Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Need to get dinner on the table fast? Try this recipe for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches. Sweet, spicy shredded chicken cooked to perfection piled high on soft rolls is ready fast when you start off using an instant pot. 

Instant Pot BBQ Chicken

I have a slight confession for you. I have never used an instant pot! But I knew it was time to get an instant pot recipe on the site because quite a few of you have been messaging me asking for one. So here’s the first of hopefully many to come for Walking on Sunshine. 

This recipe is just like the one I make using a slow cooker. I know sometimes we don’t have all day to cook dinner, which is why using an instant pot is great…dinner is ready in under 30 minutes. 

Use your family’s favorite BBQ sauce. For my family that would be Sweet Baby Ray’s. I love a sweet barbecue sauce, how about you? 

Helpful Kitchen Tools

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• Instant Pot – if you don’t have one, you can still make this recipe using a slow cooker. It will just take a little more time. 
• Shredding Claws 

How to Make Instant Pot BBQ Chicken

Make sure you print out the recipe below and save it for later!

This recipe should make enough for six sandwiches. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 tablespoons BBQ Seasoning
• ½ cup water
• 1 jar BBQ sauce – I used 16 ounce size of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce

Instructions:

1. Place the chicken breast in the bowl of the Instant Pot.
2. Add water.
3. Season the chicken with BBQ seasoning.
4. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal the vent.
5. Set to Pressure Cook and cook for 8 minutes.
6. Do a quick release and remove the lid from the Instant Pot.
7. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred with a fork.
8. Pour out extra water and put shredded chicken back in the pot.
9. Set the Instant Pot to Saute and add the BBQ sauce.
10. Stir to mix and cook for five minutes to warm the sauce.

Let’s Get Cooking! 

Place the boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of the instant pot. 

Add the water and seasonings. 

How to Shred Cooked Chicken

There are a few different methods you can use to shred cooked chicken: 

• The first way is how most people do it and that’s with using two forks. Use one fork to hold the chicken in place on top of a cutting board and use the other fork to scrape and tear the chicken into small, shredded pieces. 
• Instead of two forks, you could use these shredding claws that I think would work perfectly! 
• The second way is using an electric mixer. Break up the cooked chicken a little bit with your hands and then add the chicken to a mixing bowl and then turn the hand mixer on slow while pressing the beaters into the chicken. You can even use a KitchenAid mixer to shred chicken. 
• Next is a food processor. Just make sure you use the proper blade which is the top “slicer” disk blade. If you don’t, you’ll have a mess on your hands. 
• You can even use a Ninja type blender but don’t try to use a NutriBullet as that requires adding liquid. 

Return the shredded chicken back to the instant pot and then add your favorite barbecue sauce.  Set the instant pot to saute and allow the chicken to cook for an additional five minutes to warm up the barbecue sauce. 

How to Serve Instant Pot BBQ Chicken

• Serve this delicious shredded BBQ chicken in soft hamburger rolls or slider rolls. 
• This recipe would even be great served over rice or spiralized zucchini zoodles. 
• Or you can serve the shredded chicken over a bed of lettuce with crushed tortilla corn chips on top. 

Any One of these Delicious Side Dishes would be Great: 

• Twice Baked Potatoes
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• German Creamy Cucumber Salad
• Fiesta Corn Salad
• Homemade Applesauce

Why does my Instant Pot Say Burn? 

• Sometimes when you’re cooking with sugar-based sauces like the barbecue sauce in this recipe, the sugar will caramelize which increases the temperature making the bottom of the instant pot too hot.
• There should be no need to worry because the pressure has been released, but always refer to your instant pot’s owner’s manual for instructions! 
• I found this article on 7 Instant Pot Burn Mistakes very helpful when writing my post. 

Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - Sweet, spicy shredded chicken cooked to perfection piled high on soft rolls is ready fast and perfect for dinner tonight.

Print

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 tablespoons BBQ Seasoning
• ½ cup water
• 1 jar BBQ sauce - I used 16 ounce size of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

Instructions

1. Place the chicken breast in the bowl of the Instant Pot.
2. Add water.
3. Season the chicken with BBQ seasoning.
4. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal the vent.
5. Set to Pressure Cook and cook for 8 minutes.
6. Do a quick release and remove the lid from the Instant Pot.
7. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred with a fork.
8. Pour out extra water and put shredded chicken back in the pot.
9. Set the Instant Pot to saute and add the BBQ sauce.
10. Stir to mix and cook for five minutes to warm the sauce.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Instant Pot 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer
• 
  OXO Good Grips Meat Shredding Claws with Handles

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 273 Total Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 66mg Sodium: 989mg Carbohydrates: 34g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 28g Protein: 25g

The nutrition information is calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you, please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator.