Saucy BBQ Chicken and Cheddar Sandwiches

These are SO GOOD. We all really liked these - a LOT. They were easy and really tasty for a weeknight dinner.

I found this recipe at Recipe Shoebox and didn't change too much; we used regular buns instead of onion rolls and cooked the chicken a little differently but otherwise followed the original instructions. I had two chicken breast halves with bone, so I cooked mine for a lot longer until they were very tender and the bone just pulled right off (probably about 30 minutes total). They were already flavorful from simmering in the barbecue sauce that whole time, but then after I cut the meat up, I threw it back in the barbecue to get it extra saucy and that worked really well. I didn't use quite as much cheese as the recipe called for, and next time I'd just use a thin slice of cheddar instead of shredded since it's a lot easier to work with.

The ingredients: chicken, BBQ sauce, salt
and pepper, bacon, cheese, and buns.

Bacon, getting crispy!

Getting the chicken browned in the bacon grease.

Adding BBQ sauce, water and some seasoning.

Slicing up the tender cooked chicken.

Adding the sliced chicken back to the sauce.

Sandwiches on a baking sheet.

The final product, ready to enjoy!

Saucy BBQ Chicken and Cheddar Sandwiches


Ingredients
4 strips bacon, halved crosswise
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 lbs)
salt and pepper
1 cup favorite BBQ sauce
1/4 cup water
4 large rolls, split (we used whole wheat hamburger buns)
4 slices of cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
2. Fry bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 4 minutes.  
3. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.  
4. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  
5. Cook chicken in bacon fat until browned on one side, about 4 minutes.  
6. Flip chicken and add barbecue sauce, and water.
7. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. (Cook until completely tender and easily shredded.)
8. Remove chicken from skillet and slice into bite size pieces. Return sliced chicken to barbecue sauce and toss.
9. Arrange rolls cut side up on baking sheet.  Divide chicken among bottom haves of rolls and top with cheese and bacon.
10. Bake open-faced sandwiches in oven until cheese melts and rolls are golden brown, about 4 minutes.  Top each sandwich with toasted roll top.
11. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 sandwiches