BBQ Chicken Sliders — These easy chicken sliders are ready in 25 minutes and are great for Fourth of July, Labor Day, holiday parties, tailgating, and game days.
BBQ Chicken Sliders Recipe
Wondering what to make for your next party? These easy chicken sliders that are ready in 25 minutes will do the trick. They’ll be great for Fourth of July, Labor Day, holiday parties, tailgating, and game days.
The chicken is braised in beer and bourbon before being shredded and tossed with barbecue sauce. I used a sweeter barbecue sauce (Carolina Gold from Trader Joe’s), but use your favorite. Try a spicy barbecue sauce if you want a kick.
Beer does a wonderful job of tenderizing meat as well as adding subtle flavor and this chicken is a perfect example of beer at work. Put your beer to work for you.
The chicken is ridiculously tender, juicy, moist, and the sliders will be a guaranteed hit with everyone.
My family loves pickles and the tangy, crunchy pickles are a great contrast to the tender chicken.
What’s in BBQ Chicken Sliders?
Here’s what you’ll need to make this game day appetizer:
- Olive oil
- Chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper
- Beer
- Bourbon or whiskey
- Barbecue sauce
- Slider buns
- Sliced pickles
How to Make BBQ Chicken Sliders
You’ll first need to sear the chicken breasts in an oiled skillet. Then, reduce the heat to low and pour in the beer and bourbon. Let the chicken simmer in the beer until cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the skillet and shred with two forks. Add the chicken and some of the beer cooking liquid to a bowl, then stir in bbq sauce.
Spoon bbq chicken onto slider buns and top with sliced pickles. Serve immediately.
What Type of Beer Should I Use?
I recommend using a lager, like Sam Adams. But really any beer will work. If it’s a beer you like to drink, feel free to use it.
Can I Prep Chicken Sliders in Advance?
If desired, you can make the bbq pulled chicken in advance and reheat it on the stovetop just before guests arrive. The chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tips for Making BBQ Chicken Sliders
If you’ll be serving guests with a gluten intolerance, you can easily make this chicken appetizer gluten-free by using certified GF slider buns and barbecue sauce.
To make these bbq chicken sliders even more delicious, you can toast the slider buns on a griddle before loading them up with the bbq chicken.
My family likes eating these chicken sliders with sliced pickles, but you could also add thinly sliced red onion, tomato, and more. Doctor these sliders up however you see fit!
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Beer and Bourbon Barbecue Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 12 ounces lager beer, or your favorite beer, I used Sam Adams
- 2 tablespoons bourbon or whiskey, optional but strongly recommended
- 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce
- 10 to 12 slider buns, lightly toasted if desired
- sliced pickles, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, chicken, evenly season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes on each side, or until chicken is seared and lightly browned on both sides.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the beer (use caution because it will bubble up), optional bourbon or whiskey, and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through; flip a couple times to ensure even cooking.
- Remove chicken from pan and allow it to cool momentarily; save beer cooking liquid.
- Using two forks or your hands, shred the chicken into a large bowl.
- Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the beer cooking liquid (the more you add, the more beer flavor that’ll be present); discard remainder.
- Add the barbecue sauce and stir to coat evenly.
- Add about 1/4 cup chicken to each slider bun, optionally top with pickles, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Chicken is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Game Day Appetizers:
All my favorite EASY CHICKEN RECIPES and APPETIZERS
Caramelized Onion and Portobello Mushroom Sliders with Fry Sauce — Meatless comfort food at its finest! Hearty, satisfying and so good!
Baked Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings — The easiest wings ever because there’s NO frying involved!! And they’re healthier this way, too! Tender, juicy, with just the right amount of kick! Perfect for parties and game days!
Ham and Cheese Sliders – Baked juicy ham and Swiss nestled in soft Hawaiian rolls and brushed with a buttery Dijon, onion, and poppy seed topping!! Fast, EASY, and a party FAVORITE!!
Hot Cheesy Corn Dip — This easy corn dip recipe literally takes five minutes to stir together. It’s great for parties, football, and tailgating!
Pepperoni Pizza Sliders — The sliders are a cinch to make and ready in less than 30 minutes. You can doctor them up with cooked bacon, sausage, or your other pizza fixing favorites.
5-Minute Dill Pickle Chex Mix — Loaded with dill pickle flavor thanks to the addition of dill pickle juice and dried dill, this Chex mix recipe is easily my favorite one yet!
Ranch Chicken and Swiss Sliders — Tender chicken is coasted in tangy ranch dressing and topped with Swiss cheese. It’s all nestled in soft, sweet Hawaiian rolls with a buttery Dijon, onion, and poppy seed topping.
Hi Averie,
I made these to try for a chicken option for a beer, bourbon & bbq party coming up & they are perfect! My question is would you recommend putting out a platter of sliders or putting the chicken in a crock pot to stay warm and let people put them together themselves? I’m worried the sliders will get soggy even if we toast the buns.
Thanks for the recipe and any suggestions,
Suzi
Hi Averie,
I made these to try for a chicken option for a beer, bourbon & bbq party coming up & they are perfect! My question is would you recommend putting out a platter of sliders or putting the chicken in a crock pot to stay warm and let people put them together themselves? I’m worried the sliders will get soggy even if we toast the buns.
Thanks for the recipe and any suggestions,
Suzi
Thanks for the 5 star review I am glad you are contemplating this for a party! If you have the option to keep it warm in a Crock Pot and let people serve themselves, I would do that.
Also this is an old recipe but super good. https://www.averiecooks.com/bourbon-maple-slow-cooker-baked-beans/ I don’t know if it fits your theme but it came to mind based on what you said. You can start with canned beans to save time if you don’t want to make scratch beans. Just add everything else with canned beans and let it all simmer away.
These look awesome! Thanks for sharing the idea, I’ll be giving this a try over Christmas break.
Ok great to hear!
Hi, I made this recipe for our monthly poker night. Everyone agreed that the sliders were super yummy! I will be making these again :) Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad you will make them again and they were a hit!
These look so good! Do you think this recipe would work in the crockpot? LOVE the TJ’s Carolina Gold and just bought a new bottle.
I definitely think it would work in a slow cooker. Saucy recipes like this tend to do well because they keep the chicken from drying out. Love the Carolina Gold too!
Averie, what BBQ sauce do you use?
For these I used a Carolina Gold one that I got at Trader Joe’s. Use your favorite or what you have on hand.
These look so delicious and I love making sliders!! The chicken sounds so good, I know my husband especially would enjoy it! I love how quick and easy they are! Perfect dinner!
Those buns are so cute …we don’t have slider buns with sesame seeds. I’ve never tried that bbq sauce but I will need to and pickles I love!! great recipe
Trader Joe’s is where I got the buns!
I’ve been a lurker for a while, but I totally didn’t realize that you live in San Diego! We are neighbors :) Great recipe! Looks absolutely delicious.
Thanks for saying hi!! :)
OH.MY.GOD.
I know this isn’t a veg recipe, but I’m trying to think of any ideas for what I could use instead. Obviously I could do tofu or tempeh, but that doesn’t have that shredded texture. I need to think about something that would work. Maybe just use the sauce on a slaw of some sort? IDK but this sauce needs to be in my life.
You could dip fake chicken nuggets in a bourbon/beer/bbq sauce combo but you won’t get the same flavor…cooking the meat in all that juiciness really provided such amazing depth of flavor and needless to say, supremely moist!
YES!! These sliders are like all my favorite things rolled into one! Oh, and I LOVE Carolina Gold!!
I love that bbq sauce too :) Glad you’re also a fan!
This looks like a crowd-pleaser for sure, and with beer, bacon, and burger involved in this one simple recipe, it might be the pure essence of summer eating. Awesome job!
I wasn’t expecting this to be such a quick recipe and I’ve never used beer and bourbon together in a braise. It sounds really good so I think we need to try this over the weekend….I have chicken in the freezer, beer in the fridge and bourbon in the bar cabinet!
Super easy and the flavors work great together! Perfect for 4th of July weekend or tailgating parties in the fall!
We had this last night and it was fantastic! The weather was perfect for outdoor cooking so I was able to grill the chicken and then finish it on the side burner. No spatter on my stove to clean up! I love the beer and bourbon together (and probably used more than 2 tbs ?). This will be repeated–so easy and fun!
I’m so glad you tried this one! Great idea about doing it all outside on the grill and finishing it on the side burner! And yes to using more than 2 tbsp :) Glad it will be repeated!