Let your slow cooker do the work this weekend with an easy sweet and sour chicken filling for sandwiches and wraps.
I’ve found that having a plan, and even better, a make-ahead meal, makes for a really relaxed atmosphere in our house. If I know in advance what I’ll be serving and can communicate that to my family so that they can help facilitate or even do all the prep work, life feels calm and peaceful.
I realize that not everyone has seven other people asking them what’s for dinner on any given day. But, still, I think this advance prep would work for you, too.
Believe me, I’m not so organized that it happens every day, but when it does? Wow! I feel like I’m on top of the world. And it’s just one meal!
Today’s recipe is easy, make-ahead, and perfect for game days, mocktail/cocktail parties and really, any time. It cooks in the slow cooker, pretty quickly on high. Last week it was done in less than three hours, making it the perfect winter day lunch.
I served it on Sweet Hawaiian Rolls, but you can use whatever roll you prefer. I thought the sweet rolls went along well with the Asian seasonings, and the size was perfect for little hands. The smaller rolls also make it a great finger food for New Year’s. Go with what you like.
This makes a fair amount of chicken. You can cool and freeze half of it for another meal or simply invite friends over. The filling also goes well in lettuce wraps.
Recipe: Sweet and Sour Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sherry
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- sweet hawaiian rolls and barbecue sauce for serving
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker.
- In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, sherry, rice vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, garlic, and ginger. Pour this mixture over the chicken.
- Cover the crock and cook on HIGH for up to 4 hours and on LOW for 6 hours.
- The chicken will be very tender and easy to shred. Remove the chicken and shred the meat. Return it to the crock and mix with the juices.
- Serve on rolls with barbecue sauce, if desired. Chicken mixture is also good inside a lettuce or napa cabbage wrap.
- To freeze: the shredded meat and any sauce can be frozen for a later date. Simply cool and store in an airtight container. Chill completely before freezing. To serve: thaw completely in the refrigerator. Reheat or serve cold.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 4 hour(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
Have YOU got a favorite make-ahead meal?
Make-ahead meals can make your month! Grab this month’s meal plans to take it easy and enjoy great home-cooked meals.
Homemade Vegetable Chow Mein (Ready In 30 Mins!)
Asian Bowl: My New Favorite Dinner
Carrot Ginger Dressing
Asian Cabbage Salad with Chicken and Mandarin Oranges
Moo Shu Chicken Recipe
This recipe sounds fantastic! I love a great slow cooker recipe. Pinning!
I made this recipe last night, and my family LOVED it! It was perfect on the Sweet Hawaiian Rolls. My family also commented how wonderful it smelled while it was cooking. Thank you for another great recipe!
Yay! So glad to hear that it was a hit!
Do you eat raw sugar snap peas? Or do you blanch them? I’m looking for ways to add them to my diet.
We do usually eat them raw. I have put them in stirfries before as well.
wow this looks really good. I’ll be able to make up some of those wonderful little rice bowls. retired and now i have time to have fun in the kitchen. thanks for being here.
I made these today for dinner. They were a hit! Thank you for yet another great recipe.
Yay!
This looks fantastic! I will be trying this soon. Unfortunately, if it is for the pantry challenge, I have everything except chicken. 😉
You could very easily make it with pork, too.
What can I substitute for the sherry?
Sherry is in a lot of Asian style recipes; I’ve found that it gives it a more authentic flavor. You can find affordable “cooking sherry” on the vinegar aisle. You can use chicken broth if you’d rather.
Thanks for asking about the sherry, Becky. I was going to ask the same question!
How can we cook for 6 hrs on high flame and 6 hrs on low flame?
The cooking instructions for this recipe are for use in a Crock-pot or slow cooker. They have low and high settings. 6 on low or 4 on high.
Thanks for asking, Nafisa ~ the instructions read 4 hours on High and 6 hours on Low. 10 hours of cooking with 4 on high seemed a bit intense to me too!
Just wondering if I could substitute regular vinegar for the rice vinegar? Even if I substitute something else for the sherry? (I’m thinking chicken broth)
Both of those ingredients really give it the Asian flair. It will still be tasty if you make those subs, but not the same.
Trying out this recipe as we speak. I did go and buy rice vinegar but I did not have Sherry so I used white wine.
I am having 2 couples over so I will let you know! THanks. LS
Bon appetit!
Hey Jessica, this recipe looks great! I have a hard time keeping chicken breats moist in the crockpot. Even with juices, it always tastes dried out. How do you keep that from happening? Since crockpots heat at different temperatures, how do you know when the chicken is done and not overcook it? Should I pull at it with 2 forks at various times and turn it off when it gives easily? I’ve found even when the thermometer says its done, it is not tender enough to shred at that point. Any tips anyone can offer for cooking moist chicken breasts in the crockpot would be much appreciated! Thank you!
I think my first question would be what kind of chicken do you buy? I’ve found that the big grocery store breasts get tough more easily than the ones that I buy at Trader Joe’s. It might not be you; it might be your chicken.
Good to know! I have been buying Costco organic frozen chicken breasts lately and they are bigger. Which ones do you buy from Trader Joes? Are they frozen?
If you’re getting organic, it probably doesn’t get better than that. It must be that your crockpot cooks fast. I would adjust your time and see how quickly it’s cooking.
If you are going to use napa cabbage instead of rolls do you have to cook the cabbage first?
No, the cabbage acts like a crispy wrap for the filling. You’ll just spoon the filling into a leave, add any toppings you want, and then eat. Like here: https://goodcheapeats.com/2013/04/chicken-salad-wraps/
I’ve just recently found your blog and love it! I made this recipe x4 for a family gathering of 25 people this past weekend and it was a hit! My 6-yr old nephew deemed it “most awesome sandwich ever!” There was some leftover and I served it for supper last night as wraps: rolled it in some burrito-sized tortillas topped with some crunchy broccoli slaw. THAT was really good! Thanks for the inspiration to serve something different and delicious to my family!
Those wraps do sound delicious. Great tweak!
OMG! This is the best recipe for chicken sandwiches I’ve ever had! Just made sandwiches for my husband & me
for our dinner & they were fabulous! I’m going to serve this as sliders for a party we’re having soon! I made it
exactly as called for in the recipe & it was perfect! Great flavor. Good job, Jessica! Thanks much.
Thanks, Connie. So glad you liked them!