Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken Flatbread starts with an easy, homemade flatbread and is topped with chopped barbecue chicken that’s made in your instant pot or slow cooker. More delicious toppings like crumbled bacon, mozzarella cheese, red onions, cilantro and tomatoes are then added. It’s a perfect dinner that you can personalize to your tastes.
Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken Flatbread
My sister shared an easy flatbread recipe with me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I love flatbread. I didn’t know that it was so easy to make! If I had known how fast and easy flatbread was to make I would have been making it for a long time.
Now that I know how easy flatbread is to make I’ll be making recipes like barbecue chicken flatbread pizzas often! My family loved this dinner so much! It was like we were eating at a restaurant.
For this recipe you use your Instant Pot or slow cooker to cook the chicken. The chicken is thrown into the pot along with some dry ranch dressing mix and Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce. The chicken is then chopped up and used as a topping on the flatbread pizzas.
I love the flavor that ranch dressing mix gives the sauce! I like to buy the Hidden Valley brand and I buy it in a big container at Costco. Some other recipes that I use ranch dressing mix in are: chicken ranch rice, beef and cheddar ranch potatoes and ranch mashed potatoes.
To make the flatbread you’ll want to let the dough rest in a warm environment for 20 minutes. I used the inside of an Instant Pot on the yogurt setting for this part. It works so well! Check out this video about proofing bread in your Instant Pot.
After the chicken and flatbread is cooked you can start assembling your dinner. I love this part! I added my favorite toppings like bacon and tomatoes. However you can mix and match whatever toppings you prefer and use my ideas as a start. Try out these (slow cooker or) Instant Pot barbecue chicken flatbread pizzas for dinner this week!
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Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken Flatbread
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus 10 minute NRP)
- Total Time: 65 minutes
- Yield: 4 large flatbread 1x
Description
Barbecue Chicken Flatbread starts with an easy, homemade flatbread and is topped with chopped barbecue chicken that’s made in your instant pot or slow cooker. More delicious toppings like crumbled bacon, mozzarella cheese, red onions, cilantro and tomatoes are then added. It’s a perfect dinner that you can personalize to your tastes.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (frozen is okay)
- 2 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)
- Cornstarch
For the flatbread:
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt (full fat is best)
- Olive oil
Toppings:
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon (I used crumbled bacon from Costco)
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add water into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Lay the chicken in one layer in the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle the ranch dressing mix over the chicken. Dump the Worcestershire sauce and BBQ sauce over the chicken. Don’t stir.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes (fresh chicken) or 15 minutes (frozen chicken). When time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Use tongs to place chicken on a cutting board. Chop the chicken up (I use this tool*).
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute and let the sauce reduce for a 3 minutes. To thicken the sauce stir 1-2 Tbsp or cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of water until smooth and then add the mixture into the pot. Sauce will thicken quickly. Turn off the Instant Pot.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Add chicken, ranch dressing mix, Worcestershire and BBQ sauce to your slow cooker. Stir. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Use tongs to place chicken on a cutting board. Chop the chicken up (I use this tool*).
- Turn slow cooker to high with the lid off. To thicken the sauce stir 1-2 Tbsp or cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of water until smooth and then add the mixture into the slow cooker. Sauce will thicken in 10-20 minutes.
Flatbread Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk the water, yeast and honey together. Set aside for 3 minutes, until bubbly.
- Add flour, salt or yogurt to a food processor or blender. Pulse 10 times. Add in the yeast mixture. Pulse until a ball forms.
- Set the dough in a warm place for 20 minutes (I placed my dough in a oiled Instant Pot on the yogurt function, see note below).
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
- Heat a skillet or griddle to medium heat. On a floured surface, roll out each piece of dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Brush a bit of olive oil on each side of the flat breads. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
Assembly Instructions
- Spoon 2-3 Tbsp of barbecue sauce from your Instant Pot/slow cooker over each of the flatbread.
- Add toppings to each of the flatbread: chicken, ½ cup mozzarella, 2 Tbsp red onion, 1 Tbsp cilantro, 2 Tbsp bacon, 5 halved cherry tomatoes.
- Bake in a 400° F oven for 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
To use your Instant Pot as a warm place for yeast breads to rest/raise: Oil the pot so that the dough doesn’t stick. Place the dough in the bottom of your pot. Then select the yogurt button. Use the adjust button to cycle through until the light is on the “less.” My pot says 24 hours on the display. Then cover the pot with a glass lid or a plate.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*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.
Hi Karen
For The Ranch Dressing Mix
1/3 cup dry buttermilk powder
Where do I find dry buttermilk powder? or is there anyway I can make butter,milk powder.
Thanks
I find it in the baking aisle
I do not have a food processor. The closest thing I have is a regular blender (like for milk shakes, margaritas…). Will that work?
Yes…just pulse it! Should be great
Thank you Karen! We will try this recipe this weekend!
Please do not put frozen chicken in a slow cooker. The chicken is held for too long in the danger zone which allows for bacteria to flourish. I did some research about putting frozen food in a slow cooker after getting sick from frozen chicken. I used a recipe posted online by a nurse for chicken chili, which called for frozen chicken. Please do some research on what foods should not go in a slow cooker frozen. I don’t know about safety and frozen meat with the instant pot, but I know from firsthand experience frozen chicken should not be used in a slow cooker. Research legitimate sources for this issue.
Do you add the chicken back to the pot?
I didn’t. But you can if you’d like.
My family just went crazy over this meal! My husband actually just said, this is like the 4th new recipe you’ve tried lately that has been amazing. Spoiler alert … they are all from your book which I recently purchased after some killer finds on your site! Only thing I will change next time is make twice as many flatbreads as we had plenty of everything else and teenage boys can gobble this up. Thanks for another great find!
★★★★★
yessssssssss I love these flatbreads too!
Yuuuuuummmmmmm!! Oh my goodness, this was so, so, so good! Another keeper, for sure. I just love your site! I was intimidated to make the flatbread, but wow, it was so easy! So many possibilities . . . ! And the taste and texture, well there’s just nothing like it. I really can’t believe I’ve avoided making it for so long. As I ate I thought of how I was enjoying my meal a million times more than any restaurant food, and I COOKED IT! Right here at home!
Thanks a million!
★★★★★
I totally agree with you! The flat bread is soooo tasty. I love how you cook it on the griddle.
Could bread machine yeast be used in place of instant yeast for the flatbread? Yeast is very hard to find here in Canada during the pandemic
Hi Dale, I bet that would work just fine!
Does it matter if the yogurt is regular or Greek? I have a cup of Greek in the fridge that I’m hoping to use.
You can use either. I used greek yogurt.
Do you have a make-your-own ranch dressing mix? I like the convenience of the mixes, but the sodium content is just too high for me.
Hi Christie, Try this:
For The Ranch Dressing Mix
1/3 cup dry buttermilk powder
3 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried minced onion
2 tsp dried dill weed
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
Run all the ingredients through a blender or food processor. Pulse about 10 times until all the granules are the same consistency. Store in an airtight container. To make ranch dressing whisk together 3 Tbsp of ranch mix, 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup milk until smooth. Refrigerate for half hour before serving.
It looks wonderful, but is the sodium amount correct? It seems really high.
It’s probably because of the bbq sauce that the chicken cooks in and then you use a bit for each individual flatbread. The rest of it is discarded. I don’t know how to calculate that so it’s more accurate.
Okay, thank you. I could probably make the homemade ranch mix and reduce the salt amount, and either use less bacon or use reduced-sodium bacon to lower the sodium content. It sounds like a really good recipe.
Would you please post alternative gluten free recipes for those of us with family members with Celiac?
I can try. I’m not familiar at all with gluten free baking! I know it’s complicated though. I will ask my friend with celiac what she thinks.
Hi Karen, where can I find your family members rosemary bread recipe? Can you also suggest gluten free? Thank you much
Here you go!
Jill’s Rosemary Bread Recipe:
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 Tbsp butter
Dissolve yeast, sugar and water in mixer. Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour and mix. Add rosemary and the rest of the flour. Mix 5 minutes. Let rise for 1 hour on counter or 30 minutes in Instant Pot (using the yogurt setting). Split in half and form into loaf shape and place on a cookie sheet. Let rise for 30 minutes on the counter. Then bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve with butter.
Any suggestions on how to use the instant pot for proofing when you don’t have the yogurt setting? I have a Lux 60. This sounds delicious and I hope to be able to make it soon!
You can make it without the Instant Pot. When you start making the bread turn your oven to 200 degrees. As soon as it heats to 200 then turn it off. When you get to the part of the recipe that says to let the dough rest in a warm place put the dough on a pan and stick it in the oven that has been turned off but is still warm.
Karen, what can you use in place of yogurt?
Sour cream will work.
Well….I used buttermilk and the dough didn’t rise. Brand new yeast. Oh well, we’re gonna eat them anyway. Yours look much better…LOL
The BBQ chicken flatbread bread was incredible. Thank you for all the recipes. I haven’t made one Of your recipes yet that was not delicious!
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks Trisia! Glad you liked them even with buttermilk 😂
Lately when I cook something it turns off once the time is over. It used to once the time was over start counting so I knew how long it was sitting in there for? Any idea why it isn’t now?
What model do you own? Does it turn to warm or just turn off completely?