BBQ Chicken Sandwich with Dill Pickle Slaw (Slow Cooker)
This BBQ Chicken Sandwich with Dill Pickle Slaw is the perfect weeknight or weekend meal. The chicken is slow cooked in a tangy and slightly sweet homemade gold barbecue sauce, shredded, then topped with our creamy and briny dill pickle slaw.
There’s no single star of this dish. Instead, all of the players work together to create a balanced and irresistible sandwich. The chicken is shredded and flavorful, the barbecue sauce is tangy and a little sweet, and the dill pickle slaw is creamy, savory, and tart. We like these sandwiches best when served on a toasted bun and covered with something crunchy like fried onions, crispy fried jalapeños, or even crushed up potato chips!
Why You’ll Love These Chicken Sandwiches
- It’s a slow cooker recipe, so it’s mostly hands-off. If you are low on energy but have extra time, this is a great option. For most of the cooking time, the slow cooker is doing the work while you’re outside on the patio sipping on iced tea (or a nice hazy IPA, if you’re like us). Plus, it smells sooooo good while it’s cooking!
- Feeds a lot of people, so it’s perfect for summer gatherings. This recipe makes a lot, so it’s an excellent option for summer barbecues and parties in the backyard. It’s also super impressive in flavor, so everyone will be asking you for the recipe!
- Making your own sauce means you get to control the flavor and ingredients. We know that you can buy BBQ sauce (and Trader Joe’s has a Carolina Gold version), but making your own sauce gives you way more control. If you want it spicier, add more cayenne. Sweeter? Add a little more brown sugar. If you want more tang, increase the amount of apple cider vinegar. Plus, making your own sauce totally feels a little chef-y and fun!
Ingredients in the BBQ Chicken Sandwich
This BBQ chicken sandwich has three main components: the gold barbecue sauce, the slow cooked chicken, and the dill pickle slaw. Each part is just as important as the next!
Gold Barbecue Sauce
Gold barbecue sauce is typically less smoky and less sweet than Kansas City barbecue sauce. It uses yellow mustard for the base, bringing a tangy flavor to the sauce. Our version of gold barbecue sauce has a nice balance between tangy and sweet, with just a touch of smokiness. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Mustard – this recipe works best with regular yellow mustard instead of Dijon or spicy brown. You want that tangy kick that you can only get from this classic, simple condiment.
- Ketchup – this will add some sweet tomato flavor, typical of many barbecue sauces.
- Dark brown sugar – using dark brown sugar instead of granulated sugar gives this sauce a hint of molasses flavor. If you only have light brown sugar, that’ll work too, but it’ll have a milder molasses taste.
- Apple cider vinegar – this gives the sauce a little additional tanginess.
- Honey – we love adding honey to this recipe since it goes so well with mustard. This helps sweeten up the sauce a little without making it too sweet overall.
- Worcestershire – this is added for some subtle umami flavor. If you’re allergic to anchovies or don’t eat them, you can use vegan Worcestershire.
- Spices – smoked paprika, onion powder, cayenne, and garlic powder make up the spices in this sauce. They add smokiness, heat, and balance.
- Salt and pepper – always make sure to season your sauces.
Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken
- Boneless, skinless chicken breast – we like to use chicken breasts here since they shred up nicely. If all you have is chicken thighs, that might still work, but be sure to trim them of any fat before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Prepared gold barbecue sauce – you’ll use all of the sauce for the chicken. If you want, you can make a second, separate batch to add to the sandwiches later, but it’s optional.
Dill Pickle Slaw
Dressing
- Mayonnaise – be sure to use a good quality mayonnaise like Best Foods/Hellmann’s or Duke’s.
- Plain Greek yogurt – any fat content will do here (we often use nonfat in this recipe).
- Dill pickle relish and pickle brine – the relish adds texture and extra pickle flavor. The slaw uses cut up pickle spears, so you can use the brine from that same pickle jar.
- Spices and seasonings – we season this dressing with a little sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt (use less if your pickles are super salty), and cracked black pepper.
Slaw
- Shredded green cabbage – a medium sized cabbage, shredded thinly, works great.
- Red onion – this will bring some color and a nice sharpness to the slaw.
- Chopped dill pickle spears – this is a dill pickle slaw, after all, so adding actual dill pickles to it really drives that flavor home.
The Sandwiches
- Burger buns – brioche, potato buns, pretzel rolls, or even gluten-free buns would be great. We like to spread a thin layer of mayo on ours and toast them, face down, in a hot pan for a few minutes until golden.
- Crispy fried onions, crispy fried jalapeños, or potato chips – use whatever you like for additional crunch.
How to Make the BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
STEP 1: Make the barbecue sauce. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl or container (can be done ahead of time). If you want, you can make a second batch (or even a half batch) to add to the sandwiches later.
STEP 2: Make the chicken. Pour one batch of barbecue sauce into a slow cooker. Add the chicken breasts and toss them so they’re coated in sauce. Cook the chicken on HIGH for 4 hours (or LOW or 8 hours), then remove it from the slow cooker and shred it with a couple of forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and cook for another 1 to 1.5 hours on HIGH. This will help the barbecue sauce deepen in flavor.
STEP 3: Make the dill pickle slaw. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside. Add the cabbage, red onion, and sliced pickles to a large bowl, then add the dressing and toss until fully combined.
STEP 4: Assemble the BBQ chicken sandwich. Grab a toasted bun (we like to spread a thin layer of mayo on each half and toast them, face down, in a hot pan for a few minutes until they’re golden brown). On the bottom bun, pile on chicken (and extra sauce if you have some), then slaw, and finally fried onions (or jalapeños or chips, if using), then cover it with the top half of the bun.
BBQ Chicken Sandwich with Dill Pickle Slaw (Slow Cooker)
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Gold Barbecue Sauce
- 1 cup yellow mustard
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
Slow Cooked Chicken
- 2 1/2 pounds chicken breasts boneless & skinless
- Gold barbecue sauce
Dill Pickle Dressing
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup dill pickle brine
- 2 tbsp dill relish
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ⅛ tsp garlic powder
- Cracked black pepper to taste
Dill Pickle Slaw
- 1 green cabbage shredded
- 1 red onion quartered and thinly sliced
- 1 cup sliced dill pickle spears patted dry and measured after slicing
Other Sandwich Fixings
- 8 burger buns brioche or other, warmed or toasted in a pan
- Crispy fried onions (like French's), crispy fried jalapeños, or potato chips for topping sandwich
Instructions
- Mix the gold BBQ sauce ingredients together. Tip: make a second batch (or half batch) for topping sandwiches later.1 cup yellow mustard, ⅓ cup ketchup, ⅓ cup dark brown sugar, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp cayenne, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
- Pour the BBQ sauce into a slow cooker. Add the chicken breasts and toss them in the sauce to coat.2 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, Gold barbecue sauce
- Cook the chicken on HIGH for 4 hours (or LOW or 8 hours), then remove from the slow cooker and shred it with a couple of forks.
- Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and cook for another 1 to 1.5 hours on HIGH.
- Whisk the dill pickle slaw dressing ingredients together.¼ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt, ¼ cup dill pickle brine, 2 tbsp dill relish, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tbsp sugar, ¼ tsp onion powder, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, Cracked black pepper to taste
- Add the cabbage, red onion, and sliced pickles to a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss until fully combined.1 green cabbage, 1 red onion, 1 cup sliced dill pickle spears
- Pile a generous amount of chicken onto a toasted bun. (If you have extra barbecue sauce, spoon some on top of the chicken.)8 burger buns
- Add some of the dill pickle slaw onto the chicken, top with some fried onions (or jalapeños or chips, if using), then cover with the top half of the bun.Crispy fried onions (like French's), crispy fried jalapeños, or potato chips
When we made this recipe we didn’t have a slow cooker so we followed your suggestions for the chicken and it worked out just fine! Thanks for the info 😃👩🏻🍳
Great! Glad to hear that the other method worked well. So happy you liked it!
We made this dish tonight and enjoyed every bite! It’s fun to get your whole meal in one sandwich. It was a little spicy from the sauce, and crunchy from the slaw, and the shredded chicken with Gold bbq sauce was the perfect protein. Next time we’ll opt for brioche buns, but the hamburger buns we had on hand worked perfectly well. Thanks for another fun recipe!!😊😋
Wonderful! It’s one of our favorites too because we love a sandwich that has everything you need in it!
Since we don’t currently have a slow cooker, what are our options for this recipe please?
You could definitely make this without a slow cooker. The slaw and BBQ sauce could be made the same as described in this recipe, but for the chicken, we suggest cooking it in a pot of water or chicken broth on the stove. Place the chicken in the water/broth so that it’s fully submerged in the liquid, then turn on the heat and bring the liquid to a boil with the chicken in it. Cook the chicken for about 20 minutes until it’s done (it should be firm and no longer pink inside). Then take it out of the water, place it on a plate or cutting board, and chop it up or shred it with 2 forks. Then mix it with the BBQ sauce. You could leave it as is, or put the sauced chicken in a pan on the stove and cook it on medium heat for 5-10 minutes to get a similar caramelized BBQ sauce flavor that we get when we slow cook it. It might be a little more saucy than the slow cooker version because it doesn’t reduce in volume as much this way, so you may need less sauce with it.
Hope this helps!
This sandwich is excellent. The dill pickle slaw and the slow cooked chicken are a great combination. Since it’s made in a slow cooker, it can be enjoyed any time of the year
So glad you like it! And yes, we love that we can make this even in the winter. We’re always craving sandwiches and we love the versatility of this recipe.