Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken
This easy recipe for Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken is a summertime favorite! This one-pot barbecue chicken can be served on top of a salad, in a sandwich, or plain. Barbecue chicken is tender, juice, and so flavorful. Best of all, it’s ready in 35 minutes.
Barbecue chicken that has been pulled or shredded is a classic American dish, and for good reason. Made with your favorite bottled BBQ sauce, it’s super flavorful and juicy.
Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken is also incredibly versatile which means you can throw it into or on anything with delicious results.
Make it into tacos, stuff it into chicken sandwiches or quesadillas, and add it to a salad for a filling addition of protein. The Instant Pot takes out all the guesswork (and the time!) and makes this an excellent dish to meal prep for busy weeknights or to make for a party.
Read my related article: Is BBQ Chicken Healthy?
Why You Need This Recipe
- It’s quick! If you don’t have the time to make slow cooker pulled chicken or forgot to plan ahead, this is the perfect alternative. It only takes 35 minutes including prep and cook time.
- It makes great leftovers that the whole family can enjoy. It’s delicious reheated and on its own. Even more than that, it can be repurposed and thrown into pretty much anything. My favorite way to repurpose it is to make it into taquitos or buffalo chicken enchiladas.
- Simply purchase gluten-free BBQ sauce and this recipe is safe for Celiac and gluten-intolerant friends. Primal Kitchen BBQ sauce and Sweet Baby Ray and are both gluten-free and are family favorites. See my list of the best gluten-free sauces.
- Many recipes add additional brown sugar to the pot. I really don’t think you need the extra added sugar, so this version is healthier.
Key Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are lean and high in protein. The cooked chicken shreds really well when cooked in an Instant Pot. You can also substitute half of the chicken breast with boneless skinless chicken thighs if you like the flavor and tenderness of chicken thighs.
Spices like garlic powder and onion powder make a tasty spice combo and add extra flavor to store-bought barbecue sauce.
BBQ sauce transforms shredded chicken into bbq chicken. Purchase your favorite BBQ sauce, but check to see if it’s gluten-free if you can’t eat gluten. You can also use sugar-free bbq sauce to reduce the sugar.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Recipe Steps
Step One
Place the trivet inside the pressure cooker and then add the water. Place the chicken on the trivet and set the cook time to 10 minutes at high pressure.
When the cooking time, is up let the pressure come down naturally (natural release) for 10 minutes, and then use the quick release to get rid of any remaining pressure.
Step Two
Transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board and shred with two forks.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Step Three
Remove the trivet from the pot and discard the liquid. Add the chicken, BBQ sauce, and spices back to the pot.
Step Four
Stir to combine and serve hot.
I hope your family agrees that this is the best Instant Pot BBQ Chicken recipe out there!
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
- If you want to double or triple this recipe, leave the amount of water the same at one cup.
- Use a hand mixer instead of the forks to shred the chicken even faster.
- If you’re on a gluten-free diet, be sure to look for prepared BBQ sauce that is gluten-free.
- The total cooking time includes approximately 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure. The total time also includes 10 minutes of natural pressure release.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe FAQs
Place it on top of nachos, in a gluten-free bun, make bbq enchiladas, add it to a salad, stuff it into baked sweet or white potatoes, or even add it to a grilled cheese sandwich! The opportunities are endless.
Pulled chicken and shredded chicken are very similar. Shredded chicken may be in finer pieces than pulled chicken, but they are both essentially the same thing.
Yes, but this recipe was tested using bottled barbecue sauce. So, the results may vary depending on how thick or think your homemade barbecue sauce is.
Yes, but in this case you won’t get much benefit from using chicken broth since you’ll be draining off the liquid.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Potatoes
- Instant Pot Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
- Instant Pot Pesto Chicken
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken & Potatoes
Recipes to Serve with BBQ Pulled Chicken
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Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken
This easy recipe for Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken is a summertime favorite! This one-pot barbecue chicken can be served on top of a salad, in a sandwich, or plain. Barbecue chicken is tender, juice, and so flavorful. Best of all, it’s ready in 35 minutes.
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4 pieces)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup prepared BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Place the trivet inside a 6-quart Instant Pot pressure cooker.
- Add the water and then place the chicken on top of the trivet. Lock on the lid and set the time to 10 minutes.
- When the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for about 10 minutes. Then, use the quick-release to get rid of any remaining pressure.
- Carefully remove the lid and transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the chicken.
- Then, remove the trivet from the pot and discard the liquid.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the pot and pour in the BBQ sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Stir to combine and serve hot.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- If you want to double or triple this recipe, you don’t have to double the amount of water you use.
- If you’re on a gluten-free diet, be sure to look for prepared BBQ sauce that is gluten-free.
- The total cooking time includes approximately 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure. The total time also includes 10 minutes of natural pressure release.
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- The nutrition information for this recipe is approximate and will vary depending on what type of BBQ sauce you use.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 277
- Sugar: 27.7 g
- Sodium: 604.6 mg
- Fat: 3.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.7 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 26.3 g
- Cholesterol: 82.7 mg
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About the Author: Carrie Forrest is the author of the best-selling Instant Pot-authorized cookbook, The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook. She has a master’s degree in public health with a specialty in nutrition and receives nearly 10 million annual visitors to her site. Send Carrie a message through her contact form.
This is a great recipe! It’s perfect for meal prepping. Love it.
Followed recipe exactly as written. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s sugar free bbq sauce & 3 frozen chicken breasts. I didn’t use trivet and it was fine. Really great recipe!! Mouth watering delicious! Thank you.
Wow that was fast!!!!! Thanks, Paula, so glad you enjoyed.