Easy Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken Recipe

This Easy Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken Recipe is totally effortless but tastes like a thousand bucks! The pot pressurizes the meat to a super tender texture and really simmers in the delicious flavor that tastes like it took hours to make. Simple, quick, scrumptious, and voila! Dinner is served!

Being used to cooking long and detail-intensive recipes (especially traditional ones), the idea of making a good meal with so little work was a curious one. Can you cook a meal both tasty and near-instant? Turns out, you can folks. I've occasionally used a Crock-Pot but this little trick is something else. My kids gave me an Instant Pot for Mother's Day a while back, so I set it out to try it out!

I made this recipe for the first time while trying out this wonderful appliance at the same time, and didn't know exactly what to expect. I literally threw everything into the pot, sealed it and that was it? On with my day. Just minutes later, dinner was more than halfway done. I was pleasantly surprised by how fast and easy it all was.

The kids absolutely adored that evening's meal! A recipe like this is also perfect for busy weeknights or hot summer days. Who wants to spend hours in the kitchen when there are a plethora of other things you’d rather be doing? Spend more quality parent time with the kids outdoors; playing, swimming, or gardening?

Table of Contents

• 📋 Recipe Ingredients
• 🔪 Recipe Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 🥘 Similar recipes
• 💬 Comments

📋 Recipe Ingredients

• Organic chicken breasts

Seasoning Ingredients

• Smoked paprika
• Garlic salt
• Salt
• Mrs. Dash seasoning
• Black ground pepper
• Cumin
• Cold water
• BBQ sauce

BBQ Chicken Sandwich Ingredients

• Bread buns

Topping Ingredients

• Organic leaf lettuce
• American cheese
• Organic avocado
• Cucumbers

Instant Pot

🔪 Recipe Instructions

How to Make Pulled BBQ Chicken

Measure out all the seasoning ingredients, mix together well, and set aside until ready for use.

Trim the fat of chicken breasts, rinse and place them into a glass bowl. Sprinkle with prepared seasoning, add 1 cup BBQ sauce, and mix everything to combine.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Add ½ cup water to Instant pot, place coated with seasoning and BBQ sauce chicken. Turn the instant pot on, press on the Poultry button, adjust to high pressure and set it to 20 minutes timer. Close instant pot with lid, turn the valve to “Sealing” and it will start heating automatically (this takes about 15 minutes and the light will say “ON”). Then the instant pot will beep when heated and a 20-minute cooking time will start.

After the chicken is done cooking the timer will beep. Using a kitchen glove turn the valve to “Venting” (do not lean over the instant pot or the coming out steam will burn your face). After the steam is released, open the lid, press “Sauté” to adjust the timer to 20 minutes.

While the chicken is in “Sauté” mode, get one cooked chicken breast out of the pot, place it onto a plate, pull or shred the meat apart and transfer it back to the pot. Repeat that with all 6 chicken breasts and you should hear the sizzling/sautéing sound. Stir every 5 minutes so the meat doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot.

After 15 minutes of sautéing add another cup of BBQ sauce, stir it in and let it sauté for another 5 minutes the cycle will turn off and switch to “Keep Warm” mode (I turn the instant pot off and serve the meat over buns, tacos, pasta or rice).

How to Assemble BBQ Chicken Sandwich Assembling

While the chicken is cooking and sautéing I prepare everything for sandwiches. Toast buns, rinse, paper towel dry, and slice vegetables.

Finally, place cheese on the bottom of the bun, then add 1 cup of shredded chicken, top it with sliced cucumbers, avocado, and leaf lettuce (you can choose any vegetables of your choice to put into the sandwich), then place the bun on top of the sandwich and enjoy!

NOTE: This Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken Recipe makes 12 sandwiches (even dough I showed only 4 sandwiches in the post). You can make as many as you need and use leftovers the next day on tacos, salads, etc... You may as well freeze leftovers to make more sandwiches later on.

Use any bread or buns of your choice for this pulled BBQ chicken recipe. Also, it's great to serve over salad, mashed potato, pasta, or rice.

If you make this Easy Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken Recipe, please share a picture with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag with #valyastasteofhome. I’d love to see your creations! 

📖 Recipe Card

🥘 Similar recipes

• Instant Pot Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe
• Easy Instant Pot Roast Beef Recipe
• Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Ranch Potatoes Recipe

Check out the DINNER archive for more dinner recipes.

Kitchen items I used in making this recipe:

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