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BBQ Root Beer Chicken is an easy 6 ingredient crock pot recipe! Perfectly moist, tender, fall apart shredded chicken that's perfect for sandwiches.

ROOT BEER BBQ CHICKEN

This root beer bbq shredded chicken has been a long time family favorite. It only takes minutes to mix up the bbq sauce, root beer, and seasonings and then all you have to do is pour it over some chicken breasts in the slow cooker.

Only 6 ingredients, and that includes 3 dried spices, needed for this easy dinner recipe. It’s one of the easiest recipes to make and the chicken is fall apart tender thanks to the long crock pot cook time. It’s the perfect weeknight meal when you want something that’s ready when you are. 

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR ROOT BEER BBQ SHREDDED CHICKEN

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts 

Root Beer – Please don’t use diet root beer. It just won’t taste as good in this recipe. You want the extra sugar and flavor from regular root beer. We love the A&W root beer but any brand will work. 

BBQ Sauce – Use one you love! Stub’s and Sweet Baby Ray’s make a great store-bought bbq sauce that we love. If you want more sweetness then pick a bbq sauce with honey or brown sugar in it as well. We always use regular flavored bbq sauce with great results. 

Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and Salt

BBQ Root Beer Chicken is an easy 6 ingredient crock pot recipe! Perfectly moist, tender, fall apart shredded chicken that's perfect for sandwiches.

TWO EASY STEPS TO MAKE BBQ SHREDDED CHICKEN

– Lay the chicken breasts into the insert of the slow cooker. 

– In a small bowl, combine the bbq sauce, root beer, and seasonings. Stir with a whisk to combine. Pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on LOW heat for 8 hours. 

BBQ Root Beer Chicken is an easy 6 ingredient crock pot recipe! Perfectly moist, tender, fall apart shredded chicken that's perfect for sandwiches.

MY TIPS FOR THIS RECIPE

– I serve this chicken as sandwiches inside hamburger buns or rolls. 

There will be lots of liquid but that’s a good thing! It keeps the chicken so moist and flavorful. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to serve the chicken to drain some of the juice.

– This recipe makes a lot of shredded chicken. Store leftovers covered in the fridge (I always add some extra liquid to keep the chicken moist) and use it for another dinner. We love to make this bbq chicken french bread pizza with the leftovers or this bbq chicken soup. Yum!

– Butter both sides of a hamburger bun and broil on high for just a few minutes. Watch carefully! You can even add a slice of cheese if wanted. 

 

BBQ Root Beer Chicken is an easy 6 ingredient crock pot recipe! Perfectly moist, tender, fall apart shredded chicken that's perfect for sandwiches.
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BBQ Root Beer Chicken


Author Jessica
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
Servings 12 people
BBQ Root Beer Chicken is an easy 6 ingredient crock pot recipe! Perfectly moist, tender, fall apart shredded chicken that's perfect for sandwiches.

Ingredients
  

  • 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups root beer (NOT diet)
  • 1½ cups bbq sauce

Instructions

  • Spray the insert of the slow cooker and place chicken breasts inside.
  • In a small bowl whisk together garlic powder, onion powder, salt, root beer, and bbq sauce until combined. Pour over the chicken. Cover with the lid and cook on LOW heat for 8 hours. 
  • When cook time is done, shred chicken with two forks and let it stay in the slow cooker (in the juices to stay moist) until ready to serve. 
  • * This chicken does really on the warm setting too so if you're not eating right away just change the setting to warm and it will be ready when you are. 
  • Serve shredded chicken, with a slotted spoon or tongs, on buns or rolls.

Notes

For best results do not use diet root beer.
If you're not a fan of root beer then switch it out for any cola (dr. pepper, pepsi, coke)
Be sure and use a bbq sauce that you love. I always use Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ Sauce or Stubbs BBQ Sauce. 
 

Nutrition

Calories: 183kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 675mg | Potassium: 436mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 108IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

Did You Make This Recipe?

I'd love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!

Root beer BBQ chicken sandwiches are so incredibly easy to make! 3 ingredients and a slow cooker are all you need for a delicious dinner that is ready when you are. Perfect for a busy weeknight, picnic, potluck, or BBQ. Root beer, chicken breasts, BBQ sauce, and a few spices are all you need.

 

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14 Comments

  1. Betty Niepoth says:

    Your recipe has an add right in the middle, would sign up for your blog, but….

    1. Together As Family says:

      In the middle of the recipe?! I just went and looked and I only see the one square ad to the right of the recipe, which is not covering any part of the recipe or anything like that. So sorry to hear the ad bothers you. It costs several hundreds of dollars per month to keep a site up and running providing free recipes to everyone. Hopefully you can still make these chicken sandwiches. They really are so yummy and easy! 🙂

      1. She’s probably on mobile. I’m clicking through on mobile from Pinterest and it’s the same thing. But all blogs are like that on mobile. I’ll be trying this chicken in my instant pot tomorrow night! ?

        1. Together As Family says:

          This would be so fast in the instant pot! Let me know how it went. I am curious. That’s weird about it being that way from mobile, cause when I click through to my site from mobile I don’t see that. I’ll have to look into it. Enjoy!

  2. Is there a reason you can’t use diet cola?

    1. Together As Family says:

      You can use diet cola. I guess it’s just personal preference. I have actually mistakenly used diet one time and it was just not as a good. For best taste and results I think regular cola or root beer works best but you can use diet just fine 🙂

  3. Pingback: Pineapple Coconut Poke Cake – Weekend Potluck 284
  4. Karen Taylor says:

    5 stars
    This was excellent. When I removed the chicken to shred it, I took most of the sauce and reduced it by simmering it in a sauce pan. The thickened sauce was great – however next time I’m going to up the amounts of root beer and barbecue sauce – because the chicken really absorbs the liquid after shredding.

  5. 5 stars
    Who cares if there’s an ad at least the recipe is excellent.

    1. Together As Family says:

      Thank Nicole! So happy to hear you love the recipe.

  6. 5 stars
    I made this as a trial run because we are making for my kids birthday party. And it was amazing! Do you think I could cook on high for 4 hours? I don’t see an issue with it but I thought I’d see maybe if you tried it and it didn’t work before I ruin a batch lol.

    1. Together As Family says:

      You can. I personally don’t like cooking chicken breast on high because I feel like the meat does not get as soft and fall-apart tender as when you cook it low and slow. It would work just fine on low and I am sure it’s just a personal preference for me. Let me know if you try it!