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    You are here: Home » Food » Appetizers

    Easy Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders — And how to smoke chicken!

    August 29, 2019 By Mary 3 Comments

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    bbq pulled chicken sliders with coleslaw on a sheet pan, pinterest image
    pulled bbq chicken sliders pinterest image

    Pulled chicken is one of the easiest ways to smoke and serve chicken for a crowd. Smoke a whole chicken (or a chicken cut up into quarters) and then finished as sliders is the ultimate Easy Pulled BBQ Chicken dish.

    Easy BBQ Chicken Sliders on a sheetpan

    We love preaching all things chicken. It tends to be an under-appreciated meat. Like a blank canvass, chicken can take on flavor in so many ways. Our pulled chicken is easy, simply seasoned, smoked, and then shredded and used as a topping to a salad, or for sliders as in this case. For our pulled chicken we start by smoking a whole chicken (or quartered chicken).

    How To Smoke A Chicken

    First, let’s talk about how to prepare a chicken. It starts with buying a whole roaster chicken. Roasters, or fryers, are all similar cuts, it’s just how large they are that define it. Roasters tend to run in the 4 to 6 pound range and are perfect for our portion size.

    Pat dry the chicken both outside and inside the cavity and season with your favorite rub. You can find our all purpose chicken rub here.


    Should you rinse your chicken? No, cross contamination is more likely and many studies suggest to simply pat dry. No need to rinse chicken.


    Next, smoke at 275 degrees Fahrenheit (F), we love using fruit wood given our location in the Pacific Northwest. At 275, we find this is the right balance in temperature so the chicken does not dry out (at a lower range), and still gets a nice smoke flavor.

    A whole roaster chicken cooked on a smoker

    Remove the chicken from the smoker when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees F. Be sure to invest in a quality thermometer.

    Finally, let the chicken rest, a theme for us. This allows the carry over cooking to finish and the moisture in the bird to redistribute within the cells.

    How to Pull or Shred Chicken

    • Be sure to let the chicken rest and cool slightly.
    • Remove the skin, snack on it if you want or discard.
    • Prepare a large bowl or sheet pan for the shredded meat.
    • Remove the legs and thigh first and using hands remove the meat from bone, add to bowl.
    • Using a knife, remove the breast from the bone, and then break into chunks and add to bowl.
    • Remove additional meat from chicken carcass.
    • Place the bowl of chicken on top of a towel to prevent bowl from moving around.
    • Using two forks, pull at the meat until desired texture.
    • Add some barbecue sauce and mix up.
    Pulled BBQ Chicken on a sheet pan

    Making Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders

    Technically sliders are small steamed buns with meat. Ours isn’t steamed, but it does use a key ingredient and that is the Hawaiian style roll (we love these rolls for sliders!).

    Place around ⅓ cup of the BBQ chicken mix, then add some coleslaw with a fun pickled or vinegar element for the perfect chicken slider combo. We love this Grilled Pineapple Coleslaw for smoked chicken.

    A pulled BBQ chicken slider using a Hawaiian style bun

    Do I Need To Brine Chicken When Smoking?

    No. But if smoking you can brine with a simple sugar, salt, and liquid mix for additional flavor, but it is not necessary and in this recipe we do not use this technique.

    Recipe for Pulled Chicken Sliders

    Easy BBQ Chicken Sliders on a sheetpan

    Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders

    How make Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders using smoked chicken. Perfect and easy way to feed a crowd with a Hawaiian style bun, grilled pineapple coleslaw and pulled chicken.
    4.67 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
    Resting Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 2 hours hours
    Servings: 6 to 8 people
    Author: Mary Cressler | Vindulge
    Cost: $35.00

    Ingredients

    • 1 4 – 5 pound roaster chicken
    • ¼ cup chicken dry rub
    • ½ cup barbecue sauce
    • 1 package sweet Hawaiian slider rolls
    • 2 cups grilled pineapple coleslaw
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    Instructions

    • Preheat smoker to 275 degrees F using favorite wood. We like fruit wood like cherry or apple.
    • Pat dry chicken and apply dry rub liberally taking care to apply in the cavity as well. Place in smoker.
    • Remove chicken from smoker until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Let rest to allow carry over cooking to take the chicken to 165 degrees F.
    • After rest, shred chicken into a bowl and add ½ cup of bbq sauce, and mix.
    • Construct slider by adding ⅓ cup of pulled chicken, then ¼ cup coleslaw, optional add some additional sauce.
    Tried this recipe? We would love to see!Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge
    Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders on a sheet pan

    Other Fun Slider and Chicken Recipes

    • Pulled Pork Sliders with Grilled Pineapple Slaw
    • Buffalo Stuffed Chicken Breast
    • Grilled Wine Can Chicken

    *This post contains affiliate links. We only recommend products we use and love!!!


    If you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vimala says

      September 13, 2019 at 8:28 am

      5 stars
      Awesome Recipe. I prepare this dish for my family party. Thanks…

      Reply
    2. Susie Weinrich says

      August 29, 2019 at 12:48 pm

      5 stars
      I am going to use this recipe for my Labor Day weekend plans. Thanks!!!

      Reply

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    Mary-Cressler-Sept-2015-smI'm Mary, a wine/food/travel writer, Certified Sommelier, mom of twins, former vegetarian turned BBQ fanatic, runner, and founder of Vindulge and author of Fire + Wine cookbook.  Thanks for stopping by!

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