This pulled chicken recipe is the one you need! It’s super-easy and you get juicy, flavorful chicken that can be used in so many different dishes.
Below there are instructions for how to make pulled chicken in the oven, slow cooker, and the Instant Pot so you can choose depending on how much time you have. All versions are easy to make and give you wonderfully tender chicken that can be used for a variety of dinners. Pulled chicken, also called shredded chicken, is one of the ingredients that makes busy weeknight meals so much easier. Mix in some salsa one night for tacos and use barbecue sauce another night for BBQ chicken sandwiches. The possibilities are endless.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: How To Shred Chicken Easily
What Kind Of Chicken Should I Use?
Chicken can be unforgiving when it comes to doneness. It can go from perfect to perfectly horrible in a manner of minutes. That’s why my preference for this recipe is boneless skinless chicken thighs. They’re a little more forgiving than the breasts and I feel like they have more flavor. If thighs are not your thing, you can use boneless skinless chicken breasts, or a combination of breasts and thighs.
If using chicken breasts, you’ll want to reduce the cooking time, and make sure that you aren’t cooking the chicken past 165F. Thighs are more forgiving so it doesn’t matter as much if they cook a little longer.
I like to cook up a batch of pulled chicken early in the week as meal prep or freeze to have on hand for later. The chicken will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for 3 months.
Seasonings
You will notice in the recipes below that I’ve kept the seasonings fairly simple. I often just use salt, black pepper, and garlic powder if I’m meal prepping and want to be able to use the chicken in a variety of dishes. That way it can just as easily be included in a salad or tossed with BBQ sauce for a sandwich.
Feel free to also add additional seasonings though! Maybe you want to add paprika and other spices, depending on how you’ll be using the cooked chicken. Add chicken taco seasoning if you know you’ll be making tasty tacos or burritos. Here’s our full collection of seasoning blend recipes if you’re looking to shake things up a bit.
Note, when looking at those seasoning blends, it’s natural to gravitate towards the Mexican or Tex-Mex for pulled chicken because it is so often used in recipes based on those cuisines. However, you can take the chicken in so many different directions, as this Chicken Shawarma recipe exemplifies. If you love flavorful shredded chicken, try making Shawarma Chicken Thighs exemplify.
Slow Cooker Juicy Pulled Chicken Recipe
Slow cooker shredded chicken, also called Crockpot shredded chicken, is so easy to make. It takes five minutes to prepare and you can make a variety of meals simply by adding a few more ingredients. Plus, making it in the slow cooker leaves the chicken moist, flavorful, and ready to take on any flavors you want to put on it.
- 1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, breasts, or a mixture
- 1 cup unsalted chicken stock
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Instructions
- To a slow cooker, add chicken and pour in the stock. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Cover and set on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
- Remove chicken thighs to a plate and shred with two forks. Drizzle chicken with some of the cooking liquid. Reserve the rest of the liquid. low cooker and stir. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve immediately or, if saving for later use, refrigerate the rest of the liquid separately. Drizzle chicken with more liquid if necessary for moistness when reheating.
Instant Pot Juicy Pulled Chicken Recipe
The Instant Pot is another great way to easily prepare chicken. It’s just as easy to prep as in the slow cooker and is ready even quicker. All you need to do is season the chicken, and set it on a trivet in the pressure cooker over a cup of water or broth.
- 1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 cup water or chicken broth
Instructions
- Season the thighs all over with salt, garlic powder, and pepper
- Put the trivet in the inner pot of the Instant Pot and pour in the water.
- Place the thighs on the trivet.
- Close and lock the lid. Make sure the steam release handle is in the sealed position.
- Select Pressure Cook and cook on high. Adjust the [+] or [-] button to set 13 minutes of pressure cooking time.
- When time is up, turn the steam release handle to the venting position and allow steam to escape. When the valve has dropped, unlock the lid and open carefully.
- Remove chicken thighs to a plate and shred with two forks. Drizzle chicken with some of the cooking liquid. Reserve the rest of the liquid. low cooker and stir. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve immediately or, if saving for later use, refrigerate the rest of the liquid separately. Drizzle chicken with more liquid if necessary for moistness when reheating.
You can also bake chicken to make pulled chicken. This takes somewhere in between the Instant Pot and Slow Cooker, but you can get some nice crispiness at the edges, which doesn’t happen with those versions. The actual printable recipe is below.
Podcast Episode: Pulled Chicken
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Oven-Baked Juicy Pulled Chicken Recipe
For instructions for the slow cooker and Instant Pot, see post above.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Rest Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 Tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.*
- To a large bowl add chicken, oil, and seasonings. Toss until chicken is evenly coated.
- Transfer chicken to a sheet pan. Lay thighs flat on pan without overlapping.
- Place pan in oven. Bake until internal temperature is 160°F and no longer pink inside, about 20-23 minutes. For some crispy edges, leave them in for an extra 5-7 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate.
- Remove some fat from the pan and discard, if desired. Drizzle pan with chicken stock. Swirl it around, stir and scrape to get flavor from pan dissolved into liquid.
- Shred chicken with two forks. Drizzle chicken with some of the pan liquid. Reserve the rest of the liquid. Taste chicken and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve immediately or, if saving for later use, refrigerate the rest of the liquid separately. Drizzle chicken with more liquid if necessary for moistness when reheating.
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Notes
*If you prefer chicken breasts, or to do a combination of breasts and thighs, you may want to lower the oven temperature to 400°F and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Using Pulled Chicken
You can use this tasty shredded chicken in a wide variety of dishes!
Use it to top salads, throw it in a wrap or toss in a bowl with some grains and veggies. Mix the shredded chicken with BBQ sauce for sandwiches, use it in easy chicken tacos, or add to a quick soup.
Let me know your favorite uses for pulled chicken in the comments.
More Chicken Thigh Recipes
Browse our full collection of chicken recipes or try one of the recipes below next.
I love how you gave the different cooking options for this. I still don’t have an instant pot, so I stuck with my handy slow cooker and it worked out great. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed, Martha!