Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl. Mix sauce ingredients well. Sauce can be made well ahead of time and kept in fridge until ready to use.
Thoroughly dry chicken pieces with paper towels. Combine chicken with sauce and place in slow cooker. Cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on High, or 5 1/2 to 6 hours on Low.
Carefully remove chicken from slow cooker with tongs. Keep slow cooker lid on and keep sauce warm. Gently pull chicken apart with forks, but not too finely.
Return shredded chicken into slow cooker. Toss well to make sure chicken is fully coated in sauce. Add more BBQ sauce if needed. Cook another 30-45 minutes on High. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Toast buns or sandwich rolls and serve with pickles or coleslaw, if desired.
Notes
We highly recommend using chicken thighs, as they produce much more tender results than chicken breasts would. If you'd really like to use chicken breasts, we suggest using 50/50 along with chicken thighs.
We like Sweet Baby Ray's honey barbecue sauce for this recipe, but feel free to use your favorite brand.
Tips for Meal Prep:
Entire slow cooker can be prepared the night before and kept in the fridge until ready to cook. Keep in mind that if you're starting with a cold slow cooker and cold ingredients, you'll need to increase cook time a bit.
Leftovers can be stored in fridge for up to several days, or frozen for up to a month.