Super Easy Slow-cooker Pulled Chicken

As the school year gets rolling, and my teacher-brain is finally forced to lurch back into action, the marginally creative culinary lobe of my noggin tends to take a backseat for a while. In an effort to stem the eventual onslaught of dull midweek meals involving bottled pasta sauces and packets of taco seasoning, I’ve been trying to come up with simple recipes that don’t take too much thought or effort, and leverage convenient kitchen tools, like my slow-cooker.

The following is one such recipe.

Ingredients:

 

• 1 cup white onion (diced)
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
• 3 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbs honey
• 2.5 lbs boneless chicken thighs (trimmed of fat)
• 1/5 lbs boneless chicken breasts (similarly trimmed)

Rub Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs kosher salt
• 1/2 tbs black pepper
• 1/2 tbs cumin
• 1/2 tbs chile powder
• 1/2 tbs onion powder
• 1/2 tbs ground coriander
• 1/2 tbs cinnamon
• 1/2 tbs smoked paprika
• 1/3 cup brown sugar

For serving:

• Slider rolls
• Your favorite slaw (I used the apple slaw from my chicken taco recipe)
• BBQ Sauce

Directions:

Begin by peeling and dicing the onion, and placing it – along with the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and honey – in the crock pot.

Trim the larger pieces of fat, and any pieces of bone from the chicken thighs and breasts, and pat them dry with a paper towel.

Mix together the spices, salt and sugar from the “rub ingredients” list in a small bowl, and spread the mixture evenly on the trimmed pieces of chicken.

Place the pieces of spice-rubbed chicken in the slow cooker reservoir with the tomato mixture. There should be enough liquid to make sure that all of the pieces of chicken are submerged, but if not, just add a little chicken stock to make it so.

Cook it (covered, of course) on high for at least four hours, or on low for at least six hours, at which point you should be able to shred the chicken easily with a pair of forks. Take the lid off, and continue to cook the chicken to reduce the liquid and enhance the flavors. If you’re in a time-crunch, you can always spoon off the extra liquid.

Serve the shredded chicken on slider buns (toasted or not, your call) with a scoop of the slaw and a dollop of BBQ sauce. Serve it with your favorite sides, and a delicious beer, like Stone Go To IPA, which is one of my summer favorites!