November 21, 2024
Pulled Chicken

Easy Pulled Chicken

Barbecue

I love barbecue!  That meaty/smokey flavor that can only be accomplished after hours of smoking meat over hot coals.  I do it all of the time, but sometimes you want great barbecue in less than 8 hours.  That is why I love chicken.  It cooks fast (in terms of barbecue at least), takes on smoke easily and is super tasty.  The only real problem with barbecuing chicken, there are a ton of tiny little bones.  That is why I use boneless skinless chicken thighs to make my pulled chicken.  Just cook, smash and eat!

Easy Pulled Chicken

Trim as much of the fat as you can off of the chicken.

Chicken Thighs

Place the chicken in a disposable half hotel pan with the inside up.  This is the side that used to contain the bone.

Coat the insides first

Dust the chicken with your favorite rub.  I used Kosmos Dirty Bird for this post, but I usually use my basic bbq rub.

Form into rounded thighs

Flip the chicken over and form them into pieces that resemble the bone-in chicken.  See the pic above.

Coat with the rub

Then coat the chicken with more of the rub.

Place into the smoker

Place the chicken into a smoker at 225 and cook it for 1 hour.

Perfectly smoked

Remove the chicken, lightly coat it with more rub.  Then add 1/2 a can of chicken broth (approx 7 oz) to the pan.

Add the broth

Cover and place back into the smoker and cook at 250 degrees for another hour or until the chicken reaches 190 degrees.

Perfectly Cooked

Remove and then shred the chicken.  This can be done quite easily by just squishing the chicken thighs in your hand.

Pull it

Once the chicken is shredded, add a little of the chicken juice from the pan back into the chicken.

A perfect pulled chicken sandwich

Serve and enjoy!

Easy Pulled Chicken
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
2 hrs
Total Time
2 hrs 5 mins
 
Quick and easy barbecued pulled chicken
Course: BBQ
Servings: 8
Author: Rex
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 cup barbecue rub
  • 7 oz chicken broth
  • 1 disposable 9x11; half hotel pan
  • 1 sheet aluminum foil
Instructions
  1. Trim as much of the fat as you can off of the chicken.
  2. Place the chicken in a disposable half hotel pan with the inside up. This is the side that used to contain the bone.
  3. Dust the chicken with your favorite rub. I used Kosmos Dirty Bird for this post, but I usually use my basic bbq rub.
  4. Flip the chicken over and form them into pieces that resemble the bone-in chicken. See the pic below.
  5. Then coat the chicken with more of the rub.
  6. Place the chicken into a smoker at 225 and cook it for 1 hour.
  7. Remove the chicken, lightly coat it with more rub. Then add 1/2 a can of chicken broth (approx 7 oz) to the pan.
  8. Cover and place back into the smoker and cook at 250 degrees for another hour or until the chicken reaches 190 degrees.
  9. Remove and then shred the chicken. This can be done quite easily by just squishing the chicken thighs in your hand.
  10. Once the chicken is shredded, add a little of the chicken juice from the pan back into the chicken.
  11. Serve and enjoy!

We usually eat it as is, or serve it as a sandwich with a little barbecue sauce.

Rex

Rex is an avid griller, barbecuer and bacon enthusiast. He is the Pitmaster for the Rex BBQ competition team. Rex was also featured on the TV show American Grilled. If you have any questions or wish to have Rex decode your favorite dish, click on the ASK REX link in the menu above.

View all posts by Rex →

2 thoughts on “Easy Pulled Chicken

  1. We like making large batches of this just to divide into vacuum bags for freezing. Then when we need 2-3 cups of cooked chicken during the work week, all we have to do is put a pack in boiling water for 5 minutes and we're ready to go. Tacos, soups, pot pies, casseroles, enchiladas, you name it.

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