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Yesterday, the crockpot become my new best friend.
My oven is broken…again.
To a person who cooks all the time, this is the worst news.
Evvvveeeer.
Especially this time of year. All I want to do is roast this, bake that, broil this and toast that. To say I am bumming out is a major under statement. I guess it is not that bad, I do have a tiny little oven that does work… for now, but I am scared that since it is attached to the big oven – that doesn’t work – that it could go at any time. I am literally praying it doesn’t. This little oven though? It practically fits nothing! A 9×13 inch Pyrex pan just barely fits in (thankfully!). It’s just super hard to cook for eight plus people in an oven that fits only one Pyrex pan. Ugh.
For the next two weeks though (at least!), it’s all I’ve got and as I sit here typing this I am realizing, I should be thankful I at least have that!
You guys like small batch food?? My family is in for a surprise… and possibly smaller waist lines.
So ok, I am done with the complaints for today.
But at least you can understand why I now have all things crockpot on my brain. I guess it is kind of time to be breaking out the crockpot anyway. Some never put them away. I pretty much use mine all year round, but definitely in the fall and winter months the most. However much you use yours, the bottom line is – the crockpot rules. It’s high time I get myself a new one though, especially since I actually just sent mine down to Denver on Monday, full of this Gumbo, and I’m not expecting it back. I did it on purpose. My crockpot is horrible and I have decided I want one of those new fancy ones. Any suggestions? I clearly need one ASAP.
I actually made this Crockpot BBQ Beer Pulled Chicken a week or so ago, in an effort to shove corn into as many recipes as possible. Remember when I told you I was on a major corn bender towards the end of August? Well, I suddenly realized that almost all of my posts for that week contained corn. So I made the decision to spread a few out over September, because really September is one of the best corn months of the season.
But um, I may or may not have sliced up a pumpkin and made some puree today (in my tiny little oven – good thing those pie pumpkins are small!). I sort of feel guilty though, like I am cheating on the last few weeks of summer, but then I look out the window and make myself feel better because, here where I live, fall is in full swing. The leaves on the trees are turning a pretty shade of yellow and wow, it is getting so cold at night. We have also had a ton of rain, so that sort of helps with the whole “get into the mood of fall” thing too. And rain around here means snow on the peaks of the mountains. Yep, more fresh snow this morning up there.
I feel like this simple meal is a good mix of late summer and early fall. It’s got a little corn to keep things fresh, but the rest is all cozy, warm and the perfect food for a colder early fall night. And of course, Thursday night football.
Plus, the popovers?? I normally only make popovers on Thanksgiving and I usually just make them traditional, but corn filled cheesy popovers are so good! Very happy I stepped out of my comfort zone with these. They do not get to the height of a normal popover, but they still have that nice hole in the center. Perfect for filling with the best BBQ chicken.
I hate saying the best, but this pulled BBQ chicken really is SO good. It’s the sauce and the fact that it gets slow cooked all day long. Everything is better slow-cooked. So much flavor.
As for the left over chicken you may have (I didn’t have any – too many people here.)? I am thinking this needs to made into a beer bread grilled cheese.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Next time I am so doing this.
Crockpot BBQ Beer Pulled Chicken with Cheddar Corn Popovers.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 586 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
BBQ Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast thighs or a mix of the two
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 3 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce
- 1 cup beer I used pumpkin beer!
Cheddar Corn Popovers
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk or 2%
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sharp white or yellow cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
Chicken in the Crockpot
- Place the chicken in the bowl of a crockpot. Add the honey, smoked paprika, chipotle chile powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, BBQ sauce and beer. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours. If the sauce gets too thick, add more beer (or water) to thin the sauce out. Once the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the sauce and shred with two forks return the chicken to the sauce and toss. Keep warm.
Chicken on the Stove
- Heat a large heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once hot, add the chicken, honey, smoked paprika, chipotle chile powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Sear the chicken until almost blackened on both sides. Once the chicken has been seared on both sides, reduce the heat to low and add the BBQ sauce and beer. Give everything a good stir and then cover the pot. Simmer the chicken for 2-4 hours, the longer the better. If the sauce gets too thick, add more beer (or water) to thin the sauce out. Once the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the sauce and shred with two forks return the chicken to the sauce and toss. Keep warm.
Cheddar Corn Popovers
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a standard popover pan or 12 muffin/cupcake molds.
- Using a blender or food processor, mix the eggs, milk, flour, corn, brown sugar and salt at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add the melted butter and blend another 20 seconds or so. Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Divide the batter among the prepared cups. Bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until puffed, golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Using a small, sharp knife, carefully cut around the sides of each popover to release. Serve immediately.
To Serve
- Split the warm popovers open and fill them with BBQ chicken. If desired top with shredded cheddar cheese and serve with slaw. Enjoy!
So saucy. I love it.
Just made this today and it is fantastic! It will be my go-to recipe for bbq chicken.
I used just a pinch of red pepper flakes (because I don’t care for super spicy food) and followed all the other directions to the letter (in the crock pot for 4 hours) and it turned out perfect. For the BBQ sauce I used 1-1/2 cups of Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet Vidalia Onion and 1-1/2 cups of Weber Applewood Brown Sugar, and for the beer I used Angry Orchard Summer Honey.
My SO said I need to put this on the make-again list. Thanks so much for this recipe!
SO excited you all loved this!! THANKS!! 🙂
Hi,
This recipe looks DELICIOUS! I am going to try and make it tonight. For the popovers, can you make the batter beforehand and then just refrigerate it before putting it in the oven?
HI MIKE! I don’t recommend keep the batter in the fridge as cold batter will be less likely to “pop”. That said, if you can bring the batter to room temp before hand, it might work ok. I would suggest leaving the batter on the counter 1 hour prior to baking.
Hope you love the recipe!
My family loved this! I’m throwing a co-Ed baby shower and planing on making this for 30 people. Any advice on making on making this 1-2 days in advance of the event?
Hey Nicole,
I think making this a day in advance will be fine, just warm it back up on low about an hour before serving and then once warm turn the crockpot to low to keep warm. Let me know if you have other questions and I hope everyone loves this!
I followed the recipe to the letter (8 hours on low in the slow cooker) and it came out delicious, but very, very liquidy. Basically the consistency of soup. I had to fish the chicken out of the broth. I’m not an experienced cook. Any suggestions for me for next time? Everybody loved the flavor, but just once I’d like to recreate what the original chef did!
Hey Sarah,
I am not sure why it was so liquidy, but next time try adding only half the beer. If it is still too soupy towards the last hour of cooking, remove the lid and let it cook on high. That should take care of it. Hope you love this even more the second time!
So, I tried this but doubled the chicken. When fine the sauce was extremely watery. Not sucking to the chicken like your awesome pictures. Am I doing something wrong?
Should’ve proof read that….
*When done…
*Not sticking…
Hey Michael, I would leave the top off the crockpot for 30 minutes to an hour before serving, this should thicken the sauce up for you. Sorry for the trouble.
yummy. this sounds awesome. Thank you for posting this up. going to give this a go.
Simon
Tieghan, I made this and it was fantastic. One thing that differed from what I expected was the consistency of the sauce. Mine was very watery vs. what appears to be a much thicker sauce. Any suggestions or help? Thanks
Hey Dan!
So happy you like this, if you want a thick, either use less beer or simmer the sauce longer. Both with help to thicken up the sauce. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Tieghan!
Funny but I read, “oh looks great!” many times. “Gonna have to try this!” Other types of questions but what I fail to see is, who made it and how does it taste…lol…Seriously someone make it already
Help! I’m confused! #2 direction says to add the honey,paprika,etc and then the BBq sauce and beer. Haven’t I already added those to the BBQ sauce and beer in the crockpot?
Hey Connie, That is fine, just continue to add the ingredients as directed. Hope you love this!
Is it possible to make the popovers without cheese? I usua
This might be a dumb question, but would this recipe work with pork instead of the chicken? Does the sauce pair well with pork?
Excited to try this! Do you think leftovers would freeze?
Hey Lauren, i think they’d freeze great!
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it! I’m planning to double (maybe triple) the recipe and was wondering if you’d recommend tripling the amount of BBQ sauce as well? 9 cups of BBQ sauce seems like it might be too much. Thanks in advance for your help!
Hey Alex, I would honestly probably use all nine cups, BUT I would start with around 5 cups and add more as needed. It just depends on how saucy you want the chicken. Please let me know if you have anymore questions. Hope you love this! 🙂
I made this last week for dinner (including your bbq sauce recipe and the popovers) – amazing! Two days later it almost tasted better, I ended up eating the remainder cold for breakfast because I couldn’t help myself. Gross but true and actually really delicious. Absolutely loved the recipe!
SO happy you love this recipe! and yeah, I totally think it gets better the longer it sits. Oh and breakfast sounds perfect. I mean popovers are a breakfast food after all! 🙂
Oopa, “Yep” tee hee hee