Chicken sliders made in the SLOW COOKER cooked in an awesome sweet and mildly spicy Buffalo sauce! Plus directions to make this on the stove or even in a pressure cooker, AND an optional blue cheese sauce. These Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders are a great way to feed a crowd with minimal effort!
It’s Super Bowl Sunday this weekend. Just the biggest game day in America in the entire year.
To put this into perspective for Australians, it’s like our equivalent of the Melbourne Cup. You know how we call that the “race that stops the nation”? And it literally does – I was once on the M5 and traffic almost came to a standstill for the 3 minutes the race was on.
Well, on Super Bowl Sunday, basically the entire United States of America comes to a standstill for the annual championship of American football. All 300 million or so Americans can be accounted for doing one of 3 things:
Glued to the TV, chugging beers and nibbling on food that can be eaten with hands, without taking your eyes off the TV*;
Making food for the sports-obsessed, and socialising with the non-sports-obsessed; or
Just generally enjoying this unofficial holiday!
* The definition of Game Day Food as per RecipeTin Eats-pedia. The following meet the stringent requirements:
MY TOP GAME DAY PICKS
So this is a last minute Super Bowl Sunday recipe that I’m sharing for all of those who haven’t been planning Game Day Food for weeks and weeks and are pressed for time. 🙂
These Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders take 5 minutes preparation. Maybe 7 – depends how organised your pantry is. Throw chicken and a handful of other ingredients into the slow cooker, including honey, butter and hot sauce which are the base of a traditional Buffalo Sauce. I add other flavourings in the sauce to jazz it up because I find the taste a bit plain to use for sliders.
Set the slow cooker, then 4 hours later, open it up to find perfectly cooked chicken sitting in a pool of delicious sauce, ready for shredding.
One thing to note about shredded chicken: I am not a fan of pulled / shredded meats that are cooked beyond tender so they are mushy. I actually have a bit of a hang up about mushy-pulled meats, especially on sliders.
So the cook time for this chicken is quite specific! It yields a tender chicken that shreds very easily with two forks with barely any effort, but the shredded pieces maintain their shape and texture nicely, rather than disintegrating which is what happens if you overcook chicken breast. 🙂
And now….the sauce. Let’s talk about the Honey Buffalo Sauce! Cooking the chicken in the sauce serves 2 purposes: infuses flavour into the chicken, and the chicken juices flavours the sauce. It’s too thin to use straight out the slow cooker so it needs just 5 minutes of cooking with the help of a little cornstarch / cornflour to thicken up while you shred the chicken. I love that my slow cooker has a sauté function so I can leave it in my slow cooker for this step!
And here it is. Tender, juicy shredded chicken tossed in a mildly spicy, honey-sweetened sauce. Oh my. Knees, weak.
Pile it onto rolls with a touch of token greens (because, you know…I’m all about well rounded meals here! 😉 )…..
And if you really want to go all out, make some Blue Cheese Sauce for the blue cheese fans! (That’d be me, but I’d say my friends are split pretty evenly in the pro and anti blue-cheese camps. So I always serve blue cheese on the side!)
Oh boy, happy days.
You know that 2 seconds after I took this shot, there was an enormous BITE taken out of this, don’t you??
But more important than whether you’re in the Blue Cheese camp, which camp are you in for SUPER BOWL SUNDAY 2016??
a) Denver BRONCOS!
b) Carolina PANTHERS!
c) Neither. I just get excited about the food!
For disclosure purposes, I am c). 😉 – Nagi x
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Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
Buffalo Chicken
- 2 lb / 1 kg chicken breast , boneless skinless (3 large or 4 small)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup hot sauce of choice (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup (or Australian tomato sauce)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or onion powder)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves)
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch / corn flour
To serve
- 7 rolls
- Lettuce of choice (optional)
- Blue Cheese Sauce (optional – see recipe below)
Instructions
Buffalo Chicken
- Place chicken in one layer in slow cooker and sprinkle with garlic powder, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper. Add remaining Buffalo Chicken ingredients, mostly around the chicken rather than on top. Cook on LOW for 4 hours. (Note 2)
- Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred roughly with too forks.
- Toss in Sauce and keep warm.
Sauce
- Mix cornstarch with 2 tbsp water and add to Sauce (after chicken is removed). Simmer on sauté setting in slow cooker for 5 minutes, or until thickened to a syrup consistency (or transfer to saucepan and do this over medium heat).
- Adjust salt & spiciness to taste per Note 1.
To serve
- Split rolls in half and toast (if desired). Butter (if desired), then place lettuce on bottom half and top with chicken. Serve warm, with Blue Cheese Sauce if you’re a fan of blue cheese!
Recipe Notes:
PRESSURE COOKER: 30 minutes on high.
STOVE: Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer for 50 minutes to 1 hour (with lid), or until chicken is fork tender. 3. Nutrition for Buffalo Chicken Sliders (excluding blue cheese sauce), per serving assuming 8 servings.
Nutrition Information:
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Blue Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese , softened (I use gorgonzola)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (I usually use low fat)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 small garlic clove , minced
- 2 – 4 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Place blue cheese and sour cream in a bowl and mush with a fork, to taste. I like mine a bit chunky.
- Add remaining ingredients, using milk to adjust the consistency to your taste. I like it thick so it doesn’t run everywhere.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Absolutely delicious! I made it for a lunch gathering and everyone loved it. I didn’t have blue cheese to make the sauce so made the ranch sauce in your wingds book. So good! I also had shredded cabbage kale and carrot and used the samr quick pickle method in your caramelised Vietnamese pork recipe and it was all super tasty together on a roll! But very messy
Love hearing that Chantelle!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know – N x ❤️
Absolutely love your recipes! Could I use boneless chicken thighs for this?
Yes!
This was sooooo good. No chopping/slicing anything + flavour party in my mouth = heaven (for a lazy person like me haha)
And ME TOO!!!! 🙂 N xx
Made this last night so there will be food for when I go to Sydney tomorrow.
The mild version my husband loved and my daughter added sriracha to meet her heat needs.
4 thumbs up
You family is so lucky to have you Jenny! 🙂 Safe travels to Sydney, bit cold here today!
Hi Nagi,
I just reread the recipe and saw your photos that looked like the way I did it – all in and no pre mixing of the ingredients! I can’t wait for this to be done – our Christmas Eve easy peasy dinner! Merry Christmas!
Hi there! This may be a strange question – but you don’t mention adding the rest of the buffalo chicken ingredients (after the herbs have been added) as a sauce or separately? I added them separately and thought as I was doing it – perhaps this should have been mixed together…can you clarify for me please! Thank you so much.
Hi Melissa! In the steps it says “Add remaining Buffalo Chicken ingredients” 🙂 Hope that clarifies! N xx
I also found this confusing and had to read through it several times to understand what it meant. Maybe list the remaining ingredients for people who aren’t recipe savvy (cough-me!) thanks!
Served this up for tea tonight, I put the sauce in a jug as I wanted to check the kids liked it too, it was a massive thumbs up from everyone. Served on warm ciabatta rolls with a side of corn on the cob, coleslaw, potato salad and onion rings! It was a feast!! This is my go to website when I’m stuck for ideas!!
Thanks Clare! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for letting me know! N xx
Oh Nagi!! Was planning to make this for friends tonight but my supermarket is out of Franks hot sauce….I bought master foods mild chilli sauce instead but I am super nervous…should I scrap it and try make something else or give it a go with the wrong sauce base?! Ps…I’m a first time commenter but long time appreciator of recipetin eats!! Thank you for inspiring me to try new things and making delicious food seem easy to make for a nervous cook! Xo!
Hi Jane! The chilli sauce will work just fine 🙂 It might be slightly less spicy but the flavour will be very similar. Hope you enjoy and I ‘m glad you are enjoying my recipes, thank you for trying them! N x
It was a success!! Super delicious!! Can’t wait to try it again with the right hot sauce! Thank you for replying!! Xo!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jane! Thank you for letting me know – N xx
Hi Nagi! Yummm this looks amaze; I’m really looking forward to making this for dinner tomorrow. I’d like to make a big batch and freeze the leftover chicken – do you reckon it will freeze well?
Thanks heaps!
Hi Jess – yes, it freezes quite well! Hope you love it!
I made this recently and it is oh so good! Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Amanda! THANK YOU for coming back to let me know! N x
Ohhhh Nagi, soooo glad I stumbled upon your incredible web site! Every single recipe looks like something to dive (not a typo) for. Think I’ll start with the Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Chicken Sliders w/ Blue Cheese Sauce (not optional in my house). I have a large slow cooker and was wondering if I can double or even triple the recipe or if I should do it batches. I’m planning an open house party and want to make enough for a crowd. Also looking forward to making your wings and several other recipes for the party. Thank you for sharing not only your phenomenal recipes, but also your humor and fun approach to entertaining.
Thank you so much Linda!! Blue Cheese is not optional in MY house either 🙂 And yup, you sure can double or triple the recipe, you might need to cook the chicken for a wee bit longer, maybe 1 hour or so? I don’t think it will take much longer. 🙂 Hope you love it!!
I love you.
I followed the recipe 100% and woah… very very yum-ulescent! Made this for a group of guys for a get-together and they approved! A total do-over and over and over. Thanks for another goodie
What better validation can there be than a group of guys?? That’s exactly what I had in mind for this! ? So glad everyone enjoyed it, thanks so much Martina!! N x
What a great way to change up sliders.
Thanks so much Barbara! 🙂
These look awesome!! I love the flavours in buffalo wings, and these look so good!
Thanks Sarah!! N x
Nagi, is the tomato sauce the American or Australian type? Cheers.
Thank you for the very constructive question Pavi!! Australian tomato sauce, America ketchup. I’ve updated the recipe!! 🙂 N x
Made this yesterday, my son is still raving over it. He insisted thats what he is taking to school for lunch. Went all Guy Fieri on me; ‘the chicken is so tender and moist’……
BA HA HA!!! I love that!!! You crack me up!!! 🙂
Hey Nagi! Another great looking recipe, I’m trying it as I type. Question, I’m a fan of BBQ sauce but don’t like hot at all…can I omit the hot sauce or lessen it? I imagine it’s not much of a BBQ sauce without a kick but I’d like the teeniest kick I can get away with.
I happen to have Frank’s Original in house. Should I do the full 3/4 cup?
Thank you!
Hi Rebecca! The flavour base of this recipe is Frank’s or other hot sauce so if it’s omitted then it changes it quite drastically! However, I shared a Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe a few weeks ago and what you could do is pop the BBQ Sauce ingredients in the slow cooker with the chicken instead go the Buffalo Sauce in this recipe. Follow the same cooking directions and you’ll have BBQ Chicken Sliders instead of the spicy Buffalo Sauce!
Also if you have the nutritional information can you share?
I need to make a whole tub of this BBQ sauce! It’s so good!!
Oops, did I forget to put it in? Adding it now!
c) Neither – I just get excited about the food 😉
I can see you with that blue cheese sauce running down your chin, Nagi dear.
What a great selection of party food!
Let’s have our own non-game-day-party!!!
This recipe looks amazing! You make me so hungry! Great photography too!
Thanks Rika!!!
I would definitely be C.
These looks sensational! And in the slow cooker!!!! Yes!!!! It is so sticky and hot in WA today. We have gone into the 40’s and I am sat next to the fan longing for winter. The thought of cooking with any form of heat is putting me off food, but I can manage the slow cooker. I have some lentils in there at the moment but tomorrow I promise it will be filled with this chicken.
And if anyone wants to hold their blue cheese sauce…pass it my way, I’ll add extra to my roll!!! Any leftovers I could eat with potatoes….except they need eat to be cooked…hmmm I’ll just grab a spoon 😉
YUM!