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These Crockpot BBQ Chicken Thighs are an easy way to make saucy, tender bone-in chicken thighs without firing up the grill. You only need 3 ingredients: chicken thighs, BBQ seasoning, and your favorite hickory or Kansas City-style BBQ sauce, including my homemade sugar-free BBQ sauce.
These slow cooker BBQ chicken thighs work with both classic BBQ sides and lighter options. Serve them with Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Homemade Cornbread, or Southern Coleslaw, or keep things lighter with keto coleslaw, Pressure Cooker Cabbage, or Green Beans with Bacon. If you want the same BBQ flavor with caramelized oven-baked edges, try my Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs.
Why Make This?
- Easy: You only need 3 main ingredients, and most of the cooking is hands-off.
- Saucy and flavorful: The BBQ seasoning and sauce give the chicken plenty of smoky-sweet flavor while the slow cooker keeps the thighs tender.
- Easy to make low-carb: Use my BBQ seasoning with my low-carb BBQ sauce to keep the same BBQ flavor with less sugar.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken thighs: I used raw, skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs.
- BBQ seasoning: You can use my homemade bbq seasoning or your favorite BBQ seasoning from the market.
- Hickory or Kansas City style BBQ sauce like my keto bbq sauce recipe.
How To Make BBQ Chicken Thighs in the Crockpot
Make the most delicious crockpot bbq chicken thighs in 4 simple steps:
SAVE THIS RECIPE
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- Add the chicken thighs to the crockpot skin side up. Sprinkle with the bbq seasoning and use tongs to mix to coat.
- Add bbq sauce and toss the chicken thighs to coat — cook on high for 3 hours.
- Prepare to brown the chicken: Remove the chicken thighs from the crockpot and add to a foil-lined, broiler-safe baking sheet (skin side up). Brush with ⅓ cup bbq sauce.
- Broil on high for 2-3 minutes to char the chicken thighs and crisp the skin. Brush with more sauce before serving.
Recipe Tips & FAQs
- Reduce cook time to 2.5 hours for boneless and skinless chicken thighs to avoid overcooking.
- After slow-cooking for 2.5 – 3 hours, broil to crisp up the skin.
- Use my DIY keto bbq sauce and sugar-free bbq dry rub for low-carb and keto options
- Use the Crock Pot or Ninja Foodi: I’ve made this recipe in both. If you’re using the Ninja Foodi, simply use the air fryer setting to brown and crisp the skin instead of broiling. You can air fry the chicken thighs at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
Separate the meat from the bone (it’ll fall off), then shred it with a fork.
Grilling takes 20-25 minutes until the thickest parts of the thighs register 165 degrees.
Chicken thighs are more suitable for slow cooking because dark meat is harder overcook if you forget. Chicken breasts will need occasional checking to avoid overcooking.
BBQ chicken thighs go with most side dishes. You can have my crockpot bbq chicken thighs with almost anything. Popular bbq side dishes include Patti LaBelle Potato Salad and macaroni and cheese. For keto or low-carb, you can try my top keto sides for bbq, like Instant Pot collard greens, keto coleslaw, and keto cornbread.
Recipes to Enjoy This With
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Crockpot BBQ Chicken Thighs
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Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2.25 lbs Chicken thighs, raw, skin-on and bone-in (about 4-6 chicken thighs)
- 3 tbsp BBQ Seasoning
- 1 cup BBQ Sauce, I use my keto bbq sauce, but any Hickory or Kansas City style bbq sauce
Instructions
- Add the chicken thighs to the crockpot skin side up.
- Sprinkle with the bbq seasoning and use tongs to mix to coat.
- Add ⅓ cup bbq sauce and toss the chicken thighs to coat.
- Cook on high for 3 hours.
- Remove the chicken thighs from the crockpot and add to a foil-lined broiler-safe baking sheet (skin-side up). Brush with ⅓ cup bbq sauce.
- Broil for 2-3 minutes on high to char the chicken thighs and crisp the skin.
- Brush with more sauce before serving.
SAVE THIS RECIPE
I’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Recipe Notes
- Reduce cook time to 2.5 hours for boneless and skinless chicken thighs to avoid overcooking.
- After slow-cooking for 2.5 – 3 hours, broil to crisp up the skin.
- Use my DIY keto bbq sauce and sugar-free bbq dry rub for low-carb and keto options
- Use the Crock Pot or Ninja Foodi: I’ve made this recipe in both. If you’re using the Ninja Foodi, simply use the air fryer setting to brown and crisp the skin instead of broiling. You can air fry the chicken thighs at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used.
