Instant Pot BBQ Ranch Chicken

Instant Pot BBQ Ranch Chicken is the easiest and most flavorful dinner to get you through the week! You’ll love the shredded chicken, simple sauce, and the versatile way you can serve. Simple and family approved!

I’m not necessarily saying that everything tastes better with a BBQ ranch sauce, but pretty much everything does. And while I am not 100% on board with ranch dressing, I am 110% on board with a BBQ ranch! So let’s do this….

Obviously we all enjoy easy meals with minimal work, minimal clean-up, and loads of flavor. That’s where this BBQ Ranch Chicken fits in! Checking all of these boxes of family friendly, easy, hands-off, kid pleasing, meal prep perfect, and able to serve in so many different ways.

With the temperatures making their way up to summertime HOT, I love using my Instant Pot so I don’t heat up my kitchen with the oven or stove. And this recipe has all kinds of summertime vibes.

How to make Instant Pot BBQ Ranch Chicken:

To start you will gather up the following ingredients:

• chicken breast (can also use thighs)
• beer (like a lager or something darker)
• smoked paprika
• chipotle chili powder
• your favorite BBQ sauce (I use the primal kitchen Unsweetened BBQ)
• ranch dressing
• cabbage, carrots, onions, cilantro for serving
• Buns, rice, tortillas, or greens for serving

We start by adding the chicken, beer, spices, and 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce in the Instant Pot. Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. You want to only add a little bit of the BBQ sauce so it doesn’t get the burn signal. Use a quick release. And remove the lid.

Remove the chicken from the pot and shred. Pour the chicken back into the Instant Pot. Now mix the remaining BBQ Sauce with ranch dressing.

Pour the sauce back into the Instant Pot with the shredded chicken. Stir and mix. If sauce is too thin, you can thicken up with arrowroot starch if needed.

Ready to serve!

Serving:

So many creative ways to enjoy this BBQ Ranch chicken!! You can dress up in a huge bowl of greens with added veggies: shredded carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, and onion.

For my kids, they love in a hamburger bun for a pulled BBQ Chicken sandwich. I added the slaw and cilantro in each sandwich.

You can also enjoy in a lettuce wrap or tortilla. Even serve as a taco!

Serve with:

Here are a few fun side dishes to serve with this BBQ Ranch Chicken.

• Mexican Slaw
• German Potato Salad
• Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Smoked Tomato Vinaigrette
• Summer Slaw with Tahini Dressing

Slow Cooker Variation:

You can easily make this in the slow cooker. Use only 1/2 cup beer and all of the BBQ sauce when placing the chicken into the slow cooker. After 5-6 hours, shred with a fork and add in the ranch dressing.

Enjoy!!

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Instant Pot BBQ Ranch Chicken

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Author Amy Rains

0 from 0 votes

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Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken breast or chicken thighs
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1.5 cups BBQ Sauce divided
• 2/3 cup Beer* (or chicken broth)
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro for serving
• 1/3 cup diced red onion for serving
• 2 cups chopped fresh cabbage for serving

Instructions

1. In the Instant Pot, combine chicken, paprika, chipotle chili powder, 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, and beer. Give it a stir and secure the lid.

2. Cook at high pressure for 8 minutes, use a quick release. Once steam is completely released, remove chicken from the pot and shred with a fork. Place chicken back into the pot. If the sauce is really thin, add in 1 tbsp arrowroot starch.

3. In a bowl, stir together remaining 1 cup BBQ sauce and the ranch dressing. Pour on top of the chicken and stir.

4. Serve hot in a bowl of greens with toppings: cilantro, onion, cabbage. Or serve in bun as a sandwich with toppings.

Recipe Notes

*I use a lager beer for this recipe. A darker beer will provide a bit more flavor. You can also use chicken broth in it's place.