Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- First, spray the interior of your 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. This simple step ensures that the chicken doesn’t stick to the sides as it cooks.
- Next, add the chicken breasts to the bottom of the slow cooker. Make sure they’re evenly spaced so they can cook through properly.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the BBQ sauce, brown sugar, juice from the canned pineapple, soy sauce, sliced green onions, and minced garlic. This mixture is going to infuse your chicken with layers of flavor. Stir it well to ensure everything blends together.
- Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker. Make sure to cover the chicken completely, as this will help keep it moist as it cooks.
- Now, take half of the pineapple rings and slice them into bite-sized chunks. Add these chunks to the slow cooker for some added texture and sweetness.
- Cover the slow cooker and set it to cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 4 to 6 hours. The goal is for the chicken to be tender enough to shred easily. You’ll know it’s ready when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, so keep an eye on it!
- Once the chicken is cooked, carefully remove it from the slow cooker and transfer it to a cutting board. Reserve about 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker, discarding the rest.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. It should fall apart effortlessly if cooked properly.
- Add the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker along with the reserved cooking liquid. Stir everything together to ensure the flavor is evenly distributed.
- It’s time to serve! You can either serve the chicken directly on the Hawaiian rolls from the slow cooker with extra pineapple slices or get a little fancier and make pull-apart sliders.
- To make pull-apart sliders, preheat your oven broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.
- Slice the Hawaiian rolls in half horizontally, placing the bottom halves on the baking sheet.
- Top the bottom halves with a third of the shredded chicken. If desired, add any remaining or additional pineapple slices on top.
- Place the top halves of the rolls back on and brush the tops with melted butter using a pastry brush. For a finishing touch, sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
- Broil the sliders for a minute or two, watching closely, until they are golden brown. The butter will help create a lovely crust.
- Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and then serve the sliders warm. Enjoy the delightful combination of flavors!
Notes
Tip 1: The chicken should be at least 165 degrees when tested with a meat thermometer.
Tip 2: You can heat the sliders up in a glass baking dish but it is not safe to broil in a glass baking dish. The higher temperature from broiling can shatter the glass. Instead, heat the oven to 375 degrees, then add the glass baking dish full of sliders to the oven. The slider rolls should brown in about 5 to 10 minutes after being brushed with butter.
Tip 3: Use pineapple in juice, not in syrup. Pineapple in syrup can cause the recipe to be too sweet.
Tip 4: This recipe is also delicious topped with my 10 minute coleslaw.
Tip 5: You can serve these right away from the slow cooker and just put the buns on the side. Everyone just grabs a bun or two and loads them up with chicken on their plate. Or you can heat up the buns and make pull-apart style sliders; it’s your choice how you would like to serve them!