Shredded Chicken Sandwiches with Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce

I love to make my own BBQ sauce.  You can make it sweet, tangy, spicy, whatever. Most importantly, you KNOW what’s in there.
I’ve made several different kinds of barbecue sauces.  All sorts of ways.

This one is a bit different.

It’s made with Dr. Pepper.
Pop isn’t healthy. I know this.  This is why I stopped drinking it. Yup. Cold turkey. Stopped.  I don’t let my kids drink it either, unless they are at a party or something. 
Dr. Pepper USED to be one of my favorites.

But when I saw this recipe, it looked so intriguing, I just HAD to try it.  So forgive me, but I used Dr. Pepper in this. Get over it and try it, it’s really good.  It was quite sweet but that’s okay.  Go easier on the honey if you want.    
You don’ taste Dr. Pepper.  If I didn’t tell you that there was Dr. Pepper in this, you wouldn’t know. Seriously.  That’s what I thought was so intriguing about it!

I’ve seen a recipe with barbecue sauce made with rootbeer too!  Shhh. Don’t tell the Dr. Pepper.
We ate this meal on Arnold Select Sandwich Thins for dinner.  We also had some delicious roasted cauliflower. The next couple of days, I ate it on tortillas like a wrap. Very tasty!
Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Adapted from Simply Recipes
1 cups minced onion
1 tbsp. oil
3 cups Dr. Pepper (I used diet)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup orange juice
1 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in pan. Add onions and saute for 5 – 6 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Pour the sauce carefully into a blender and puree until smooth.  It’s best to work in batches and don’t fill the blender more than 1/3 full. 

Put the sauce into pan and simmer, uncovered for 1 – 2 hours.  Stirring occasionally. Yield 4 1/2 cups.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Boneless chicken breasts (I had 2 – 20 oz. packages)

Cook chicken until done and shred.  Add BBQ sauce and mix together. I used 2 1/2 cups of this BBQ sauce and I froze the other 2 cups of sauce.
 
2 Chicken Sandwiches + Roasted Cauliflower  = Very Tasty Meal!


Check out Debbi Does Dinner Healthy for more (mostly) healthy recipes!
Chris

I’ll have to try this one, I was thinking about smoking a few chickens today or tomorrow and use some of it for pulled chicken. It sounds like a good sauce.