Ingredients
- 4 pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Barbecue sauce of choice
- Hot chicken broth
Directions
- Slice chicken breast or thighs into strips, about 3 inches long by 1 inch wide.
- Mix together onion powder, salt (to taste), and pepper, and lightly coat chicken in seasonings.
- Sauté with olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Pack chicken into jars, allowing 11⁄4 inches headspace.
- Add 4 tablespoons barbecue sauce to each quart, or 2 tablespoons to each pint.
- Add hot chicken broth, allowing 1 1/4 inches headspace.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart jar, or 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint jar.
- Remove bubbles and process at 11 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes for quarts, or 75 minutes for pints.
- To serve hot:pour contents into a saucepan, shred meat, and heat until bubbly. Add more barbecue sauce if desired. Serve on rolls with homemade potato chips.
- To serve cold: Drain liquid and shred meat. Add more sauce if desired, and serve on a salad, bread, or baked potato.
This easy Canned BBQ Chicken works great for quick meals, whether served hot as sandwiches or cold on a salad or baked potato.
There are five recipes in this series, be sure to follow the links for the others: 16-Bean Chili, Chicken Pot Pies in a Jar, Roasted Squash Soup with Bacon, and Hamburger and Potato Soup.
General Instructions When Making Canned BBQ Chicken
- Carefully read the manual for your pressure canner.
- You can reuse rings and jars, but don’t reuse lids.
After pressure canning, remove the jars (which will still be hot) and place them on a towel to finish cooling. This can take from 12 to 24 hours. Once at room temperature, remove the rings, finger-test the seals to make sure they’re tight, and eat anything that hasn’t sealed immediately. The rest can be stored in a dark, cool place for up to a year.
Tips and Safety When Making Canned BBQ Chicken
With each canning recipe, keep a few things in mind. When filling your jars, fill them evenly with solids, and add liquid to the required headspace. (Headspace is the distance between the surface of the food and the underside of the lid.) Don’t mash or purée foods that’ll be canned. Gently place the food in jars. Add very hot liquid (boiling or having just been boiled) after your solids. Broth or hot water will work. Remove bubbles from the jar with your utensil before topping with lids and rings. Don’t add too many spices or spices that tend to become bitter (such as sage) before canning; you can always add those when you’re reheating meals. Before adding the lids, wipe the rims with a vinegar-dampened cloth to remove grease. Place the hot lids on top, and finger-tighten the rings. Then, put jars on the rack inside the hot canner with the vent port off, tighten down the lid, and turn the heat to high. Allow steam to escape from the port for 10 minutes before you replace the weighted gauge. Wait for the canner to come to the recommended pressure before you start timing and pressurizing.
Read the manual for your pressure canner. It’ll give you the pressure and time requirements based on your canner and altitude.
Jenny Underwood is a home-schooling mama to four lively blessings. She makes her home in the rural foothills of the Ozark Mountains with her husband of 20 years. You can find her reading a good book, drinking coffee, and gardening on their small fifth-generation homestead. She blogs at www.InconvenientFamily.com.
