Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken

I've been breaking out the slowcooker quite a bit lately.  It's been making meals come together really quickly.  Last week I made BBQ Pulled Chicken.  The plan was to make Pulled Pork but when I couldn't find a Pork Butt or Pork Shoulder at the grocery store that I was happy with, I decided to make Pulled Chicken instead using a combination of chicken breasts and chicken thighs.*

*Heads up: Notice how Chicken Thighs on the bone with skin are always super cheap? I bought them and trimmed off all the fat then threw the thighs on the bone in the slow cooker.  Once it was ready to shred, the meat just fell right off the bone.

This is a simple recipe that I know I will use over and over again.  And this meat made enough meat for 4 different recipes plus tons of leftovers!

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats via Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

4 large skinless chicken breasts

4 bone-in skin removed chicken thighs

salt and pepper

1 large sweet onion

4 chipotle peppers in adobo + 2 tablespoons of sauce

1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

20 ounces of Cherry Dr. Pepper

Instructions:

Cut onion in quarters and place in crockpot.  Add chicken pieces to the bottom of the dish.  Season with lots of salt and pepper.  Add chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, BBQ sauce, brown sugar and Dr. Pepper.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove chicken pieces from crock pot and shred then place back in slow cooker until ready to serve.

In the upcoming days I'll post the recipes of what I did with all this chicken:

Pulled BBQ Chicken Tacos with Cherry Peach Salsa

Pulled Chicken and Cherry Peach Quesadillas

Pulled BBQ Chicken Pizza with Cherry Peach Salsa

Pesto, Nectarine and BBQ Pulled Chicken Pizza with Monterey Jack Cheese

I love making a protein like this that I can use in several meals throughout the week!  All the recipes I made resemble each other but we never felt like we were eating the same thing each night.  And dinner came together quickly because the main part was already done!