This meal takes some time to make initially in your crockpot, so I often make the pulled chicken on a Sunday while I'm at home doing domestic chores, then I make quesadillas and sliders with the chicken through the week. It's a MAJOR hit, and J asks for it quite often. It's good for potlucks and tailgate parties as well...quite the crowd pleaser!
For the chicken...
Total prep time: 10 minutes
Total cook time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
What you will need (for the chicken):
A crockpot
3-4 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
One package of Hidden Valley Dry Ranch Mix
12 oz Frank's Wing Sauce (you can use a little more to add some more heat if you want)
2 tbsps butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
This is the beauty of a crockpot recipe. Literally, all you are going to have to do is dump all of the ingredients in the crock pot and let it cook. But to be more specific:
Place your chicken in a single layer in your crock pot, then put the ranch mix, garlic, and butter on top of the chicken. NOTE: Some people prefer to use the entire packet of ranch mix. I find that it actually makes the meat much more salty once it cooks down, so I tend to use about 3/4 of the packet. Experiment and see what works for you!
Then pour all of your hot sauce over the dry ingredients and shmear it around to make sure your chicken is covered.
Cover the crock pot and cook on low for about 5 hours. Don't be afraid to leave the house while your crock pot is on; that's the whole point of the crock pot. When you get back, take your chicken out and put it on a cutting board. It should look something like this:
You know you are on the right track if it starts falling apart as you take it out of the crock pot. If it still seems slightly tough, you can let it keep cooking for another 30 minutes. But if it's ready, use two forks on each piece and just start moving the forks back and forth on the meat to "shred" or "pull" the chicken breasts into stringy pieces.
Once you have shredded the entire amount of meat you have, dump it all back in to the crock pot and mix it around to allow it to absorb the juice. Let it cook for another hour on low.
Then, use it to make quesadillas (pictured above and to be described in a separate entry), or sliders with miniature hawaiian rolls and coleslaw stuffed inside. Delicious!!!
