Pulled Chicken Baked Sliders

My shoddy photo really doesn’t do justice to Pulled Chicken Baked Sliders from Pinch of Nom. The BBQ chicken, melted cheese in a bun combo transports you into an American diner with the added bonus that this costs less than £1 per head to make. The only thing missing is the fries on the side!

The recipe below is for 9 people (yes, 9), but just scale down accordingly depending on how many you are feeding. There is a long list of ingredients and, although it tastes good, the effort required to make this recipe is disproportionate unless you’ve got copious amounts of time on your hands. From start to finish, this took me about 2 hours, which is way too long to knock together a leisurely weekend lunch.

There are some fabulous recipes in Pinch of Nom’s new book – Quick and Easy. But rather like crispy chili beef (which I featured on this blog last week), some of the prep times are way too ambitious. If you just want a no-faff sandwich or wrap, click here for some ideas.

Recipe: Pulled Chicken Baked Sliders

Calories: 296 per serving

Serves: 9

Book: Pinch of Nom – Quick and Easy

Prep time: Approx 30 mins

Cooking time: Approx 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 skinless chicken breasts (about 140g each)
• 30g BBQ seasoning
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 onion (peeled and chopped)
• 1 red pepper (deseeded and chopped)
• ½ red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped)
• 3 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 400ml chicken stock (1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 400ml boiling water)
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper
• 9 x 60g wholemeal bread rolls
• 9 reduced-fat processed cheese slices
• 20g reduced-fat spread
• Small sprig of parsley (chopped)

To accompany:

• 75g mixed salad

Cost per portion: Approx £0.88

Method:

Coat the chicken with BBQ seasoning in a bowl.

Spray a large frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray, place over a medium heat, add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Put the chicken to one side.

If needed, spray the pan with more low-calorie cooking spray, then fry the onion, pepper, chilli, and two-thirds of the garlic for 10 minutes or until soft. Add the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and vinegar, and stir. Add the paprika, black pepper, thyme and chicken stock, and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Place the chicken back in the pan and cook uncovered over a medium heat for 40-50 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the sauce. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C / Fan 180 degrees C / gas mark 6. Leave the sauce on the heat and pull the chicken apart using two forks. Reduce the sauce by half, then remove from the heat and gently mix in the pulled chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the bottom half of the wholemeal rolls on an oven tray and top with the pulled chicken mixture. Add the reduced-fat cheese slices and replace the tops of the rolls.

In a microwavable bowl, microwave the reduced-fat spread until just melted, then stir in the remaining garlic and parsley. Brush this mixture over the tops of the rolls evenly. Place the tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, covering with tin foil to stop the rolls colouring too much. Serve.