Made with chicken breasts or thighs, this easy and low carb Instant Pot BBQ shredded chicken is flavored with a homemade no sugar BBQ sauce that you’ll want to slather on everything!
How to make BBQ chicken in the Instant Pot
We kept this recipe as simple as possible with only 10 ingredients and a BBQ sauce that you simply whisk together in a bowl or jar. Here’s what you’ll do:
- Mix up the simple no sugar BBQ sauce
- Dump the chicken and 1/2 of the sauce in the Instant Pot
- Sit back and relax while the Instant Pot does all the work 🙂
- Shred the chicken and serve it with more of the savory BBQ sauce
BBQ chicken breasts or thighs in the Instant Pot
We love this recipe because you can use either chicken breast or thighs! We personally prefer using thighs because they have a little more fat and flavor but it’s totally up to you. Either way you’ll end up with juicy, shreddable chicken smothered in delicious BBQ sauce.
An easy low-carb BBQ sauce
We love making our own sauces at home with simple, everyday ingredients. You’ll love the savory and tangy homemade BBQ sauce in this recipe. With beef broth and tomato paste as a base, it’s flavored with just a little vinegar and some simple seasonings. Of course, if you aren’t eating low-carb you could always add a little sugar or maple syrup to sweeten it up.
Some other healthy sauces
- DIY Coconut Aminos Substitute
- Chipotle Aioli
- Healthy Big Mac Sauce
- Creamy Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- 6 Easy Whole30 Sauces
Your turn to try this easy BBQ chicken in the pressure cooker or slow cooker
We’ve provided instructions for both, so you can cook it either way! We know you’ll love this easy shredded BBQ chicken that you can serve in so many ways. If you try it be sure to leave a comment to let us know how it goes and take a pic to share on Instagram. Tag us @realsimplegood, we love to see what you’re making!
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Easy, Healthy Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 lbs (1.81 kg) chicken thighs, (or sub breasts, the cooking time will be the same)
For the BBQ sauce:
- 1 cup (240 g) beef broth
- 1/2 cup (131 g) tomato paste
- 1/4 cup (63.75 g) balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) chili powder
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) mustard
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) garlic powder
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) onion powder
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) cumin
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) chipotle powder, (spicy, adjust to taste)
Instructions
- To make the BBQ sauce, pace all of the sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk well to incorporate. Place 1/2 of the sauce in a container and refrigerate, you’ll it use after the chicken is cooked.
- Pour the other half of the sauce into the instant pot. Add the chicken thighs in on top of the sauce.
- Press the “manual” button (or “pressure cook” button) and set the time to cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Once the time is up, let the pressure naturally release for 15 minutes and then release any remaining pressure. Remove the lid and shred the chicken in the Instant Pot with two forks, mixing it with the juices.
- Serve topped with additional BBQ sauce as desired.
For the slow cooker:
- Follow steps 1 & 2 above.
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the chicken.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
- Shred the chicken in the slow cooker with two forks, mixing it with the juices.
- Serve topped with additional BBQ sauce as desired.
So good! I doubled the sauce to use later. How long will the sauce save in the refrigerator? Thank you!
Hi Nancy – the sauce will last for around a week in the fridge. Depending on the freshness of the broth and tomato paste it could be longer.
I can’t wait to try making this. My only suggestion is when you’re including the nutritional information, it would be nice to see sodium also listed. Its a serious problem in America especially because no one looks at how much they’re eating daily. This caused me to have high blood pressure for years and eventually I had a heart attack and almost died. I’m trying to be more serious about my health but so many people ignore sodium.
Thanks Gina, we’ll look into adding that info in the future. Glad you found our recipe on your health journey and we hope you find more on our site 🙂
Easy and delicious! I put it over the top of a sweet potato…yum!
Sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Yum this was SOOOO good and super easy too!
Thanks Laura! Glad you enjoyed the recipe and we appreciate you coming back to leave a rating and review 🙂
This was so delish!! Easy and great for leftovers and meal prep. I used nomato sauce (beets, carrots, garlic, onions) instead of tomatoes so my kids don’t act like ragging lunatics 🤪 Delicious and we all loved it.
Love that! We haven’t tried nomato sauce yet, but I was eyeing it recently! Glad to hear it turned out great!
I just love this recipe!
I’m glad to hear that!
“Easy” is right, it doesn’t get easier and more yummy. I loved having these leftovers to top eggs and salad for meals for a few days.
We’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed this one! We love the leftovers, too! Thanks for taking the time to come back and review our recipe! We appreciate your support! 🙂
I made this for my family. They absolutely loved it!! Delicious and easy meal. The bbq sauce is the best!!!
We’re so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed it! Thanks so much for giving our recipe a try! 🙂