Don’t you just love your crock pot? I love cooking all sort of dishes in them (even some desserts!). They make life easy, uncomplicated and YUMMY. Speaking of yummy, did ya take a peek at these Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches??? All saucy with that sweet ring of pineapple on top? Girl… these sandwiches are so good that any person would love them, even those picky eaters!
Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches
So to make life even easier, this recipe uses a commercially prepared teriyaki sauce. Honestly, while I prefer to make sauces and things like this from scratch, sometimes our crazy schedules demand something even quicker, and so a store bought sauce is a must. No judgement here!
I know there might be a few other ways you can make this recipe (oven, Instant pot, etc), but really, we want easy here right? And this teriyaki chicken recipe is one of the easiest I know of.
There’s no specific brand of teriyaki sauce to buy here, just buy your most favorite. It can be on the sweeter side, or more spicy, whatever you prefer is going to make it the best for you, obviously.
So how do you make this amazingly easy crock pot teriyaki chicken recipe?
Easy Peasy!
Start out with a pound of chicken breasts. You can use thighs here as well if you prefer, but be sure to use skinless and boneless thighs. Either will work nicely. Put them in the slow cooker bowl and add about a ½ cup of water or broth. You can season the breasts if you prefer with salt and pepper, but I chose to leave mine naked because the seasonings from the bottled sauce were plenty. (no need to add extra sodium if we don’t need to, right?)
Cook that on low for 6 – 7 hours. The chicken will release a lot of it’s own liquid, that’s why I suggested starting out with only a half cup of liquid. You could cook the chicken on high, but keep an eye on it as some crock pots cook hot, and may evaporate a lot of the liquid. Slow and low is best in this case, I think.
When the chicken is fully cooked, remove the breasts from the bowl, and with two forks, begin to shred the chicken. You can do a lot of little fine shreds if you prefer, or more of a chunky shred, it’s all with your preference!
Return the chicken to the bowl and then add your sauce. My bottle of sauce was a 12 ounce bottle and I used it all because I love my chicken saucy! I also added just a dash of dried chili pepper flakes just to add a bit of heat, but again, you don’t have to. Make this crock pot teriyaki chicken all your own! I am only providing guidelines here.
So let that cook another ½ hour or so. While it’s finishing up, you’ll want to get your pineapple rings drained and ready to go, as well as the buns. I REALLY recommend toasting those buns because it just adds so much more flavor and texture to the sandwich. Plus, when it’s toasted, all the sauciness doesn’t make the bread go soggy. No one likes soggy.
So to assemble, it’s super duper easy. With a fork or spoon, simply scoop some of the teriyaki pulled chicken onto the bottom portion of the bun. Top with a pineapple ring, and place the top on!
Hint: have PLENTY O’ NAPKINS on hand. This yummy crock pot chicken recipe can get pretty messy – but hey, messy food is sometimes a lot of fun, right? If you don’t like messy, then simply put the pulled chicken onto both sides of the bun and leave them open faced on your place. Top each bun with a pineapple ring, and use a fork and knife! See my beautiful reader, I gotcha covered!
Ways you can switch up this crock pot teriyaki chicken recipe:
- Cut the pineapple up into pieces and mix it in with the pulled chicken and sauce.
- Add some diced sweet peppers in when you add the sauce to provide some extra crunch
- Add some fresh diced chili peppers if you’d prefer an even spicier sandwich
- You could use pork, but then you’d be making a crock pot teriyaki pulled pork sandwich. While that would be amazing, it’s also a totally different recipe – but it’s still an option! haha!
If you’re wondering what to serve on the side with this crock pot teriyaki chicken, I would suggest items that will give a contrast in texture to the soft pulled chicken. Think crunchy here guys:
- fresh cut veggies
- coleslaw
- fresh green salads
- sauteed fresh veggies
Isn’t the slow cooker a great invention? I use mine a lot actually, and if you do too, you might want to take a peek at a few other slow cooker recipes I have on here. One of my favorites is my Slow Cooker Beef Barley Stew – click HERE, and also, my Slow Cooker Taco Stew – click HERE, is also awesome!
Crock Pot Teriyaki Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
This crock pot teriyaki chicken sandwich is nothing short of the perfect meal! It's quick to put together, save you time, is awesome for the most pickiest eater, and well, just plain delicious! The teriyaki sauce mixed with the pulled chicken topped with the sweet pineapple - it's just awesome!
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast, skinless, boneless. Can use thighs here as well.
- ½ cup chicken broth or water
- 12 oz teriyaki sauce, commercially prepared, your favorite
- 1 can pineapple rings, drained but reserve the juice
- 1 dash dried chili flakes, (optional)
- 6 kaiser or hamburger buns, toasted
Instructions
- Put the chicken in the slow cooker bowl
- Add the broth/water
- Let cook on low for 6 - 7 hours
- Remove the chicken from the bowl and drain the cooking juices. With two forks, shred the chicken breasts as finely as your prefer
- Return the chicken to the crockpot and add the teriyaki sauce. If you find the sauce too thick with the chicken, add the reserved pineapple juice in small amounts until you reach the consistency you prefer.
- Let it cook for another half hour. Meanwhile, toast the buns
- To serve, spoon some of the teriyaki chicken onto the bun. Top with a pineapple ring, and then place the top of the bun on the pineapple.
- Enjoy!
Notes
***Look in the blog notes for ways to switch up this recipe!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 400Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 3184mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 1gSugar: 21gProtein: 38g
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
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