The BBQ Chicken Sandwich is as Easy as you want it to be.

Now if you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you know how much I enjoy creating and eating barbecue. Barbecue doesn't necessarily have to be made on a grill though; sometimes you just don't have that option. Now you could always go to the local market and buy one of those premade varieties you see in the refrigerated section. I'm not a fan of those as they seem to be so saturated with sauce, you actually wonder what kind of meat or poultry you're supposed to be eating.  Then you could look up recipes online, in cookbooks or magazines, but there are so many of those, how do you choose?  It's basically what your cooking style is and how easy or difficult you want it to be...do you roast, then sauce; do you roast in the sauce; do you use a crock pot, stove top or oven method; chicken with bones and skin, chicken without; homemade sauce or store bought?

Many recipes suggest buying a roasted chicken from the supermarket deli, removing the skin and bones, shredding the chicken and mixing it with a bottled sauce.  You could do that yourself of course; roast a whole chicken or parts, remove the skin, etc, etc.  Don't want to mess with all the slimy skin and bones, then purchase boneless, skinless pieces (usually breasts and thighs); but you still have to decide if you're roasting with or without sauce.  Or use a 4 quart crock pot for 6 to 8 pieces, one cup of chopped onion, pour 2 cups of sauce over all and cook for 8 hours; shred the chicken and serve on buns.

I'm going to give you my simplest recipe. I use my homemade barbecue sauce which I posted on June 1, 2011 and serve my creamy macaroni and cheese, posted on March 20, 2011, as a side dish. This meal can be fully prepped, cooked and served within two hours.

BBQ Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 cups homemade barbecue sauce
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup chopped onion
6 sandwich buns

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 2 qt baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread 1/2 cup of sauce over bottom of dish.  Before placing chicken into dish, prick all over with a fork to allow absorption of sauce.  Spread onion over chicken and pour remaining sauce over all.

Cover with aluminum foil, place on center rack and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours. Remove chicken to large bowl and shred; pour only half of sauce from baking dish into bowl and mix together. Serve on buns; spoon on extra sauce from baking if desired.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

Serve with a side of creamy macaroni and cheese, cole slaw (hot or cold style), macaroni or potato salad.

Mary Cokenour