Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken is a quick and easy dinner idea made with store bought barbecue sauce. It is sweet, smoky with a hint of spice from jalapeños and delicious made into sandwiches, salads, quesadillas, tostadas or nachos.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword bbq chicken instant pot, instant pot barbecue chicken, Instant pot BBQ Chicken

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 12

Total Time 17

Servings Servings

Calories 257kcal

Author Maria Doss

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 and ¼ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs ( 3 to 4)
½ small onion preferably red, sliced
2 garlic cloves chopped
3-4 slices jalapeños pepper about ¼ small, increase or decrease based on your preference
½ cup barbecue sauce
¼ to ½ cup water
¼ to ½ teaspoon salt depends on the bbq sauce
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Equipment

3- quart Instant Pot

Instructions

Set instant pot to saute mode. Once hot, add vegetable oil. Place chicken in a single layer and let cook for about 2 minutes.
Press cancel, turn chicken over and top with sliced onions, garlic, jalapeños, bbq sauce, water ( use ¼ cup water for a 3 quart and ½ cup water for 8 quart instant pots respectively), salt and pepper.
Close Instant pot (making sure valve is set to seal) and cook for 5 minutes on manual.
When cooking is done, let it continue in warm mode for 6 minutes. Release pressure and open lid.
Using tongs, remove the chicken to a plate.
Press saute again and let the sauce come to boil and continue cooking until it has reduced to a thick glaze, stirring occasionally. (In the mean time, shred chicken using two forks)
Add shredded chicken back into the pot and toss well. Continue cooking until no liquid remains (stir occasionally, making sure that it does not burn in the bottom).
Press cancel and let chicken cool for a few minutes before serving.

Notes

BBQ Sauce – Use your favorite bbq sauce, adjust seasoning accordingly.

Choose a good BBQ sauce – The flavor of this chicken depends on the type of bbq sauce you use. My favorite is Kinder BBQ sauce (not a sponsored post).

Spiciness – Use as much or as less os jalapeños. The hint of spiciness when paired with the sweet, smoky bbq sauce is just amazing.

Double the recipe – To double the bbq chicken thighs instant pot, brown chicken in 2 batches (step-1), add all the chicken along with other ingredients (step-2), and proceed as per instructions.

Chicken - I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs but a combination of breasts and thighs can be substituted.

Nutrition