Chicken sliders made in the SLOW COOKER cooked in an awesome sweet and mildly spicy Buffalo sauce! Plus directions to make this on the stove or even in a pressure cooker, AND an optional blue cheese sauce. These Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders are a great way to feed a crowd with minimal effort!
It’s Super Bowl Sunday this weekend. Just the biggest game day in America in the entire year. To put this into perspective for Australians, it’s like our equivalent of the Melbourne Cup. You know how we call that the “race that stops the nation”? And it literally does – I was once on the M5 and traffic almost came to a standstill for the 3 minutes the race was on.
Well, on Super Bowl Sunday, basically the entire United States of America comes to a standstill for the annual championship of American football. All 300 million or so Americans can be accounted for doing one of 3 things:
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Glued to the TV, chugging beers and nibbling on food that can be eaten with hands, without taking your eyes off the TV*;
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Making food for the sports-obsessed, and socialising with the non-sports-obsessed; or
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Just generally enjoying this unofficial holiday!
* The definition of Game Day Food as per RecipeTin Eats-pedia. The following meet the stringent requirements:
MY TOP GAME DAY PICKS
So this is a last minute Super Bowl Sunday recipe that I’m sharing for all of those who haven’t been planning Game Day Food for weeks and weeks and are pressed for time. 🙂
These Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders take 5 minutes preparation. Maybe 7 – depends how organised your pantry is. Throw chicken and a handful of other ingredients into the slow cooker, including honey, butter and hot sauce which are the base of a traditional Buffalo Sauce. I add other flavourings in the sauce to jazz it up because I find the taste a bit plain to use for sliders.
Set the slow cooker, then 4 hours later, open it up to find perfectly cooked chicken sitting in a pool of delicious sauce, ready for shredding.
One thing to note about shredded chicken: I am not a fan of pulled / shredded meats that are cooked beyond tender so they are mushy. I actually have a bit of a hang up about mushy-pulled meats, especially on sliders.
So the cook time for this chicken is quite specific! It yields a tender chicken that shreds very easily with two forks with barely any effort, but the shredded pieces maintain their shape and texture nicely, rather than disintegrating which is what happens if you overcook chicken breast. 🙂
And now….the sauce. Let’s talk about the Honey Buffalo Sauce! Cooking the chicken in the sauce serves 2 purposes: infuses flavour into the chicken, and the chicken juices flavours the sauce. It’s too thin to use straight out the slow cooker so it needs just 5 minutes of cooking with the help of a little cornstarch / cornflour to thicken up while you shred the chicken. I love that my slow cooker has a sauté function so I can leave it in my slow cooker for this step!
And here it is. Tender, juicy shredded chicken tossed in a mildly spicy, honey-sweetened sauce. Oh my. Knees, weak.
Pile it onto rolls with a touch of token greens (because, you know…I’m all about well rounded meals here! 😉 )…..
And if you really want to go all out, make some Blue Cheese Sauce for the blue cheese fans! (That’d be me, but I’d say my friends are split pretty evenly in the pro and anti blue-cheese camps. So I always serve blue cheese on the side!)
Oh boy, happy days.
You know that 2 seconds after I took this shot, there was an enormous BITE taken out of this, don’t you??
But more important than whether you’re in the Blue Cheese camp, which camp are you in for SUPER BOWL SUNDAY 2016??
a) Denver BRONCOS!
b) Carolina PANTHERS!
c) Neither. I just get excited about the food!
For disclosure purposes, I am c). 😉 – Nagi x
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Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
Buffalo Chicken
- 2 lb / 1 kg chicken breast , boneless skinless (3 large or 4 small)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup hot sauce of choice (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup (or Australian tomato sauce)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or onion powder)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves)
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch / corn flour
To serve
- 7 rolls
- Lettuce of choice (optional)
- Blue Cheese Sauce (optional - see recipe below)
Instructions
Buffalo Chicken
- Place chicken in one layer in slow cooker and sprinkle with garlic powder, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper. Add remaining Buffalo Chicken ingredients, mostly around the chicken rather than on top. Cook on LOW for 4 hours. (Note 2)
- Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred roughly with too forks.
- Toss in Sauce and keep warm.
Sauce
- Mix cornstarch with 2 tbsp water and add to Sauce (after chicken is removed). Simmer on sauté setting in slow cooker for 5 minutes, or until thickened to a syrup consistency (or transfer to saucepan and do this over medium heat).
- Adjust salt & spiciness to taste per Note 1.
To serve
- Split rolls in half and toast (if desired). Butter (if desired), then place lettuce on bottom half and top with chicken. Serve warm, with Blue Cheese Sauce if you're a fan of blue cheese!
Recipe Notes:
PRESSURE COOKER: 30 minutes on high.
STOVE: Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer for 50 minutes to 1 hour (with lid), or until chicken is fork tender. 3. Nutrition for Buffalo Chicken Sliders (excluding blue cheese sauce), per serving assuming 8 servings.
Nutrition Information:
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Blue Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese , softened (I use gorgonzola)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (I usually use low fat)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 small garlic clove , minced
- 2 - 4 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Place blue cheese and sour cream in a bowl and mush with a fork, to taste. I like mine a bit chunky.
- Add remaining ingredients, using milk to adjust the consistency to your taste. I like it thick so it doesn't run everywhere.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Hi Nagi, love your recipes and hope the book is coming along so well.
Does it matter if the chicken is not all in one layer, if I’m increasing the amount?
Hello!! Can this recipe be doubled? Feeding a crowd and using slow cooker.
Yes you can, Leesh as long as your slow cooker is big enough! N x
Can this recipe be double?? Having a birthday party and have more mouths to feed!!
I made this to use up some chicken and because I was feeling lazy. My family has asked that this be on a regular rotation!
I am so glad they enjoyed it! N x
I have a large slow cooker (6.5L) and it says it must be at least half full to cook correctly. Will my chicken cook to quick or become dry with the recipe as stated? Thanks 🙂 you do the best recipes on the whole Internet!
Thanks for another delish recipe, Nagi.
The sriracha/sambal oelek hot sauce combo rocks. I would love to see more of your slow cooker recipes.
Super tasty and juicy, I used half sriracha and half bottled sambal it has a kick! I’ve got some brioche buns defrosting and I’m excited. I’m thinking the chicken would also be great in toasted sandwiches or a quesadilla or like a buffalo chicken style lasagna… maybe getting a bit too wild there?
Hi Nagi, love your recipes! Can these be made with chicken drumsticks? If so, will the cooking time be different in the slow cooker? Thanks
Hi Lynette, this is better cooked with boneless pieces as it’s easier to shreds the meat. N x
So easy, perfect for post part I’m cooking where I have no energy. Leftovers are always a win, and that sauce! Amazing.
*postpartum!! Woops…
Hi Nagi! If I attempt to make this recipe in the pressure cooker, do I cook the chicken in just water, or will the combo of hot sauce, ketchup and honey be thin enough to cook in the pressure cooker with the chicken? Also, do I allow to natural release or do you suggest manually releasing? Thank you!
Hi Isela, pressure cook as per the recipe notes, no extra water required and quick or natural release will be fine 🙂 N x
I recently stumbled across your site and this is the first thing I made. It was so easy and everyone loved it. I’m always looking for food to fill up teenage boys! Will make again for sure. Thank you from cold Minnesota.
Hi Nagi! I love your website!! I just gifted myself an instant pot and I am looking for recipes. These sliders look great. Does it take 30 minutes in the instant pot at high pressure for the chicken and sauce to cook? I am seeing that chicken breasts take 6 minutes to cook in instant pot. Just double checking as I read the reviews and it sounded like everyone used their crockpot. Thanks!
Hi Kelli, use the pressure cooker instructions for the IP = PRESSURE COOKER: 30 minutes on high. The meat will be shreddable and super tender. N x
Hi – wanting to know how this would freeze? Obviously just the chicken + sauce! Thanks…
This one is perfect to freeze Sheryl! N x
This recipe is really delicious. I used 3.5 lbs. of chicken and cooked for 4.5 hours on low.