How to Make Barbecue Turkey or Chicken Sandwiches

BBQ Chicken Slider Sandwiches are an easy recipe to make when you’re feeding a crowd. They’re also a great idea to make when you need to get dinner on the table fast. These are easy to prepare because they start out with leftover shredded chicken and are perfect for nights you think you’re too busy or tired to cook!

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I’ve made slider sandwiches a few times in a few different ways but today I’m going to share with you how to make the very best BBQ Chicken Slider Sandwiches ever. Yes, ever!

Have you ever had a slider sandwich? They are quickly becoming my favorite way to prepare a meal for a busy weeknight. You can turn almost anything into a fun little sandwich.

For this recipe you’ll need shredded chicken. You can either prepare shredded chicken for this recipe, use leftover chicken or purchase a rotisserie chicken.

I like to make my shredded chicken in the crock pot. Chicken always comes out tender and moist cooked slow and low. It’s also very easy to shred using two forks or even an electric mixer.

BBQ Chicken Sliders Hawaiian Rolls

In order to build the perfect slider sandwich, you need to use the perfect rolls. Either of the following type of rolls will work, but I love to use Hawaiian Rolls:

• Hawaiian Dinner Rolls – are really the best.
• Sarah Lee Dinner Rolls – these work great too if you can’t find the original Hawaiian Dinner Rolls.
• Melted Garlic Butter – is what makes the sandwiches taste amazing!
• You’re favorite fillings. I used leftover shredded chicken that I then added barbecue sauce to. But you can make ham and cheese, meatball, etc.

Once you have the proper slider sandwich or dinner rolls, don’t break them apart. You may also need to hide them from your family so they don’t start snacking on them.

The secret to making these is to make one big sandwich and then cut them after they’ve baked. For this recipe I only used HALF the rolls since it was just my hubby and me for dinner.

Ingredients

• Slider Rolls
• Shredded Chicken
• Barbecue Sauce
• Cooked Bacon
• Chopped Red Onion
• Cheddar Cheese
• Homemade Garlic Butter

Directions

Place the shredded chicken in a bowl and add the barbecue sauce. Stir to combine.

Next, layer the shredded chicken with barbecue sauce on top of the bottom layer of rolls, followed by bacon, sliced onion, and then the cheese. Finally add the top layer of rolls on top.

How to Bake Slider Sandwiches

Place the rolls in a baking dish that’s been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Then brush about 4 tablespoons of melted garlic butter on top of the rolls. If you don’t want to make the garlic butter, you can use regular butter.

Bake in a 365 degree preheated oven until the tops are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

What cheese goes best with BBQ chicken

For this recipe, I used cheddar cheese. I’ve also made them with Swiss cheese. This recipe works well with my husband’s favorite, provolone cheese. It also works great with mozzarella cheese.

It’s really up to you and what your family enjoys. Try this recipe a few times using different cheeses!

Here’s one I made with Swiss Cheese. These sandwiches are delicious and so easy to put together.

A few other Easy Recipes for your family:

• Not sure what to do with leftover turkey from the holidays? Try this recipe for Leftover Turkey Slider Sandwiches.
• Weekly Meal Plan – Shredded Chicken Recipes for Dinner – another great source of ideas using shredded chicken.
• Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Monkey Bread also uses the homemade garlic butter recipe that was used for these slider sandwiches.

BBQ Chicken Slider Sandwiches

An easy recipe using BBQ shredded chicken, bacon and CHEESE. Perfect for dinner tonight!

Ingredients

• 6 slider type sandwich rolls
• 1 cup cooked shredded chicken
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
• 4 slices bacon; cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup cheddar cheese; shredded
• 6 tbsp. melted butter

Instructions

1. Place the slider rolls on a cutting board. Do not separate them.
2. Slice the rolls in half and place the bottom half of rolls in a baking dish that has been sprayed for nonstick cooking spray.
3. Place the shredded chicken in a bowl and add the barbecue sauce. Stir to combine.
4. Put the BBQ shredded chicken on top of the rolls followed by bacon, sliced red onion and then cheese.
5. Place the top half of the slider/dinner rolls on top and brush with melted butter.
6. Bake in a preheated 365 degree oven until the tops of the rolls are golden brown and the cheese is melted.; about 20 minutes.
7. Slice or pull apart the rolls to serve and enjoy.

Notes

You can use regular melted butter or homemade garlic butter to brush on top of the slider sandwiches.

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Nutrition Information:

The nutrition information is calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you, please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator.

Transform leftover cooked chicken into this delicious and healthy leftover chicken sandwich. So quick and easy to prepare with very few ingredients.

Do you ever wonder what to do with leftover roasted chicken or leftover turkey?

Don’t worry! This shredded chicken sandwich recipe is one of the easier solutions to enjoy leftovers. It is tried and tested.

Whenever I prepare whole roast chicken at home for our weekend nights or gatherings, I usually end up having quite a bit of leftovers . This doesn’t in any way mean that my chicken roast is not tasty (:P).

We both don’t prefer eating especially chicken the next day in the same form factor. Therefore, I try to make dishes using leftover chicken that look and taste like having fresh meat. And this shredded chicken sandwich recipe is our all-time favorite.

Did I mention that it is super duper easy to prepare as well? Not just the chicken you can also use leftover Thanksgiving turkey in place of chicken in this sandwich. I am sure you will love this equally!

How to make Leftover Chicken Sandwich (or Leftover Turkey Sandwich)?

For making this sandwich apart from the chicken you will need ciabatta bread, basil pesto, some olives, tomato slices and fresh mozzarella cheese.

Using forks shred chicken or turkey into small pieces. Season the shredded meat with salt and pepper, if necessary. Cut open the bread and then spread basil pesto on both sides. Place shredded chicken on one side of the bread and top it with some tomato slices, olive slices, and fresh mozzarella cheese. Cover and toast the bread in the sandwich maker or a panini maker. If you do not have any of those then just toast the sandwich on a shallow fry pan on medium heat.

One more thing, it is not absolutely necessary to use leftover meat. You can still make this sandwich using fresh chicken. Just roast or cook it, shred it and use it.

2 – Didn’t like it

• 12 Ratings
• 10 Reviews

Good Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches don’t have to result from hours over the grill. Our chicken sandwich starts with a rotisserie chicken and super easy homemade barbecue sauce. This sandwich is the perfect solution for those busy weeknights.

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Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Combine first 10 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer; cook 10 minutes. Combine sauce and chicken.

Combine mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar. Add coleslaw and onions; toss.

Place about 1/2 cup chicken mixture on bottom half of each bun. Top each serving with about 1/2 cup coleslaw mixture; top with top half of bun.

Chef’s Notes

MyRecipes is working with Let’s Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA’s MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit

Reviews ( 10 )

This are really good. I love that the slaw is fairly dry and makes the sandwich crunchy. I recommend a more substantial roll such as a bulkie.

Honestly one of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever had. My spouse is still raving about how good these were. I used Rudi’s whole wheat hamburger buns, dark meat from a pastured chicken that I’d roasted with lemon butter the day before, and the cabbage came from the garden, but I think these would have been great in any case. The sauce is great, especially against the sweetness of the cabbage. Don’t skip a single ingredient here because they’re all good. I served this with corn on the cob and sliced oranges.

I got home tonight and didn’t feel like making what I had planned, so I searched chicken sandwiches and came up with this. I had a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts so I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, hot smoked paprika and garlic powder and baked them. When they were just about done I shredded the chicken and then added it to the sauce that had been cooking for about 8 minutes. I cooked it another 10 minutes or so and served it on buns. I skipped the slaw since I didn’t have it in the house. The sauce had a great tang to it. Anyway, I recommend it!

Great sauce. I added a little less mayo and vinegar to the slaw; it went well with the barbecue chicken. The flavors married even better the next day;)

Made as recipe stated and was super yum! Easy and delicious. Great for a weeknight meal or informal, quick guest dinner. Definitely making again!

Superfast. Made using leftover grilled chicken from the 4th so the meat was a little drier than rotisserie, but still pretty good. Coleslaw topper was a hit. Easy, sloppy sandwich.

The whole family absolutely loved this sandwich. It takes just about 15 minutes from start to finish and tastes delicious. Definitely a keeper. You can read my full review at:

I rarely follow a recipe exactly as written, I did this time. This was very good for as quick as it all came together. Will definitely use this quick slaw recipe for other sandwiches and really enjoyed the quick barbecue sauce.

This was a pretty easy recipe to make on a weeknight and super cheap. It took longer to pull all the chicken off the bones than anything else. Get a helper and it’s even faster! I used all the chicken I pulled and maybe I should have paid more attention to how much chicken that was because when I added the sauce the meat was not as saucy as I would have liked. Next time, I’ll either make more bbq sauce or only add the exact amt of chicken called for. It was very tasty though! I was out of garlic powder so I added fresh garlic and it worked great. I also used the sandwich thins instead of regular hamburger buns and it was still super tasty. I would definitely make again.

I made exactly as written and it was super quick and delicious! It’s definitely nothing fancy, but was perfect for a quick weeknight. Highly recommended.

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When people think of using leftover roast chicken, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a chicken salad. But here’s another excellent way to turn leftover roast chicken into a yummy lunch the next day – make a shredded BBQ barbecue chicken sandwich.

The shredded BBQ chicken sandwich recipe is very easy. You only need 3 ingredients of the shredded barbecue chicken sandwich recipe:

• Cooked chicken meat
• Barbecue BBQ sauce
• Bun

Shredded BBQ Barbecue Chicken Sandwich Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Step 1 of Making Shredded Barbecue Chicken sandwich: Shred the chicken

You can shred the chicken with a knife or with a food processor fitted with a slicing disk. I don’t like doing extra work, so I always use the food processor.

If you use the food processor to shred the chicken, make sure you use the top round slicing disk. Don’t use the usual blade that goes inside the food processor – it will turn the chicken into crumbs instead of shreds! Load the slicing disk in the food processor, put the chicken in the top feeding tube and turn on the food processor.

Here’s the secret that will make the slicing blade produce shreds instead of slices: don’t press on the chicken – let the gravity do the work. This way the chicken will be shredded just the right way.

Step 2 Of Making Shredded Barbecue Chicken Sandwich: Add The BBQ Sauce

Put the shredded chicken in a microwave-safe dish. Mix the shredded chicken with a bottled BBQ sauce or homemade BBQ sauce.

Step 3 Of Making Shredded Barbecue Chicken Sandwich: Warm In A Microwave

Put the chicken and BBQ sauce mixture in a microwave and warm until the shredded barbeque chicken is piping hot.

Step 4 Of Making Shredded Barbeque Chicken Sandwich: Put BBQ Chicken On A Bun

Spoon the piping hot shredded BBQ Chicken on a bottom part of a sandwich bun, then put the top bun on top.

Now bite into that succulent shredded BBQ chicken sandwich and taste the juicy BBQ sauce!

Here’s the picture of the shredded barbecue chicken sandwich served with the sweet potato fries:

Last Updated: February 14, 2019

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 25 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.

This article has been viewed 111,230 times.

This is made similarly to the grilled sandwiches sold at fast food places like Burger King and McDonald’s. You can make the chicken either grilled or use bread crumbs to make it crispy. It is also great to eat as an open sandwich, on one slice of toast.

• Mexican seasoning
• Ranch dressing
• Turkey ham
• Turkey bacon
• Colby Jack cheese slices
• Pepper mayo

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Man oh man do I have a winner for you today! Pulled turkey (or chicken, or pork!) with homemade bbq sauce, and the yummiest baked oven fries ever! And you just throw your turkey in the slow cooker to cook. how great is that?

Also, is anyone else ready for it to be Summer again? Or I’d at least like a few more hours of daylight please! I’m hoping to get more meals on the blog in the coming months, so I’m extra eager for Mr. Sun to stick around a bit longer in the afternoons!

My mom and sister are the brains behind this recipe. and all I did was snap the photos! It’s one of our favorite meals of late, and is nice and uncomplicated. You pop your turkey in the slow cooker for a few hours, pull it out, shred it, add some bbq sauce (skip the homemade part if it’s too fussy for you!), and voila!

This is also a great recipe if you have leftover turkey sitting around! I know it’s a bit late for Christmas turkey, but is a nice idea for future turkey dinners! We all love a good old turkey sandwich, but sometimes you want to mix things up a bit. especially if you cook a massive turkey!

• Level: Easy
• Total: 6 hr 30 min

• Prep: 20 min
• Inactive: 10 min
• Cook: 6 hr

• Yield: 4 to 6 servings plus leftovers (8 cups pulled turkey)

Ingredients

1 small red onion, chopped

4 turkey thighs (about 4 pounds)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Serving suggestions: seeded hamburger buns, pickle slices, prepared coleslaw

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Directions

1. Spread the onions in the bottom of a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker. Rub the turkey thighs with the chili powder, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and place over the onions. Stir together the ketchup, sugar and mustard and pour over the turkey. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. The turkey should be very tender with the meat falling off the bones.
2. Uncover and stir. Let cool for 10 minutes. Using two forks, shred the turkey meat, discarding the bones. Stir in the vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on hamburger buns with pickles and/or coleslaw if desired.

Cook’s Note

Choose the higher setting (and shorting cooking time) if it’s more convenient for your day.

January 18, 2018 By Joe 1 Comment

Nothing’s better than having some folks over for the big game and feeding them hot shredded turkey sandwiches. It’s easy to prepare ahead of time so you are free to participate in the festivities.

I’m from Minnesota and the Vikings are into the NFC championship game…again. This may be their best chance to win a Super Bowl game and to do it in their own stadium. Maybe the “Vikings Curse” will end this year unlike the missed opportunities in the 1998 season against Atlanta, 2000 season against NY Giants, and the 2009 season loss to the New Orleans Saints. Win or lose, these hot shredded turkey sandwiches are terrific.

I started out with a turkey breast that was just over 5 pounds. Let the breast thaw, if frozen, in your refrigerator or in a cold water bath, 1/2 hour per pound. Season generously with Lawry’s seasoning salt, powdered garlic, and black pepper.

I used my electric pressure cooker/ slow cooker to cook the turkey for 45 minutes in two cups of chicken broth, took it out of the pot, removed the skin, then shredded the turkey with two forks. The shredded turkey was then put back into the multi-cooker, in the broth and set on high temperature slow cook for 3 hours. I also added another tablespoon of Lawry’s and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you could use a standard slow cooker set on high for 4 hours, then on low for 4 hours. Remove and shred the turkey breast and then place the shredded turkey back into the broth along with the additional seasonings.

Mary Jo made the delicious slaw to go with the sandwiches. It was made with purple cabbage, (for the Vikings), carrots, red onion, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries. The dressing was 1/2 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, plus some salt and pepper.

I like the cabbage slaw on the sandwiches, but it is equally good by itself on the side.

If you are having a party, you might as well mix up some Clam Dip and serve it with rippled potato chips. This could be made the day before, stored in the refrigerator, and enjoyed on game day.

I made sliders with the shredded turkey using King’s Hawaiian honey wheat rolls but any good bun would work. I just think that the little hot turkey sandwiches are so cute. Place them on the table and they are sure to get gobbled up.

• Level: Intermediate
• Total: 30 min

• Prep: 30 min

• Yield: 4 sandwiches

• Level: Intermediate
• Total: 30 min

• Prep: 30 min

• Yield: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

Peanut oil, for frying

1/2 cup nonfat milk

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon malted milk powder

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 sour pickle, cut into 8 slices, plus 1 tablespoon pickle juice from the jar

2 teaspoons white vinegar

4 soft hamburger buns, split

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

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Directions

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1. Cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally to make 4 thin cutlets. Place the cutlets between 2 pieces of heavy-duty plastic wrap and pound to 1/8-inch thick with a mallet or heavy skillet. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon each pepper and paprika.
2. Heat about 2 inches peanut oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F. Meanwhile, whisk the egg, milk and 2 tablespoons water in a baking dish. Whisk both flours, the malted milk powder, confectioners sugar, baking soda, dry mustard, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon paprika and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in another dish. Toss the pickle slices, pickle juice and vinegar in a bowl and set aside.
3. Working in batches, dip the chicken in the egg mixture, turning to coat, then dredge in the flour mixture and shake off any excess. Fry the chicken in the hot oil until golden brown, about 4 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed. Drain on paper towels.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spread the cut sides of the buns with some of the butter and lightly toast in the skillet, buttered-side down; spread with more butter. Put 2 pickle slices on each bun bottom; top with a piece of chicken and cover with the bun tops.

Photograph by Kate Sears

This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional. It has not been tested for home use.

February 3, 2013

Sundays are the perfect day to pull out the slow-cooker. At least in my family. After attending church for 3 hours it’s so nice to come home to a ready-made meal. To open the front door, walk in, and be greeted by the aroma of something succulent cooking in the kitchen, all ready to eat, is pure heaven.

But this obviously isn’t limited to just Sundays. Whether you work outside the home or stay at home with the kids or whatever your situation may be, there isn’t one of us who doesn’t enjoy sitting down to a ready-made meal that required little to no effort on our part. And the convenience aspect aside, there is something particularly comforting and inviting about the flavors that are gently coaxed out of the ingredients through the slow-cook method. Slow-cooked food is marvelous.

Today’s menu in our home featured slow-cooked Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with an amazing homemade barbecue sauce. An all-American meal! This recipe is perfectly suited for both chicken and pork – you choose.

Let’s get started!

Place the chicken or pork roast in a slow cooker. Add all the slow cooker ingredients, set heat to low, and cook for 8-10 hours.

To make the barbecue sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and saute the onions and garlic until soft and translucent, about 7 min.

Add the barbecue sauce mixture. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to low, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance, and will taste even better!

When the chicken or pork is finished, place the chicken on a plate.

Discard the skin and bones and shred the chicken with two forks. Set the shredded chicken aside in a bowl.

Using a slotted spoon, ladle the vegetables from the slow cooker onto the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Discard the liquid from the slow cooker.

Combine half of the barbecue sauce with the shredded chicken or pork mixture, tossing to combine. Warm up the chicken or pork mixture and serve on warm sandwich buns with sliced pickles and your choice of sides (coleslaw, french fries, potato wedges, salad, etc). Pass around the remaining barbecue sauce. Serves 6

Pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches are an easy meal anytime of the year! Plus, I’ve got instructions for cooking the chicken on the grill or in the slow cooker.

If you’re looking for a simple classic family-friendly meal, pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches are always a good idea! They’re a huge hit with my family, and I love to make them when we’ve got a big group, or when I want to make a meal once to enjoy all week long.

The pulled BBQ chicken can be prepared either on the grill (great in the summer!) or in the slow cooker if you’re looking for an easy hands-off recipe, and a simple homemade BBQ sauce adds so much more flavor. All you’ll need is some buns and maybe some pickles or coleslaw to complete this delicious meal.

Ingredients You’ll Need

There are 2 parts to this recipe— spiced chicken and an easy homemade BBQ sauce. Here’s what you’ll need for both:

• Boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• Olive oil
• Ketchup
• Apple cider vinegar
• Brown sugar
• Ground cumin
• Paprika
• Chili powder
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Salt and pepper

How to Make Homemade BBQ Sauce

If you’ve never made your own BBQ sauce, you are missing out. It’s so easy to make and so much more delicious than store-bought brands. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Combine ingredients. Add ketchup, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and brown sugar to a saucepan.
2. Simmer for several minutes. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5-10 until slightly thickened, then remove from heat.

And that’s it! This homemade BBQ sauce can be made up to a week or more and stored in the fridge.

How to Make Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Now that we have our BBQ done, we’re ready to cook the chicken and make our sandwiches! There are 2 ways to cook the chicken, either on the grill or in a slow cooker. Using the grill provides more flavor, whereas using a slow cooker is more of a “set it and forget” it recipe.

Cook Chicken on the Grill

1. Season chicken. Rub chicken all over with olive oil, ground cumin, paprika, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
2. Grill till cooked through. Cook on grill over medium high heat for about 5 minutes per side. Turn down heat as needed to prevent burning while chicken cooks through completely.
3. Shred. Let cool for about 15 minutes, then shred with your hands or 2 forks.

Cook Chicken in a Slow Cooker

1. Add ingredients to slow cooker. Add chicken, olive oil, and seasonings to a slow cooker. Add ½ cup water.
2. Cook till chicken is done. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours.
3. Shred. Let cool for about 15 minutes, then shred with your hands or 2 forks.

Make it a Complete Meal

Any of these recipes would be a great side dish to these pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches!