2-Ingredient Instant Pot BBQ Chicken for Easy Meal Prep

If you don’t think you like meal prep, this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken may change that. Make a batch (or 2 or 3) with only 2 minutes of prep and have protein available for several days of the week.

What Are the Ingredients for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken?

Are you ready for this? There are two…chicken thighs (or breasts) and your favorite barbecue sauce. So far, you have a two-ingredient, under 30 minute almost completely hands off protein ready to use for a variety of meals. How’s that for Easy Meal Prep?

Whole30 and Paleo Barbecue Sauce

While you can make barbecue sauce (see the notes in this recipe), this is all about easy. So keep bottled barbecue sauce on hand to make this often. For this recipe I used Good Food for Good Classic Barbecue Sauce. But really any barbecue sauce will work. If you are eating Paleo or doing a round of Whole30 look for one such as the sauce I used that contains no sugar or sweeteners (especially artificial).

What is the Method for Instant Pot BBQ Chicken?

This is the best part. Open your chicken and stack in the bowl of your Instant Pot. Open your barbecue sauce and pour over the top. Fill the bottle halfway with water and add that. Set your Instant Pot on Manual to 10 minutes and walk away. Let it release naturally. Shred it up and it’s ready to go.

Greensbury Chicken – My preferred online butcher shop.

Visit Greensbury

Conveniently Packaged individually so you can thaw what you need.

Place frozen chicken in Instant Pot

Use your favorite bottled barbecue sauce. This one is about 10 oz so if your bottle is bigger, guage by how many chicken breasts you’re cooking. This bottle was perfect for 1 1/2 lbs.

Add 1/2 bottle of water and shake well.

Add water to the Instant Pot

Set manual time to 10 minutes and walk away.

Shred. Stir together with BBQ sauce and use as desired.

Ways to Serve BBQ Chicken

Once you have cooked and shredded your BBQ Chicken, it’s super easy to make easy meals throughout the week with very little prep.

Serve stuffed in baked potatoes (regular or sweet.) I like to serve them topped with ranch or yogurt, bacon, green onions and serve with a veggie filled slaw and pickles but you can always just serve a simple veggie on the side.
Try a bowl with cauliflower rice, regular rice or quinoa, slaw, pickles, and avocado
Toss pre-shredded coleslaw mix, BBQ chicken, and pumpkin seeds together for a main dish salad. Mix together mayo, a little lime juice and extra barbecue sauce to taste for the dressing. You can’t go wrong with a little cubed avocado ever so feel free to toss that in as well.
Make BBQ tacos – serve on grain-free or jicama tortillas with guacamole and mango salsa
For an appetizer option, make my Sweet Potato Nachos subbing BBQ chicken for the salsa chicken

Instant Pot BBQ Chicken for Easy Meal Prep

This is THE EASIEST recipe. I used frozen chicken breast so prep was extremely easy and FAST! See Note for thawed chicken.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds frozen boneless skinless chicken breast
1 bottle barbecue sauce

Directions

Place chicken in bowl of Instant Pot. Pour barbecue sauce over the chicken. (Keep lid to bottle)
Fill the bottle halfway with water. Replace lid and shake well.
Pour water over the chicken and place Instant Pot lid securely on.
Set manual timer to High pressure and 10 minutes.
Let release naturally.
Shred with two forks.

Notes

If you are using thawed chicken, reduce cooking time to 8 minutes and only let it release naturally for 8 minutes then cover with a towel and turn pressure release valve to release remaining pressure manually.