Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Homemade BBQ Sauce

We love pulled pork sandwiches in our house, but I don’t always love working with pork.  I do admit to loving the taste and making a huge 5 pound pork butt is easier than any week night meal. And I know that pork is the “other” white meat, but I just don’t like eating it that often.

I do make a really good pulled turkey recipe that I discovered over ten years ago in Sara Foster’s The Foster’s Market Cookbook, but like the pork, it takes hours to cook.  This recipe is great fall dish when the weather is cooler and turning the oven on for 3 to 4 hours is no big deal.  I have been searching for a pulled chicken recipe and alas, I finally found one over at The Comfort of Cooking. Georgia uses a dry rub to marinate her chicken and I think it is the rub that gives the chicken it’s tenderness.

I use organic, grass fed chicken from Whole Foods.  For this dish, I don’t purchase the boneless, chicken breasts.  Instead, I get the chicken breasts with the ribs attached.  I then ask the butcher to remove the ribs.  The breasts without bones tend to dry out on the grill.  The taste, using the chicken in this way,  is significantly different. If you don’t use your butcher at your local supermarket, you are missing out!  They are always so accommodating, friendly, and they love their meats and poultry.

I have altered the rub just a bit and use my own homemade barbecue sauce to coat the chicken after it is grilled.  Last week, I even made my own buns using Carrie’s hamburger bun recipe and they were delicious.  I am going make a huge batch of these and freeze them for future grilling! I like to serve these sandwiches with an Asian cole slaw or a broccoli slaw.  We use left over chicken and make BBQ chicken pizza the next day! At your next barbeque, make these instead of your traditional burger. Your guests will give praise to the cook!

 

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches


Ingredients

3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons sucanat or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cups of BBQ sauce
2 pound chicken breast with skin +  ribs attached(ask the butcher to remove the ribs)

Instructions

• combine the oil and spices for the marinade.
• place chicken in a shallow, glass baking dish(I use a Pyrex). rub the marinade on both sides of the chicken. cover with plastic wrap and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.
• preheat your grill.  grill chicken on indirect heat, about 20-30 minutes. we check the chicken by cutting through the center and tasting.  when no longer pink, it’s ready.
• remove skin from chicken.  place breasts on a cutting board and shred using two forks.  place shredded chicken in a large bowl.
• wet chicken with BBQ sauce of your choice.  serve a little sauce on the side.

The Urban Baker / SusanSalzman.com

If you like this, read about more pulled BBQ sandwiches:
Pulled BBQ Chicken Panini – Panini Happy
Braised BBQ Beef Sandwich – Simply Recipes
Slowcooker Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwich – Recipe Girl
Southwestern Pulled Brisket – Smitten Kitchen
BBQ Brisket Sandwich – Framed

Showing 15 comments
  • Reply

    Looks great Susan. I am a big fan of Georgia’s blog too. Her recipes are amazing. These sandwiches look great & I love that you don’t need to be in the kitchen forever to make them.

  • Amanda
    Reply

    Now this sounds like something I could do… and its totally making my mouth water. Great recipe and great pic!!

  • Kim
    Reply

    Oh! It is a great idea the pulled chicken because pork is a long cooking process for summer. I will definitly do this for my next barbecue party:)

  • Maria
    Reply

    Love the homemade sauce!

  • Esi
    Reply

    Yum! I want these for lunch

  • Reply

    I love soft buns on my pulled pork (or chicken or turkey preferably) sandwiches. It just soaks up the BBQ sauce so well. I’m with ya on pork…I like it, but I don’t like to eat it that often.

  • Georgia Pellegrini
    Reply

    I like Georgia’s recipe and her name! ; )

  • Maureen
    Reply

    I just cooked a pork butt for pulled pork and was going to use “store” sauce but I’m going to make your fantastic looking sauce instead! Dinner here I come!

  • Nancy@acommunaltable
    Reply

    We love pulled pork in our house too – I use boneless ribs and do it in the slow cooker – yum! But I haven’t tried pulled chicken and you’ve inspired me to try it!

  • Jennifer Ward-Pelar
    Reply

    Pulled chicken is the way to go over pulled pork! (Though they are both white meat….)
    Looks great! I’m excited to try the organic, grass-fed chicken from Whole Foods. We just moved and are FINALLY close to one….well, it’s 45 min. away. But beggars can’t always be choosers. Can you tell a difference in the taste of the chicken?

    • Susan
      Reply

      Hi Jennifer! I have found that the organic, grass fed chicken is way more moist. If you ask the butchers at Whole Foods to debone the breasts, you will be amazed at the difference in taste. Let me know how it turns out! Have a great day!

  • Jennifer Ward-Pelar
    Reply

    I will! We’re hoping for a trip to Whole Foods in the next couple weeks! 🙂

pingbacks / trackbacks
  • […] BBQ Chicken Salad (noshmyway.com) Grilled Honey BBQ Chicken Legs (400caloriesorless.com) Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Homemade BBQ Sauce (theurbanbaker.com) BBQ Chicken Quesadilla (video) (greenlitebites.com) Share […]

  • […] large selection of tempting BBQ recipes and resources to make your next barbecue a day to remember.The time to start thinking about cooking BBQ is in the Spring and Summer time, with the warm days ah…raightforward once you have mastered the basics and learned how to combine various kitchen […]

  • […] more. Go back to BBQ Tips Main Page Go to I Grill BBQ.com Home Page from How to BBQ chicken breast Not many people have the skill to grill chicken right, but knowing how to BBQ chicken breast will m…bq.com/wp-content/uploads/barbeque.jpg"> Not many people have the skill to grill chicken right, but […]

Leave a Comment