This little Freedom Celebration Bowl is the kind of slow cooker supper I lean on when the weather is too pretty to stay inside fussing with pots and pans. It’s just three ingredients and a crock pot, and by the time you’ve spent the afternoon on the porch or out in the yard, you come back to a pot of deeply glazed, pull-apart tender chicken that looks like it’s been roasting all day. Around here in the rural Midwest, these easy, set-it-and-forget-it recipes are what got many of us through busy summers of haying, ball games, and church picnics. The dark amber sauce seeps into every fibrous strand of meat, giving you that old-fashioned, Sunday-supper flavor with almost no work at all.
Spoon the shredded, saucy chicken into wide bowls over hot white rice, buttered egg noodles, or fluffy mashed potatoes so all that dark amber glaze can soak in. Add something crisp and cool alongside, like coleslaw or sliced garden tomatoes with a sprinkle of salt. A pan of cornbread or dinner rolls is perfect for mopping up the extra sauce. If you’re feeding a crowd for a summer gathering, set out the slow cooker on warm with a stack of soft buns, a bowl of pickles, and maybe a simple cucumber salad, and let everyone build their own celebration bowls or sandwiches.
3-Ingredient Freedom Celebration Slow Cooker ChickenServings: 6
Ingredients
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 1/2 cups thick barbecue sauce (dark, smoky style)
1/2 cup cola or root beer (not diet)
Directions
Lightly trim any large pieces of fat from the chicken thighs, but don’t worry about getting every bit. The little that remains will help keep the meat moist and tender as it cooks.
Lay the chicken thighs in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, spreading them out in an even layer so they cook at the same rate. It’s fine if they overlap a bit, but don’t pack them in too tightly.
In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the barbecue sauce and cola or root beer until smooth and glossy. The soda thins the sauce just enough so it can sink down into the meat while it bubbles away.
Pour the sauce mixture evenly over the chicken, lifting a few pieces gently with a spoon or tongs so some of the sauce can slide underneath. You want every piece to be well coated and sitting in a shallow pool of sauce.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for about 3 hours, until the chicken is very tender. When it’s ready, it will pull apart easily with a fork and look deeply glazed with a dark amber sauce.
Once the chicken is tender, switch the slow cooker to WARM. Use two forks to shred the chicken right in the pot, pulling it into fibrous strands. Stir well so every shred is coated in the thick, shiny sauce. Let it sit, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes if you’d like the sauce to reduce and cling even more.
Taste and, if needed, adjust the seasoning by stirring in a pinch of salt or an extra spoonful of barbecue sauce. Serve the saucy, pull-apart chicken in bowls over your favorite base, making sure to ladle some of the rich, dark glaze over the top of each serving.
Variations & Tips
For a smokier flavor, choose a hickory or mesquite-style barbecue sauce, or add a few drops of liquid smoke to the sauce mixture before cooking. If you prefer white meat, you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs; just check for doneness a little earlier, as they can dry out if overcooked—pull them as soon as they shred easily. To give the bowl a sweet heat, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes or a spoonful of hot sauce when you mix the barbecue sauce and cola. If you’d like a slightly thicker, stickier glaze, once the chicken is shredded, leave the lid off and let it simmer on HIGH for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce clings tightly to the meat. For a more old-fashioned Midwestern touch, serve the chicken over buttered boiled potatoes or bread stuffing instead of rice or noodles. Food safety tips: Always start with fully thawed chicken and keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to cook. Don’t leave raw chicken sitting out on the counter; limit room-temperature time to under 2 hours (1 hour if it’s very hot in the kitchen). Cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part. Once cooked, don’t leave the slow cooker on the counter unplugged; keep it on WARM if serving over several hours, and refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking in shallow containers so they cool quickly. Reheat leftovers until steaming hot throughout before serving.
