The easiest BBQ Smoked Pulled Chicken recipe you will ever make! This juicy smoked chicken is perfect for making sandwiches, tacos, and more!
This recipe is hands down one of the best ways to enjoy smoked shredded chicken either as a sandwich on tacos or on its own.
Made with boneless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, barbecue sauce, and of course some smoky flavor, this pulled chicken recipe will become one of the family’s favorite recipes in your house.
Looking for more delicious ways to enjoy chicken? Be sure to check out my shredded buffalo chicken with celery slaw, buffalo chicken sloppy joes, and smoked parmesan chicken wings with vodka sauce.
Smoked Pulled Chicken BBQ
My brand new Recteq 700 Pellet Smoker arrived and I had to cook something after I burned it off for the first time but it was too clean and pretty to destroy it on the first cook.
I decided to smoke some boneless skinless chicken thighs and breasts in the pan with my favorite dry rub and smoke it for a few hours to make some shredded chicken.
The results were fantastic and I didn’t dirty up my new pellet smoker at all.
Smoked Pulled Chicken Ingredient List
Chicken. For this recipe, I smoked 3 lbs of boneless and skinless chicken breast and chicken thighs. I enjoy a mix of both in my sandwiches, but if your personal preference is one over the other, you can do all of the same cut of chicken.
Seasoning. Spin your spice rack and grab 1 tsp of chicken bouillon powder and 2 tbsp of BBQ dry rub to season the chicken.
Bold Flavor. For that added bold and irresistible flavor, you are going to need ¾ cup of BBQ sauce and ¼ cup of chicken broth which will be used to flavor the chicken halfway through the cook.
For cooking. Grab 1 tbsp of avocado oil; this will be used for cooking.
How to Make BBQ Smoked Pulled Chicken
Prepare the chicken. Trim the chicken breasts and thighs removing any excess fat on bone fragments.
Season the chicken. Once the chicken has been trimmed, combine the bouillon powder and the bbq dry rub, then season the chicken on both sides.
Smoke the chicken. Heat the smoker to 275 degrees F. and place the chicken directly on the pellet grill (or any smoker/grill). Cook the chicken for about 90 minutes.
Transfer and continue smoking. Transfer the chicken to an aluminum foil pan, pour in bbq sauce and chicken broth, and continue to smoke uncovered for another hour until the thighs reach an internal temperature of about 185 degrees F.
Shred the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked use tongs, forks, or your hands with heat-protective gloves to shred the chicken and combine it with the sauce. You can also use a hand mixer to shred the chicken quickly.
Enjoy. Plate and serve with rolls, cole slaw, and extra sauce!
Recipe Tips, Tricks, and Variations
Extra juicy chicken. Looking for extra juicy chicken? Consider mixing apple cider and melted butter and inject it into the chicken.
Sweetness. If you are looking to add some sweetness to your chicken, consider using light or dark brown sugar.
Cooking Oil. If you don’t have or don’t enjoy avocado oil, you can substitute it with olive oil.
Different Flavor. If you are looking to season your chicken with other spices, consider fan favorites like garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Hot sauce. Looking to give your bbq smoked chicken a kick? Turn up the heat by adding in your favorite hot sauce.
Helpful Kitchen Tools. Great items to have handy include aluminum foil, an instant read thermometer or digital thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken at the thickest part of the breast or thigh, paper towel, and a cutting board.
Aluminum Cooking Pan. Use an aluminum pan to keep your pellet smoker clean, plus you can serve the smoked pulled chicken right in the pan
High Fat or Low Fat. If you want to reduce the fat, you can smoke just chicken breast. The final product will be a little less moist but still quite tasty. Inverse, if you want the moistest smoked pulled chicken, you can use all chicken thighs
Make it Low Carb. To make this recipe low carb use a sugar free bbq sauce and low carb tortillas or buns.
What to Serve with Pulled Chicken
Make this a complete family meal and serve up your pulled chicken with coleslaw.
You don’t need a lot but the creamy crunchy cabbage adds texture to the sandwich.
Add delicious side dishes like Pellet Grill Smoked Baked Potatoes, Sheet Pan Green Beans Almondine with Bacon, Corn Casserole Recipe with Bacon and Smoked Gouda, and Smoked Mac and Cheese!
Why is my Skin Not Crispy?
Since this recipe uses skinless chicken, you won’t have crispy skin with this chicken.
However, if you are looking to have crispy chicken skin and then pull the chicken from the bone, you can smoke an entire chicken or make a spatchcock chicken, cook it, and then shred it.
Making Pulled Chicken In a Crockpot
I know not everyone has a smoker but rest assured you can still make pulled chicken.
Just season the chicken as you would and place it in your crockpot. pour in the chicken broth off to the side so you don’t rinse off the seasoning.
Pour in the BBQ sauce of your choice and cook on high for about 4-6 hours. If you want to add that wood flavor, add 2 tsp of Liquid Smoke.
Once the chicken is tender, you can shred it and save it right in the crockpot for amazing almost smoked, pulled chicken bbq.
More Chicken Recipes You Will Love
- Chicken Fajita Egg Rolls
- Cast Iron Keto Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joe’s
- Smoked Chicken Thighs with Blood Orange Glaze
- Smoked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
- Buffalo Chicken Fatty
BBQ Smoked Pulled Chicken
Equipment
- Pellet grill or Crockpot
- 1 Aluminum Foil Pan
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Chicken Thighs Boneless, Skinless
- 1 tbsp Avocado Oil
- 1 tsp Chicken Bouillon Powder optional
- 2 tbsp BBQ Dry Rub
- ¾ cup BBQ Sauce
- ¼ cup Chicken Broth
Instructions
- Trim the thighs removing any excess fat on bone fragments. Combine the bouillon powder and the bbq dry rub, then season the chicken on both sides.
- Heat the smoker to 275 degrees F. and place the chicken thighs directly on the pellet grill (or any smoker/grill). Cook for about 90 minutes.
- transfer the Chicken to an aluminum foil pan, pour in bbq sauce and chicken broth, and continue to smoke uncovered for another hour until the thighs reach an internal temperature of about 185 degrees F.
- Once the chicken is cooked use tongs, forks, or your hands with heat-protective gloves to shred the chicken and combine it with the sauce. You can also use a hand mixer to shred the chicken quickly.
- Serve with rolls, cole slaw, and extra sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Cara
Did you cover it while cooking or leave it open
Frank Campanella
uncovered once its in the pan
Chris
What kind of wood chips did you use
Frank Campanella
I normally use a blend but hickory is a solid choice with chicken
Mary
Just a question about the time . The recipe states 2 hours for cook time however if you follow the instructions it’s 3 hours. Is one of them a typo?
Robin
I followed the recipe and did 90 min with rub and another 90 min with BBQ and chicken broth. Turned out dry, jerky like, and not good. I used my Traeger at 325 as instructed. If I do this again, will do 60 min with rub and 60 min with BBQ sauce and Chicken broth.