and place it in a bowl. Do not get rid of the liquid!

6. Using two forks, shred the chicken.

   

7. After the chicken has been shredded, add in 1/4 cup of the liquid from the pressure cooker, 1/2 cup of your favorite bbq sauce and 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke. Mix it all together.

   

You can pin it below if you would like to save this recipe for later.  🙂

Check out more recipes from Handmade Weekly.

What is your favorite recipe to make in the Instant Pot?  Let me know in the comments!

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