Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Halfway Homemade: Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

 Things you'll need:

Supplies:
Crockpot
Large Bowl
Medium Pot

Groceries:
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 (20 oz) Can of Pineapple Chunks*
1 (18 oz) bottle of BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays Original)
2 Tbsp Honey (optional)
6-8 Kaiser Rolls (or any type of buns...Hawaiian Rolls are great with this if you're in the mood to spend a little extra...I'm usually not in that mood though :) )

(*You can use crushed pineapple but I use the chunks and either put them in a quart sized bag and crush them myself with a rolling pin by tapping them while holding the open end of the bag up a little so nothing leaks out OR by just squeezing them in my hand. I do this because I feel like I get more juice with the chunks than the crushed...I could be wrong but that's how I do it)

Get your crockpot out and put your crushed pineapple chunks as the first layer. (Including the juice from the can and from crushing them)

Boil your chicken in your medium pot until cooked all the way through. When cooked through, drain the water and take one breast, put it into your large bowl filled with water so it cools down enough to handle. Ripping one breast into about 4 pieces makes it easier to handle and cools it quicker. Go ahead and turn your crockpot on low.
(I know some people think "I'll just cook it in the crockpot and skip this step." but if you don't boil it you can't properly shred it. If you cook them whole in the crockpot it's going to be a hot sloppy mess when you try to shred it. Also, it turns out more like chicken chunks than shredded chicken...taking the time to boil and shred the chicken is worth it, trust me.)

Shred your chicken directly into your crockpot. You can do it by hand or some people have told me they use a food processor. We don't have a food processor so I don't know how that turns out...I do it by hand and it works just fine.

Squirt in your bottle of BBQ sauce and your honey and mix it all together. 

Put the lid on your crockpot and let it cook on low for about 3 hours.

When ready, toast up your rolls/buns and pile on the pulled chicken. We enjoy salad and a warm bean and cheese dip when we have this dish. I'll post a recipe for the warm bean and cheese dip next so stay tuned!

If you decide to try this recipe (or have any suggestions) please let me know! Thanks!



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