The aroma of pie crust and BBQ sauce is wafting through the air this Sunday morning. I've cooked and baked until I've dropped this weekend and there's been many memorable forkfuls along the way. Pulled barbecued chicken is a staple in my house. I regularly purchase skinless boneless chicken breasts in bulk. I pop each of the shrink wrapped packets into the freezer and thaw as needed. I'm embarrassed at how not complex this recipe is and yet it's so delicious it has me eating it straight from the pot. I've nestled the pulled chicken into nachos with a little chipotle refried beans, tucked it into pie crust (this recipe), thrown it onto some soft rolls for a
Chicken Sloppy Joe and seared a little of this chicken in an omelet pan with some eggs for breakfast. So yep, I'm a mega fan and yep, this is so easy it's scary. It's just 2 ingredients thrown into a slow cooker (the chicken not the pie part). So you'll need: a slow cooker, your favorite BBQ sauce, chicken cutlets and forks for shredding the chicken. The pulled chicken possibilities are endless! Here we go:
Pop some boneless, skinless chicken breasts into a slow cooker and cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. I had one breast to use up from my chicken and olives so that's all that's in the pot!
This is my favorite BBQ sauce. It's only 40 calories a tablespoon. The sweet, tangy smokey flavor is awesome. It's so awesome I raved about it to the cashier at ShopRite yesterday. Yea, that's how much I'm a fan of this sauce.
Cook on low for about 4-5 hours. Be careful to just cover the chicken but not drench it with sauce. It too much sauce, the sauce will burn. Avoid overcooking the chicken because it'll toughen it. Take your chicken out (it should still be firm). If it's falling apart, just scoop it up and forget the next step. Once it's in the bowl, shred your chicken with two forks or your fingers (a cook's best friend).
You'll notice the chicken in the picture above isn't very saucy. That's totally OK. Add about 1 1/2 T of barbecue sauce to bring that sticky flavor together. You can add more sauce if you like it saucier. I opt for less to keep this a little "skinnier". If you're making sandwiches, return this to the slow cooker (on low heat) and warm the sauce and chicken together for about 15 minutes. For the pies, turn your slow cooker off and keep going!
Make the pie dough or just purchase pizza dough in a can. This dough isn't the super complex kind that requires a slurry, chilled butter, lumps of lard or Crisco. It's just an olive oil crust because for a 2 ingredient chicken dish, I don't want to slave away at pie crust. I don't judge if a more complex crust or store bought is used! Crust is a personal thing. I digress, here's my easy version. You need: kosher salt, extra virgin olive oil, fat free half & half, a sifter and all purpose flour. I threw in the BBQ sauce into the picture because I love it so much but you don't need it for the dough:
Once mixed, form your dough into a disk and pop into the fridge to firm up a bit (about 15 minutes).
Shred some sharp cheddar cheese (1/4 cup per pie), break up an egg yolk for the egg wash.
Roll the pastry into a 1/4 inch think round disk, add a few tablespoons of cheddar cheese.
Pile on about 1/4 c of the pulled chicken mixture and layer on another few tablespoons of cheddar cheese.
Using your beaten egg yolk, brush a little yolk at on the edges of the pastry to "glue" them together. Bring the round together and press the edges together.
Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Brush with egg yolk, use the tines of a fork to close the edges of the pie, cut a few slits on top and bake for 20 minutes.
Once golden brown, cool and enjoy!
Have leftover chicken, yolk and egg white from the egg wash? Put some chicken in an omelet pan with a little olive oil and warm over medium heat. Whisk the yolk and egg white together, lower the heat to low and add to the warm chicken in the pan. Scramble and top with a little cheddar. This was sooo good I recommend adding more eggs! Oh gosh it was awesome.
THE RECIPES:
Slow Cooked Barbecued Pulled Chicken:
1 boneless, skinless boneless chicken breast (or more if you're feeding a family)
1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
Put chicken breast in slow cooker. Completely cover the chicken with BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Avoid over cooking and therefore burning your sauce and toughening your chicken. You need to coat your chicken with sauce but you don't need to submerge them. Once cooked, transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Combine chicken and 3 T more of BBQ sauce in the slower cooker and heat through. If making the pies, you can combine the chicken and BBQ sauce but there's no need to heat through.
Easy Breezy Hand Pie Dough:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/8 t kosher salt
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T of 1/2 and half
Sift together the flour and salt. Add 1 T of oil and 1 T of half & half. Add more half & half until dough forms a ball. Lightly knead the dough. Form into a disk and chill for 15 minutes.
Pulled Chicken and Cheddar Hand Pies:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Shred approx. 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese. Whisk an egg yolk for the "glue".
Roll the pie dough into a 1/4 inch disk. Sprinkle appropriately 3 T of cheese onto half of the disk. Pile on approximately 1/4 c of chicken. Sprinkle another 3 T of cheese. Brush the yolk onto the rim of the pie disk to "glue" the edges together. Fold the disk over and press the edges down. Transfer to a metal cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. With the tines of a fork, press the edges of the pie together. Brush pie with egg yolk. Make 3 small slits with a paring knife on the top of the pie. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
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