It’s excellent on its own, in a bun or a sandwich, or as a tasty filling for a lettuce wrap. There’s something about slowly cooked meat. This is true for beef (pot roast, beef cheeks, goulash), pork (pork roast), and chicken. Add barbecue sauce, and you’re in for a treat. The homemade barbecue sauce I use in this recipe is delicious and easy to make, but you can use any sauce you like.
Recipe Card
Fresh chicken: I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this recipe. I don’t recommend using chicken breast. It’s too dry to use in a slow-cooked recipe. For the homemade BBQ sauce: Tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and a sweetener. I use stevia, but you can use any sweetener to equal 2 tablespoons of sugar. You start by mixing the homemade BBQ sauce. Place the chicken pieces in a baking dish. Add the sauce, ensuring it covers the chicken. Shred the chicken with two forks or a spatula, mix it well with the BBQ sauce, and serve. In fact, pressed for time one afternoon, with only two hours until dinner, I baked the chicken at 400°F, covered, for 2 hours. The result was delicious and moist - so this is an option if you’re in a rush.
Easy cleanup tips:
One important tip is to line the bottom and sides of the baking dish with foil.
The barbecue sauce gets beautifully caramelized as the dish slowly bakes, making for a delicious dinner – and a tough cleanup job later on, as shown in this photo:
However, if you prefer not to use foil when cooking, let the baking dish cool a little (so it doesn’t explode), then fill it with hot, soapy water.
Let it soak overnight on a dishtowel on the counter (never put a hot Pyrex dish directly on a cold counter!). The following day, cleanup is a breeze.
It’s also good on a bed of cauliflower rice, microwave spaghetti squash, sauteed spinach, or shredded lettuce.
A tasty yet messy option is to use it as a filling for lettuce sandwiches. When I go this route, I like to add pickled red onions.
As mentioned above, you can also freeze the leftovers for up to three months.
