BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese–Tender chicken in a homemade barbecue sauce and provolone cheese piled on french bread slathered with garlic butter and then toasted until brown. An EASY dinner that everyone raves about!
BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheese sandwiches on their own are amazing. But adding some chopped chicken slathered in barbecue sauce brings them to a whole new level. You’re going to love these cheesy, messy, garlic-y sammies! Greg said to me, “you can add these to the rotation!” He loved them and so did our kids.
I love making the chicken in the Instant Pot and having it on hand for these sandwiches. I also like using the chicken part of this recipe for salads and baked potatoes. Make a large batch of the chicken and have it for all sorts of meals.
If you have rotisserie chicken on hand you can forget the Instant Pot and go straight to a griddle or pan on the stove and make the grilled cheese sandwiches with some bottled barbecue sauce instead. Both ways taste awesome!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
- Boneless or bone-in chicken breasts or thighs–or a combination
- Brown sugar
- Yellow mustard
- Apple cider vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Dehydrated onion
- Worcestershire sauce
- Ketchup
- Liquid smoke
- Tabasco sauce
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Cayenne pepper
- Cornstarch
- Butter
- French bread
- Butter
- Garlic cloves–or garlic powder
- Dried parsley
- Provolone cheese–or cheddar or havarti
Steps
Add chicken broth and chicken into bottom of Instant Pot. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken.
In a pot-in-pot* dish whisk together the remaining ingredients (except butter) until smooth. Add the pat of butter (1 Tbsp) into the dish.
Place a tall trivet* into the Instant Pot around the chicken.
Place the pot-in-pot dish on top of the tall trivet.
Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for fresh chicken or 15 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let the pot sit for 8 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Move the pot-in-pot dish out of the Instant Pot. Move chicken to a cutting board. Discard the broth. Shred or chop the chicken. Add the chicken into the Instant Pot. Scrape the sauce from the pot-in-pot dish into the chicken. Stir to coat the chicken.
Soften the quarter cup of butter. Stir it together with the garlic and parsley. Butter one side of each bread slice. This will be the outer side of the sandwich.
Place one slice of bread in a pan over medium heat or on a griddle, butter-side down. Repeat with 5 more slices of bread. Add cheese slices on top of the bread in the pan. Then add a scoop of the bbq chicken mixture. Place the second bread slice on top of the chicken, butter-side up. Cook the sandwich for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom bread slice turns golden brown. Carefully flip the sandwich using a spatula. Cook the other side for an additional 2-3 minutes until it is golden brown and the cheese inside has melted. Remove the grilled cheese sandwich from the pan and let it cool for a minute before serving.
Notes/Tips
- Some side dish ideas to serve with these sandwiches are potato chips, potato salad, watermelon, green salad or tomato soup.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot.
- Store any barbecue chicken leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. It’s great on salads too!
- Other recipes you can make with provolone cheese are Philly Cheesesteak and Sloppy Ottos.
More Delightful Sandwiches…
Straight from Heaven Sandwich
The name says it all! A loose meat sandwich with the most amazing sauce and melty cheese. All together it tastes like manna in your mouth. Make this in your Instant Pot or on the stove.
Italian Bomb Sandwich (Instant Pot)
The Italian bomb sandwich has homemade marinara sauce (it’s easy with the Instant Pot!), sliced Italian sausages, garlic butter spread and melty cheese. Basically you’re going to love this sandwich.
Instant Pot Ohio Shredded Chicken Sandwiches
Popular in the Midwest, these creamy chicken and stuffing sandwiches can be made in the Instant Pot or the slow cooker.
NYC Chopped Cheese Sandwich
Browned ground beef with melty cheese and caramelized onions served on a toasted bun and topped with mayo, ketchup, lettuce and tomatoes. An Instant Pot version of the NYC chopped cheese sandwich.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Tender chicken in a homemade barbecue sauce and provolone cheese piled on french bread slathered with garlic butter and then toasted until brown. An EASY dinner that everyone raves about!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless or bone-in chicken breasts or thighs (or a combination)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp dehydrated onion
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 12 slices french bread
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 6 slices of provolone cheese
Instructions
- Add chicken broth and chicken into bottom of Instant Pot. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken.
- In a pot-in-pot* dish whisk together the remaining ingredients (except butter) until smooth. Add the pat of butter (1 Tbsp) into the dish.
- Place a tall trivet* into the Instant Pot around the chicken. Place the pot-in-pot dish on top of the tall trivet.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for fresh chicken or 15 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let the pot sit for 8 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Move the pot-in-pot dish out of the Instant Pot. Move chicken to a cutting board. Discard the broth. Shred or chop the chicken. Add the chicken into the Instant Pot. Scrape the sauce from the pot-in-pot dish into the chicken. Stir to coat the chicken.
- Soften the quarter cup of butter. Stir it together with the garlic and parsley. Butter one side of each bread slice. This will be the outer side of the sandwich.
- Place one slice of bread in a pan over medium heat or on a griddle, butter-side down. Repeat with 5 more slices of bread.
- Add cheese slices on top of the bread in the pan. Then add a scoop of the bbq chicken mixture.
- Place the second bread slice on top of the chicken, butter-side up.
- Cook the sandwich for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom bread slice turns golden brown.
- Carefully flip the sandwich using a spatula.
- Cook the other side for an additional 2-3 minutes until it is golden brown and the cheese inside has melted.
- Remove the grilled cheese sandwich from the pan and let it cool for a minute before serving.
- Category: Chicken
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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