Slow Cooker Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken Recipe - The Schmidty Wife (2024)

Throw out your sugary store bought BBQ sauce because this Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken is going to blow your mind. An easy homemade sauce replaces that sugary store bought bbq sauce, mixed with chicken thighs and an onion it is cooked to perfection in the crockpot for a great BBQ pulled chicken!

Links may be affiliate links.

Healthy Barbecue Chicken Recipe

I love me a good barbecue, it is such a comforting food. Often associated with a beautiful summer evening with friends and family hanging out on the deck laughing, smelling the fragrant grill doing all of the hard work, but unfortunately that feeling doesn’t happen every night for dinner right?

That is where this delicious and easy slow cooker BBQ chicken comes into play. Whether you are just looking for a great weeknight meal or you are looking to ditch all of that sugar that comes in those store bought barbecue sauces this recipe is for you.

The first thing I wanted to do with this recipe is ditch the store bought sauce and the ungodly amounts of high fructose corn syrup they contain. Not that I am above a balanced lifestyle (hello, I cannot say no to ice cream) but when you are looking for a solid weeknight meal I don’t want it dripping in sugar.

So to avoid the store bought sauce I figured I would have to replicate a good clean bbq sauce myself to put with the chicken. So I started off by thinking about just making a good blend of spices close to what a ‘rib rub’ or barbecue rub would be. From there I thought about what style of sauce would be the least sugary, and a good vinegar based sauce much like a Carolina style was certainly my answer.

So from there I tested multiple variations of spices, vinegars, sauces, fruits, and pastes until I had a version I was happy with!

PLEASE NOTE: If you are expecting this to taste like store bought bbq sauce you might be let down. This is a refined-sugar free recipe and most bbq sauces are dependant on A LOT of sugar. This recipe is an alternative to those sugary sauces so the flavor might differ from what you are used to.

So What Ingredients are in Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken?

Great question. To start I chose to use chicken thighs, as far as texture and flavor goes that is what you are going to want to use if you want the best pulled chicken in general. A simple family pack of boneless skinless thighs does the trick perfectly.

Next I opted to include a diced onion in the chicken for flavor and texture. Just a simple white, yellow, or sweet onion diced up will do the trick perfectly.

Now for the sauce. For the base I opted to go with tomato paste. I tried tomato sauce and the chicken was way to watery and could have used a bit of a bolder flavor, so tomato paste won.

For the sweetener I stayed away from high fructose corn syrup and went with a can of crushed pineapple in 100% juice. I went with this for one of two reasons. Pineapple juice is apparently ‘the secret ingredient’ for the Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce and because I know crushed pineapple does wonders with shredded meats because I also used crushed pineapple in my Slow Cooker Chipotle Pineapple Carnitas.

For the vinegar I went with Apple Cider Vinegar, not to tangy but just enough to give this sauce the tang it needs.

And for the spices I went with a collection of paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, onion powder, and a dash of cayenne. Lastly I added a little liquid smoke extract, if you don’t have liquid smoke you can do without but I definitely think this plays big into the smokiness level of the final product. Liquid Smoke usually comes in either a hickory or mesquite flavor (I have hickory) and can usually be found near the pre-packed seasoning packets at our grocery store.

How to Make Barbecue Pulled Chicken in the Slow Cooker

To start you will need to make the quick sauce, in a mixing bowl add the tomato paste, pineapple, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Mix to combine the ingredients to create a sauce.

Add the chicken thighs, diced onion, and sauce to the slow cooker. Stir to combine to make sure all of the chicken thighs are covered in the sauce.

Set on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 until chicken starts to fall apart. I think this recipe actually does best on high for about 3 hours but low and slow works just as good!

Before eating shread chicken with two forks. I think it tastes best if you let it rest in the sauce for a few minutes. Best served with coleslaw and served over buns, in wraps, in grain bowls, on a sweet potato, or on its own.

And that really is it. I do have a coleslaw recipe I have been working on that will go great with this recipe but it isn’t quite ready yet, when it is I will for sure share it here so you can pair them together!

What to serve with BBQ Pulled Chicken?

A good Baked Potato or Sweet Potato is a great option. So are Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes! Or if you want to ditch the potatoes try my Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower.

Salads are perfect to serve along side this meal too. Healthier Bacon Ranch Potato Salad, Greek Quinoa Chickpea Salad,Marinated Chickpea Chopped Salad, and Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Strawberries are all great options.

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywifeon social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more crockpot recipes? Check out my Slow Cooker Chicken Shawarmaor my Easy Vegetarian Crockpot Refried Beans.