It’s blueberry season in Vermont, and my freezer is not big enough. It happens every year. I go blueberry picking (only a couple of quarts I tell myself, don’t go overboard..) and then two hours later, I’m emerging from my purple-haze with flats and flats of blueberries in tow. Blueberries will find their way into almost everything I make for the next couple of weeks–it’s a lucky thing they’re so darn good for you!
This recipe (the second in my blueberry mini-series) is one of my favorite ways to use blueberries in a savory dish. It’s an easy, spicy BBQ sauce that you can make quickly, all in one pot. Serve it with pulled chicken or pork, or spread it on a big, sloppy turkey sandwich, layered with coleslaw and pickles. So good.
Spicy Blueberry BBQ Pulled Chicken
Author: Lisa Cassell-Arms
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- Spicy Blueberry BBQ Sauce (makes about 2 cups of BBQ sauce)
- 2 cups blueberries
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- Dash (or more as you like) cayenne pepper
- Pulled Chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, a mixture of thighs and breasts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- Make the spicy blueberry BBQ sauce:
- Combine all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low and simmer, until blueberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Make the pulled chicken:
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, paprika, mustard, salt and pepper and sauté for another couple of minutes until soft and fragrant.
- Add the chicken and about 1½ cups of the Blueberry BBQ sauce and combine well. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Place the pot in the oven and bake, covered for about and hour and a half, until the chicken is super tender.
- Remove the chicken to a board and shred using two forks.
- Place the pot with sauce back on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the sauce until reduced by almost half.
- Add the pulled chicken back into the pot and mix with the sauce.
- Serve the pulled chicken on a roll and drizzle with reserved blueberry BBQ sauce.
