Barbecue chicken sandwiches

One of my favorite easy dinners, especially in the summer, is barbecue chicken sandwiches. They’re easy to make and perfect for when you’re having company over.

I don’t have a whole lot of experience with hosting. I haven’t been a party planner much in my family or had people over a lot. But this past weekend I had my mom over for lunch and I made barbecue chicken sandwiches and a fruit pie. I knew the sandwiches would be both easy to make without much time and I was pretty sure she would like them.

Barbecue chicken sandwiches

1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1/2 cup barbecue Sauce
Burger Buns
Coleslaw (optional)

After shredding the chicken, in a large bowl gently stir in the barbecue sauce. Serve the barbecue chicken with burger buns and coleslaw on the slide.

The easiest way to shred chicken
You can shred the chicken with two forks or cut it with a knife and fork. But the easiest way to shred chicken is to use a stand mixer if you have one. I have seen my sister Katie make chicken sandwiches for baby showers before and learned this tip from her. You just put the cooked chicken breasts in a mixer on medium speed for a few minutes and it should shred easily. Don’t let it go too long or it will practically turn into a paste.

I like barbecue chicken sandwiches with or without coleslaw. This time, I made coleslaw from a kit, and it added a nice bit of tanginess and crunch to the chicken sandwiches.

Below, I’m including recipes for two methods of cooking chicken breasts: in the oven and in a slow cooker. Both are meant to ensure moist chicken for the sandwiches.

Adapted from Ina Garten’s lemon chicken breasts recipe.

Oven baked lemon chicken breasts
1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic, or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large lemon or up to 3 small lemons
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 1-inch slices and tuck among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Slow cooker chicken breasts
1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken breasts
1 large lemon or up to 3 small lemons
Salt and pepper

In a slow cooker, the moisture is trapped and you don’t need as much added fat in the form of oil or butter to keep the chicken from getting dry. I think it’s better to skip oil and butter in the slow cooker, or at least be very minimal with it. The lemon is important for moisture though. If you don’t have lemon, you can add a layer of celery or onions to the bottom of the slow cooker instead. Think vegetables with a high water content.

Sometime I want to try making these Hawaiian Sweet Rolls from scratch for chicken sandwiches.