Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sliders
Instant Pot BBQ chicken is an easy pressure cooker chicken recipe, made in 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other brand of electric pressure cooker! You can enjoy the pulled chicken as is, or add it to your favorite soup or casserole recipe. Or, do what I did; make sliders with the Instant Pot BBQ chicken and top them with crispy, creamy coleslaw. They make awesome game day sandwiches!
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sliders
This is a quick and easy pressure cooker chicken recipe, and it is so delicious! The chicken is tender, juicy, and full of flavor. To make the BBQ chicken sliders, simply add barbecue sauce to the Instant Pot pulled chicken, toss it onto slider buns, then top the chicken with crunchy coleslaw.
You can make your own coleslaw if you have a favorite recipe, or take a shortcut like I did, adding homemade coleslaw dressing to a premade coleslaw mix. You can find it in the produce section of most grocery stores.
Instant Pot BBQ chicken sliders are perfect for lunch, picnics, or chowing down on game day!
Just look at this juicy pulled BBQ chicken. The sight of it alone makes my mouth water. I have a semi-homemade barbecue sauce recipe that I like to use, but you can use bottled sauce, or check out my slow cooker pulled chicken recipe to learn how to make barbecue sauce from scratch..
As I said, it’s perfect for making sliders. But if you’re trying to cut down on carbs or you’re just not into bread, there are lots of other options for the BBQ chicken. Top a baked potato with it, add it to a salad, or make tacos or enchiladas with it. Heck, you can even add it to a soup recipe, or leave out the barbecue sauce and use the pulled chicken to make a pot pie.
If you have any questions about making the Instant Pot BBQ Chicken recipe, don’t hesitate to ask. Just leave a comment for me below!
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sliders Recipe
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
For the BBQ Chicken
- 4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast fresh or frozen
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce*
For the Coleslaw
- 3 cups coleslaw mix
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add the chicken and seasonings, but not the barbecue sauce, to the electric pressure cooker.
- Lock the lid into place, close the pressure valve, and manually set to cook on high pressure for 15 minutes if chicken is thawed or 20 minutes if chicken is frozen.
- Once the cooking time is complete, carefully turn the pressure valve to “venting” and do a quick pressure release. Be sure to turn the vent away from your body to avoid burns.
- Use tongs to remove chicken from the pot and transfer to a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the chicken, then return chicken to the pot.
- Change setting on your cooker to “simmer” or “saute” and add barbecue sauce. Stir until warm, or allow chicken to simmer for 5 minutes in the sauce for the best flavor.
Coleslaw Instructions
- Place coleslaw vegetables into a serving bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, use a whisk to combine mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, celery salt, and black pepper. Taste and if desired, season with kosher salt and additional black pepper.
- Toss coleslaw vegetables with the dressing and use immediately, or store covered in a refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Serving Suggestions
- Slice slider buns in half. Add shredded BBQ chicken to bottom half, top the meat with a scoop of coleslaw, then add the top bun.
- Serve with mustard potato salad and bbq baked beans.
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Can these be made in a crock pot or on the stove instead?
Absolutely, Laura! If you want to use a crock pot, I suggest following my recipe for slow cooker pulled chicken. I’ve never prepared pulled chicken in an oven, because it would be pretty easy for the chicken breasts to get dried out, but I suspect that you could poach the chicken breasts in a pan on the stove top if you’d like. Then shred and toss with barbecue sauce from there.
Perfect game day food and so easy in the pressure cooker!
Ooh, these sound amazing!
OMG these chicken sliders look delicious! You presented these pics perfectly. Why shouldn’t I try one! Is there any alternative to apple cider vinegar?
Thank you, Garner! You can certainly substitute white vinegar for the apple cider vinegar.
Looks delicious and yummy. I have no electric pressure cooker, what will the be the alternative I can use for this recipe?
Thank you, Ellen!
You can try cooking the chicken in a slow cooker on low for a 4-6 hours. I’ve haven’t tried it for this particular recipe myself, however, I have made shredded chicken in a slow cooker before with no problem.
Do you cook the chicken directly in the inner pot with some form of liquid like water? Or add the liquid into the inner pot and then cook the chicken on a trivet?
Hi Anna,
You’ll place the chicken breasts directly onto the bottom of the inner pot. I use frozen chicken breasts when I make this recipe, so I don’t add any liquid… it’s not needed because there’s plenty of liquid in the frozen chicken. If you want to make this using fresh chicken, you can add a cup of water, chicken stock, or even beer to the inner pot. When the chicken has finished cooking and you pull it out to shred it, be sure to empty any liquid from the pot before placing the shredded chicken back inside.
If I double the recipe do I need to inrcrease the cooking time?
Thanks,
Amy
Hi Amy,
No, you won’t need to double the time. That’s part of the magic of an Instant Pot! However, try to have your chicken breasts as close in size as possible.