Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken

By lorik

Use a relatively mild hot sauce such as Franks, or the sauce will be too hot.

Ingredients

• 5 (10-12 ounce) bone in split chicken breasts, trimmed
• 7 (3 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
• Salt and pepper
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 5 tsp chili powder
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 Tbsp brown mustard
• 4 tsp cider vinegar
• 4 tsp hot sauce
• 3/4 tsp liquid smoke
• 10 sandwich rolls

Preparation

Step 1

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Combine onion, tomato paste, oil, chili powder, garlic, and cayenne in bowl and microwave until onion softens slightly, about 3 minutes, stirring halfway through microwaving. Transfer mixture to slow cooker and whisk in ketchup, molasses, mustard and vinegar. Add chicken to slow cooker and toss to combine with sauce. Cover and cook on low until chicken shreds easily with fork, about 5 hours.

Transfer cooked chicken to carving board, tent loosely with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Using large spoon, remove any fat from surface of sauce. Whisk hot sauce and liquid smoke into sauce and cover to keep warm. Remove and discard chicken skin and bones. Roughly chop thigh meat into 1/2 inch pieces. Shred breast meat into thin strands unsing 2 forks. Return meat to slow cooker and toss to coat with sauce. Season with salt and pepper and serve on rolls.