BBQ Baby Shower Chicken Sliders (Printable)

Tender pulled chicken in tangy BBQ sauce served on soft slider buns, perfect for entertaining.

# What You’ll Need:

→ Chicken

01 - 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
02 - 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

→ BBQ Sauce

03 - 1 cup barbecue sauce
04 - 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
05 - 1 tbsp brown sugar
06 - 1 tsp smoked paprika
07 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
08 - 1/2 tsp onion powder
09 - Salt and black pepper to taste

→ Slider Assembly

10 - 12 slider buns
11 - 1 cup coleslaw mix, optional
12 - 2 tbsp mayonnaise, optional for slaw
13 - 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, optional for slaw
14 - 12 pickle slices, optional

# How To Make It:

01 - Place chicken breasts or thighs in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add chicken broth and a pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through and tender.
02 - Remove cooked chicken from pot and shred using two forks. Discard excess liquid from the pot.
03 - In a clean saucepan or same pot, combine barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Stir and heat over medium-low until warmed through.
04 - Add shredded chicken to the sauce mixture. Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is hot and fully coated.
05 - In a small bowl, toss coleslaw mix with mayonnaise and apple cider vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. This step is optional.
06 - Spoon pulled chicken onto the bottom half of each slider bun. Top with a spoonful of slaw and a pickle slice if desired. Place the top bun on each slider.
07 - Serve sliders immediately while warm.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • You can have everything done in under an hour, which means less time panicking and more time enjoying the celebration.
  • The chicken stays impossibly tender because it steams gently in broth before getting its smoky barbecue bath, and nobody ever suspects how simple that actually is.
  • These sliders work for almost any crowd because they're naturally portable, customizable, and somehow feel fancier than their five-minute prep time suggests.
02 -
  • Don't skip the poaching step and jump straight to sauce—cooking the chicken in broth first makes it juicy and tender in a way that raw or pre-cooked chicken never achieves.
  • If your sauce seems too thick, thin it with a splash of extra broth or vinegar rather than water, which keeps the flavor intact.
03 -
  • Toast your slider buns lightly in a dry skillet right before assembly—they'll be warm, they'll hold the sauce without getting soggy, and they'll taste noticeably better.
  • Make the sauce a touch tangier than you think you want it, because the sweetness of the bun will balance it out perfectly.
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