Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

About a month ago, my parents, sister, sister's boyfriend, and grandfather came for a visit. Yup, that's right--seven people in a two bedroom, 1000 square foot apartment. Pure craziness, at least in terms of space. As I do with any visitors, I wanted to be sure to prepare a fantastic dinner that everyone would love, but with several caveats: we couldn't grill out (apparently outdoor grills in "multi-family dwellings" are now illegal in the state of Indiana) and I didn't want to spend all night in the kitchen.

So what's a girl to do?

Use the crock pot, of course!

When Ben and I got married two years ago, I was a total crock pot skeptic. I thought crock pots were for lazy cooks and that nothing good ever came out of them. I vowed I would never use the crock pot we received as a wedding gift (in fact, we only registered for it at Ben's insistence). I totally ate my words on that one! Aside from my KitchenAid mixer (fortunately inherited from my grandmother), my crock pot is probably my most-used kitchen appliance. I love it for making soups, applesauce, and large hunks 'o meat.

As I was brainstorming what to make, I kept coming back to this recipe I had seen on Tasty Kitchen for Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches. The combination of sweet pineapple with vinegary, tomato-y BBQ sauce intrigued me to say the least. So I threw the ingredients together in my crock pot, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.

And "the best" delivered. Many a sandwich were devoured by all that night, and the sweet yet savory BBQ just couldn't be beat. This is definitely a recipe to make again and again. It's so easy, so delicious, so tasty, so why wouldn't you? Enjoy!

Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches (from MyRetroKitchen via Tasty Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless chicken, thawed
  
• 1 large onion, cut into chunks
• 1 - 20 ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
• 1 - 18-20 ounce bottle BBQ sauce (I used KC Masterpiece)
• hamburger buns
  

Directions:

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. Cover with onions. Drain pineapple, reserving juice (see note) and add over top. Pour in BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. About an hour or two before it is finished, shred chicken with two forks, stir to incorporate the sauce, and let cook for the rest of the allotted time.

Serve on hamburger buns. If you're feeling extra ambitious, try these: they are quite easy and really tasty! Enjoy!

Note:

For an extra sweet sauce, the recipe recommends a BBQ sauce like Sweet Baby Ray's (which is so great) and the addition of up to 1/2 cup of the reserved pineapple juice. I didn't add any juice to mine and it was plenty sweet for us, but others might feel differently. I just chose to drink the juice! :)

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Sarah began blogging at The Pajama Chef in order to chronicle her adventures in and love of cooking and baking. Sarah is currently a graduate student at Indiana University working towards a Master of Library Science and a Master of Arts in African Studies. Sarah's efforts in the kitchen would not be possible without the assistance of her husband, Ben, and his stellar dish-washing and sous-chef skills. Sarah and Ben were married in May 2009 and enjoy running, reading, involvement in a local church, and spoiling their kitty, Sheba.

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