Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Bowls with Healthy Coleslaw Recipe
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Bowls are a quick & easy, family-friendly meal! Complete with homemade sweet potato fries & coleslaw, this healthy meal is sure to be a hit!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The BEST Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Bowls
The sweet, tangy taste of BBQ chicken combined with crispy sweet potato fries and healthy, homemade, creamy coleslaw = The Best Ever Instant Pot Barbeque Chicken Bowls. I’m not just saying that, these BBQ chicken bowls are really that good!
These bowls are not only incredibly delicious, but they’re also balanced, nutritious, and filling! With an easy 10 minute prep and 30 minutes of cooking, you’ll have a family-friendly meal on the table in no time at all. Leftover BBQ chicken? Perfect! Use it to meal prep lunch for the week! Instant Pot BBQ Chicken for the win!
How to Make Instant Pot Pulled Chicken
I like to use chicken breasts for my BBQ chicken. After it cooks in the Instant Pot, it’s so tender and shreds super easily with two forks. This bbq pulled chicken melts in your mouth just like pulled pork. It’s tangy, flavorful, and absolutely perfect!
The Best Paleo & Whole30 BBQ Sauces
BBQ Sauce is typically made with loads of sugar and often has a ton of unwanted ingredients. However, nowadays it’s pretty easy to find healthy swaps for BBQ sauce that taste just as good as the sugary original! Personally, I love The New Primal and/or Tessamae’s BBQ sauce. They are both Whole30 approved, which means there is no added sugar or yucky ingredients.
You can find these at Sprouts, online at Thrive Market, or other local grocers!
BBQ Chicken Recipe in Crockpot
Don’t have an Instant Pot for this BBQ chicken? No worries! Grab that slow cooker and follow these steps to make your BBQ chicken right in the crockpot!
- Add chicken, onions, and sauce to slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
- Follow the rest of the instructions in the printable recipe below to complete your bowls!
Healthy Coleslaw Recipe
This homemade, healthy coleslaw recipe is made with just 4 ingredients and takes less than 5 minutes to prep and combine! While coleslaw is typically served at restaurants with southern comfort food like fried chicken and mashed potatoes, coleslaw itself isn’t all that high in calories or carbs!
Combine shredded cabbage mix (also includes carrots), apple cider vinegar, avocado oil mayo, and a little maple syrup and you have yourself restaurant-quality coleslaw that has the perfect blend of creamy, sweet, and tangy!
In fact, this healthy coleslaw recipe is also considered keto! If you’re following a keto lifestyle and are craving a ketogenic coleslaw recipe, this is totally for you. Simply swap the maple syrup to keto-friendly maple syrup (like Lakanto), skip the sweet potato fries and load up on BBQ chicken and coleslaw and you have a delicious, low carb, keto meal!
My Favorite Whole30 Mayonnaise
Whole30 Mayonnaise is important to look for, because like BBQ sauce, regular mayo often contains unwanted ingredients like soy, etc.
Avocado oil mayo is delicious, tastes just like regular mayonnaise (I think it’s better actually), and is easy to find at your local grocery store. My favorite brands are Sir Kensington’s and Primal Kitchen. I’ve even seen Primal Kitchen’s Whole30 mayonnaise at Costco!
Homemade Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potato fries really round out these Instant Pot bbq chicken bowls with a healthy, delicious, and filling starchy vegetable that tastes great and is full of vitamins!
Simply slice your sweet potatoes, toss them in the oil & seasonings, and place them on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 min, flip, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
If you have an air fryer, sweet potatoes cook so well in them! You can make air fryer sweet potato chips or wedges, but for this recipe, air-fried sweet potato fries are perfect!
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries in Air Fryer
- Preheat your air fryer to 390F
- Toss the cut sweet potatoes in the oil and spices first – same directions as the oven.
- Cook in batches in the air fryer basket so they aren’t overlapping for 14 mins, turning halfway through.
Mary’s Tips & Tricks
Storage: Store the leftover coleslaw, sweet potato fries, and bbq chicken in separate airtight containers for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Heat up the chicken in the microwave, the fries in the oven or toaster oven, and serve the coleslaw cold. Build another bowl or eat the leftover individually- you can’t go wrong!
More uses for Leftover Instant Pot BBQ Chicken: This shredded/pulled chicken is such a great protein to have on hand for a variety of uses! Make a double batch to use for meal prep lunches or other easy weeknight dinners. Here are some ideas on how to serve the BBQ chicken:
BBQ Chicken Salads: throw your Instant Pot or Crock Pot BBQ chicken on a bed of lettuce with black beans, corn, green onions, shredded cheese (leave out if dairy-free), avocado tomatoes, and gluten-free tortilla strips. Toss with dairy-free ranch and extra bbq sauce!
BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches: Grab some gluten-free hamburger buns and serve the bbq shredded chicken between the buns with extra bbq sauce and the leftover sweet potato fries and the healthy coleslaw recipe or another healthy side that you love.
Barbeque Chicken Casserole: I have so many delicious casserole recipes on my site. This Instant Pot/ Crock Pot bbq chicken would be great to throw in with other ingredients to make an easy, yummy casserole dish for the family.
Serve it on its own! This chicken is so tasty, it doesn’t need anything fancy. Serve it with a side of green beans and cauliflower mash for a hearty, delicious dinner!
FAQs
Are sweet potato fries healthier? Sweet potatoes are more nutrient-dense than regular potatoes, however, deep frying any potato makes them not super healthy. That’s why this recipe gives you the option to either make your sweet potatoes fries in the oven or the air fryer! Both of these methods are healthier than the deep frying alternative.
How many calories are in sweet potato fries? In these bbq chicken bowls, one serving of sweet potato fries is 99 calories, 11 carbs, and 52% of your daily vitamin A!
How many carbs and calories are in coleslaw? In my Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Bowls, one serving of homemade healthy coleslaw is 46 calories and 4 carbs. If you use Lakanto Keto-Friendly Maple Syrup (or another brand you love) instead of the regular, each serving of coleslaw will only have 1 net carb!
Can I use chicken thighs for this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken? Yes! If you prefer chicken thighs, or only have them on hand, they will also work just as well as chicken breast. You can also combine the two to make your bbq chicken bowls with both thigh and breast meat. Remember, chicken thighs are darker meat so they do contain more fat, but they also have a ton of flavor!
More Recipes with BBQ Chicken
Grilled BBQ Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Whole30 Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
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Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Bowls with Coleslaw (Whole30)
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Fries
- 3 large sweet potatoes, or 4 small
- 2 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
BBQ Chicken
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 bottle Paleo BBQ Sauce, I like The New Primal or Tessemae's
Coleslaw
- 1 bag coleslaw mix, red & green cabbage with carrots
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup, sub date syrup for Whole30
- ¼ cup Whole30/Paleo mayo, I love Sir Kensington's Avocado oil mayo or Primal Kitchen
Equipment
- pressure cooker
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Slice the sweet potatoes into fries (cut vertically to form 1/4" thick slices, then cut those into strips). Toss with the oil and seasonings. Lay the fries out in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until browned and crispy.
- While the fries are in the oven, make the chicken. Add the chicken breasts to your instant pot along with the diced onion and BBQ sauce. Toss to make sure everything is coated. Lock the lid, turn the vent knob to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. Let it naturally release for 10 minutes, then release the steam. Remove the chicken and shred it using 2 forks, then return the chicken to the pot and toss.
- Next, make the coleslaw. Toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. This can be kept in the fridge until ready to serve. You can also make it up to 24 hours ahead of time!
- Once everything is done, assemble your bowls with some of the chicken, fries and coleslaw. Take it to the next level but garnishing with diced green onions and drizzling with ranch dressing. Enjoy!
11 Comments on “Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Bowls with Healthy Coleslaw Recipe”
Amazing flavors!!! Easy week night recipe!
Thank you!
Super easy and delicious! This will likely be part of our spring/summer dinner rotation especially on busier weeknights.
Definitely make the cole slaw ahead if possible!
Thanks Kathy!!
I followed this recipe using a 6 qt instant pot but the only thing I ran into is the “burn” notice. The recipe doesn’t state exactly how many ounces of barbecue sauce to use and so I used a 28 oz. Bottle of Swet Baby Ray’s. After the burn notice, I ended up adding a quarter cup of water in the glazing the bottom and then pressure cooked on high for just five minutes since the chicken was halfway cooked through the first attempt to pressurize. Would just like to know specific recommendations on how to avoid this?
Hi Ashley! Sorry you had the burn issue notice – the bottle of sauce I use is only 12 oz and I’ve never run into that problem. I guess every instant pot is different. Next time, pour the sauce in first then lay the chicken on top of it so the bottom of the pot is coated. Hopefully that will help!
This was very easy and yummy. I used the slow cooker method for the chicken. The sweet potato fries were good, but I wished I had baked them longer so they’d get more crispy. (And maybe I cut mine into bigger fries than this recipe does.) Really tasty overall!
Thanks Kaylyn!
Delicious and easily customized- love Mary’s recipes
Easy and tasty. Looking forward to leftovers tonight.
Love this recipe and use a lot of Mary’s recipes never disappoints