Why I like this…
We are entering BBQ season, and this is an easy, don’t-have-to-think-much recipe that uses the base of an existing product with a few tweaks to make it healthier. This slow cooker, low-sugar shredded BBQ chicken takes 10 minutes to prepare. Although this recipe is designed for a slow cooker, it can be made in the oven.
For my recipe, I used Wegman’s Carolina Gold Style BBQ sauce as my base, but you can choose any. No matter what sauce you choose, look for one with the fewest added sugars, no high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners.
Why it matters…
Most regular BBQ sauce is too sweet and may contain 16 grams (or more!) of added sugars. Do we need added sugars? Nope. But the American Heart Association recommends no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) for men and 6 teaspoons (25 grams) for women daily. At 16 grams, you are more than halfway to your daily allowance as a woman!
The other thing to consider is the quality of the sweetener used. Most often, BBQ sauce is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. This is a problem because high intake of high-fructose corn syrup may increase the risk of the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or what is now known as Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease(MASLD).
Slow Cooker Low-Sugar Shredded BBQ Chicken
4
servings10
minutes2
minutes260
kcalIngredients
2 lbs 2 Boneless chicken breast
9 oz 9 BBQ Sauce (Prepared)-look for low natural sugars
8 oz 8 Low sodium tomato sauce
.25 cup .25 Tomato paste (for a less robust tomato taste, reduce to 2T-3T)
.5 tsp .5 Smoked paprika (or take to 1 tsp for smokier)
1 tsp 1 Garlic powder
1 clove 1 Garlic, diced
1/8 tsp 1/8 Salt
.50 tsp .50 Black pepper
.25 tsp .25 Chili powder
Directions
- Place chicken breasts in the slow cooker.
- Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and blend well. I used Wegmans, Carolina Gold Style sauce (3g added sugars) in my version, but I wanted to see if I could get the sugars even lower. You can choose any sauce, but look for one already low in added sugars. Cutting the packaged sauce with the other ingredients effectively reduces the added sugars for the entire recipe.
- Pour sauce over chicken breasts.
- Cook on high for 2.5-3 hours or until cooked through, or low for 4-5 hours.
- Once cooked, use two forks to shred the chicken. HINT: If it does not shred easily, you may want to cook it longer.
Notes
- No slow cooker? No problem! Put in the oven for 3 hrs at 300 degrees F.