BBQ Shredded Chicken may just be one of the easiest meal prep recipes ever.

Toss a manageable list of BBQ sauce ingredients together in a crockpot, add chicken breast, and cook for a few hours until the chicken is shred-able.

Crockpot with shredded BBQ chicken made from scratch

Or, toss out the homemade BBQ sauce ingredients and grab a good quality bottle of pre-made sauce - your choice!

This recipe is gluten free, low carb, and paleo.

Ingredients needed for BBQ shredded chicken in a crockpot

To make the BBQ sauce from scratch, you'll need a few ingredients on hand to make it happen:

- tomato sauce

- tomato paste

- apple cider vinegar

- honey

- molasses

- liquid smoke

- spices (paprika, garlic powder, mustard powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper)

Trust me, the resulting BBQ sauce will be worth the effort to make it from scratch!

Easy BBQ shredded chicken served with a sweet potato and greens

Want to skip the homemade BBQ?

If you just don't have time or energy to throw the above ingredients together, no worries!

You can opt to use your favorite BBQ, but for a Whole30/paleo/gluten free version, I highly recommend Primal Kitchen BBQ sauce!

Beyond that, all you need is chicken breast!

Bowls of greens and roast sweet potatoes topped with slow cooker BBQ shredded chicken

How to make homemade BBQ shredded chicken in a slow cooker

Even when making the BBQ sauce from scratch, this crockpot recipe is unbelievably easy!

Add all ingredients to a slow cooker

First, add all the BBQ sauce ingredients and stir together until relatively smooth.

Then add the chicken breast and push to submerge under the BBQ sauce.

How long to cook in the slow cooker

I'm sure most of you are here to find out one thing: how long to leave the crockpot on for. The rest of this recipe is pretty self-explanatory.

So, here are your cooking times. These might vary slightly based on your crockpot.

If cooking on HIGH: 4 hours.

If cooking on LOW: 6-8 hours.

After those times, remove the chicken breasts from the crock (it's easier to shred without the threat to splattering sauce) and shred the chicken breast with two forks.

It should shred pretty easily; if not, keep cooking for another 30 minutes and check again.

Once shredded, add back to the crockpot and stir to make sure BBQ sauce coats all the chicken. That's it!

What to serve with BBQ Shredded Chicken

My favorite food to eat with barbecue shredded chicken is sweet potatoes!

I'll pair sweet potato rounds or roasted sweet potato with shredded chicken in containers for easy meal prep.

Here are a few more ideas to get a meal together:

- Serve over rice.

- Use your favorite buns for BBQ shredded chicken sandwiches.

- Serve over baked potatoes/sweet potatoes.

- Serve with steamed or mashed cauliflower.

Of course, add in your favorite veggie of choice to round out the meal!

Bowl with salad greens and roast sweet potato topped with slow cooker BBQ shredded chicken

What to do with leftover BBQ shredded chicken

Shredded chicken recipes make awesome meal prep recipes because they're so versatile.

Use leftover BBQ shredded chicken in any of the ideas listed above.

Or pair with some roasted/steamed veggies for a quick meal!

Can you freeze BBQ shredded chicken?

Of course! You could double this recipe to make a HUGE batch, then freeze whatever portion you want.

Store in a freezer-safe airtight container or freezer zip-top bag for up to 3 months. I highly recommend splitting up into portions before you freeze.

To thaw, just take the container out of the freezer and into the fridge overnight to let it thaw, and microwave to heat it up!

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Did you try this recipe? I'd love to hear what you think! Comment below or tag me on Instagram.

Easy BBQ Shredded Chicken in Crockpot — From Scratch!