Pulled Chicken Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe Sauce is a very versatile starter for both weekend and weeknight meals... and sometimes, like with the recipe I'm going to share with you below, a weekend meal, that makes a whole new weeknight meal later on.

Some Sweet & Smokey Pulled Chicken Sloppy Joes with kettle chips seemed just the thing for Sunday dinner, so I picked up a big package of chicken breasts on sale, grabbed a package of bacon and a big Vidalia onion.  Sloppy Joe sauce was the base for the sauce, and a few things tossed in made it my own.

I browned up some chopped bacon and onions, added the sauce and some seasonings, dropped in the chicken to simmer, and pretty much forgot about it, other than giving it a stir once or twice.  After the sauce had thickened, I shredded the chicken, right back into the pot.

The pulled chicken went right on bulkie rolls with a nice slice of sharp cheddar.  Nom, nom.  Lil' Foodie was not feeling the bib, so wore her dinner as usual.    Later in the week I spread leftover pulled chicken onto some bakery pizza dough & topped it off with cheddar & pickled jalapenos.  YUM!!! Even better than the sloppy joes.

Here is my recipe for the pulled chicken I used in both meals.

Serve the pulled chicken sandwiches with homemade kettle cooked chips, air fryer sweet potato fries, Asian cucumber salad, loaded potato salad,  dill pickle pasta salad or classic macaroni salad.

Watching your carbs? Try my Keto Root Beer Pulled Chicken Instant Pot recipe.

Sweet & Smokey Pulled Chicken

4.74 from 23 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course, Sandwich

Cuisine: American

Servings: 10

Calories:

Author: Robin Gagnon

Ingredients

• 4 strips of center cut maple bacon or trim off fattiest sections
• 1 large Vidalia onion 3 cups sliced
• 1 sloppy joe sauce
• ½ can water
• 2 tbs maple syrup
• 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbs whole grain mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbs paprika
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast trimmed & sliced into thick strips or tenders

Instructions

• Place 5 qt pot on stove over med-high heat.
• Slice across bacon and cut into thin strips, then chop up & toss into the pan. Stir. Once bacon has started to crisp & some of the fat has rendered, add the sliced onions. Saute until lightly caramelized.
• Add the sloppy joe sauce, water, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire & paprika. Stir, then add chicken.
• As soon as the pot starts to bubble reduce heat to simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally for approximately 1 hour. Until thick enough for sandwiches.