Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Here's the thing about our slow cooker:

We have owned it for YEARS. I'm not sure if it was a present or just something I picked up one day, but we have a beautiful, fancy-schmancy one from All Clad, and we've had it for probably five years.

And up until a few months ago, do you know how many times I had used it? Once. (Conveniently documented on Sugarlaws, I used it to make beef chili back in 2009... during which I accidentally fed Chad a spoonful of straight cayenne pepper, oops! He still brings it up.)

For a long time, I thought our slow cooker might go the way of the breadmaker -- a bulky, essentially useless appliance that eventually we'll either give away or toss when we run out of kitchen space. But then a few months ago, I thought to myself: "Hey, these things are supposed to be really good for easy meals, and I'm about to have an infant on my hands in a few months, so anything that can make cooking dinner into a five-minute endeavor might be worth revisiting."

And so I did. This recipe is about the simplest, easiest thing ever -- just a couple of ingredients, and you literally put them in a pot and check back in 5 hours.

And when I did? I went to lift a chicken breast out of the pot, and it literally fell apart on the fork. Needless to say, a big grin spread across my face -- this one was an instant success.

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

INGREDIENTS

3 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves

8 ounces barbeque sauce (I used Bulls Eye Original, because Chad is extremely picky about these things)

1/3 cup Italian salad dressing

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Sandwich rolls, split

DIRECTIONS

Place chicken in a slow cooker. Mix together the barbecue sauce, italian dressing, brown sugar, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken. Cover, and cook 4 hours on your slow cooker's "High" setting.

When the chicken is cooked, use two forks to shred the breasts. Spoon generously onto sandwich rolls (I also like to add a layer of extra bbq sauce to the rolls) and serve.

Makes enough chicken for 6 sandwiches.