American · Lunch or dinner

BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwich

Slow-cooked shredded chicken, sticky BBQ, brioche and slaw.

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BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwich, plated, photographed from above.
Prep
10 min
Cook
90 min
Makes
4 servings
Skill
Comfortable
Heat
Mild, adjustable
Halal Contains gluten Contains eggs
Maui says

Slaw INSIDE the sandwich, not beside it. The crunch and cool acid against the sticky-warm BBQ chicken is the whole point - every bite gets both.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 4 servings.

  • 2 lbboneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1½ cupsBBQ sauce
  • ½ cupchicken broth
  • ½ mediumyellow onionfinely diced
  • 3garlic clovesminced
  • 1 tspsmoked paprika
  • 2 tbspapple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsphoney
  • 4brioche burger buns
  • 3 cupsshredded cabbage mix (green and red)
  • 1 cupshredded carrot
  • ⅓ cupmayonnaise (for slaw)
  • 1 tspDijon mustard (for slaw)
  • 1 tbspolive oil
  • 1½ tspkosher salt
  • ½ tspblack pepper

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

  • 807calories
  • 52gprotein
  • 79gcarbs
  • 30gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F (if using dutch oven). Or set slow cooker to LOW.
  2. Dice onion finely, mince garlic.
1

Build the braising sauce

Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium. Add onion, cook 3 min. Add garlic and smoked paprika, 30 sec. Stir in BBQ sauce and broth and cider vinegar and honey and salt and pepper.

5 min · hands on
2

Add chicken and braise

Nestle chicken thighs into the sauce. Bring to a simmer, cover, transfer to 325°F oven. Cook 75-90 min until chicken pulls apart with no resistance. (Slow cooker: LOW for 6 hr.)

75 min · hands off
3

Make slaw (during braise)

Whisk mayo, Dijon, cider vinegar, salt in a bowl. Toss with cabbage and carrots. Refrigerate so the slaw firms up and sharpens - at least 30 min.

4 min · hands on
4

Shred and sauce

Use 2 forks to shred chicken directly in the pot. Stir in remaining BBQ sauce. Taste - adjust salt or add another splash of vinegar for brightness.

4 min · hands on
5

Toast and build

Toast bun cut sides briefly in a dry skillet. Pile chicken on bottom bun, top with a heap of slaw, cap with top bun. Press lightly - slaw should peek out the sides.

3 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Instead of boneless chicken thighs Chicken breast

Breasts cook in 60 min instead of 75 - pull at 165°F internal. Saves about 15 minutes.

Instead of slaw With oven fries

Add fries - bake at 425°F for 25 min during the last hour of chicken. Adds about 25 minutes.

Gluten free Gluten-free burger buns for brioche burger buns, for BBQ sauce

Or skip the bun and serve the pulled chicken over rice. Check label - some BBQ sauces contain wheat-based soy sauce or malt vinegar.

What keeps

Shredded BBQ chicken keeps 5 days and freezes 3 months. Reheat in skillet with a splash of broth to loosen.

Build sandwiches day-of so bun stays soft.

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