Honey Chipotle Chicken Sliders are the ideal way to spice up your slider game. Chicken thighs in a bold honey chipotle sauce are quickly cooked to perfection in an Instant Pot. Once shredded, the chicken thighs are served on buttery toasted buns with layers of creamy chipotle aioli, crisp romaine, and tangy pickled red onions.
Whether you're hosting a party or just craving something different, these sliders pack serious flavor in every bite.
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Recipe at a Glance
- Ready In: 40 minutes
-
Ingredients: Chicken thighs, chicken broth, Chipotles in Adobo sauce, spices, and slider buns
- Serves: 12 sliders
- Difficulty: Easy
- Make-Ahead Friendly: Make the chicken in advance; assemble when ready to serve
Why You Should Make This Recipe
- Flavorful: Sweet, smoky, spicy, and tangy come together for one amazing bite.
- Quick and Easy: The Instant Pot does the heavy lifting in this recipe.
- Versatile: Whether made for a casual lunch, festive party, or game day celebration, these sliders check all the boxes.
- Make-ahead Friendly: Prep the chicken in advance for stress-free sliders.
Ingredients - Here's What You'll Need for the Honey Chipotle Chicken
Here's How to Make the Honey Chipotle Chicken
Making the Honey Chipotle Chicken is quick and easy with the Instant Pot doing most of the work.
- Make the Sauce: Start by adding the chicken broth, honey, adobo sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cumin, and chipotles to the Instant Pot. Whisk to combine the ingredients.
- Cook the Chicken: Add the boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cook for 13 minutes at high pressure. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, and then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Reduce the Sauce: Remove the chicken. Use the sauté mode to reduce the sauce for about 8 minutes, until it is slightly thickened.
- Shred and Combine: Shred the chicken with two forks and return it to the reduced sauce.
Here's How to Make the Sliders
- Gather Ingredients: You'll need slider buns that have been buttered and lightly toasted, Chipotle Aioli, lettuce, shredded Honey Chipotle Chicken, and pickled red onions.
- Chipotle Aioli: Spread about a teaspoon of Chipotle Aioli on the bottom and top buns.
- Lettuce and Chicken: Place a piece of lettuce on the bottom bun and top with about ¼ cup of the shredded Honey Chipotle Chicken.
- Pickled Red Onions: Add pickled red onions and the top slider bun.
These Honey Chipotle Chicken Sliders are small but mighty! With layers of flavor and a mouthwatering balance of spicy, sweet, and tangy, they're sure to become a favorite.
Whether for a party, potluck, game day, or weeknight dinner, this easy and versatile slider recipe delivers every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
No Instant Pot? No problem! You can make the chicken in a pressure cooker. You can also cook the chicken in a slow cooker, setting it to high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours. Finally, you can cook the chicken in a Dutch oven in the oven - 4 hours at 250°F or 3 hours at 300°F.
Yes, you can use chicken breasts. They won't be as juicy as chicken thighs.
For spicier chicken, use more chipotle peppers, or leave the seeds and veins intact. For milder chicken, use fewer chipotle peppers.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs tend to have a fair amount of fat. Trim as much of this fat as possible to minimize greasy chicken. You could end up trimming up to a half a pound of fat.
- Sometimes, I'll substitute coleslaw for the romaine for crunch and creaminess.
- Swap Chipotle aioli with regular mayonnaise or crema for a milder flavor.
- The chicken is amazing on its own. For variety, use it for quesadillas, tacos, burritos, bowls, and more.
Other Slider Recipes
If you're a fan of sliders, check out these delicious recipes.
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Instant Pot Honey Chipotle Chicken Sliders
Equipment
- Instant Pot (See Tip 1)
Ingredients
Honey Chipotle Chicken
- ½ cup (4 ounces) chicken broth
- 3 Tablespoons (2.2 ounces) honey
- 2 Tablespoons Adobo sauce (See Tip 2)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 canned chipotles in adobo, seeds removed and finely chopped (See Tips 2 and 3)
- 1 ½ pounds (24 ounces) boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat (See Tip 4)
Sliders
- 12 Slider buns
- ½ cup Chipotle Aioli
- 12 pieces of Romaine lettuce
- Honey Chipotle Chicken (from above)
- Pickled red onions
Instructions
- Add chicken broth, honey, Adobo sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cumin, and chopped adobo chipotles to the Instant Pot. Whisk to combine.
- Add the chicken thighs, spreading into an even layer. Cover and set the steam valve to the closed position. Cook on high pressure for 13 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. Remove the lid.
- Remove the chicken to a quarter-sheet pan or cutting board and shred it with two forks.
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté for 8 to 10 minutes to reduce the sauce. Return the shredded chicken to the Instant Pot; stir to combine.
Sliders
- Spread butter on both sides of the slider buns and lightly toast.
- Assemble the sliders as follows: Bottom slider bun, 1 teaspoon Chipotle Aioli, piece of lettuce, ¼ cup of shredded chicken, pickled red onions, top slider bun spread with 1 teaspoon of Chipotle Aioli.
- Yield: 12 Sliders.
Video
Tips/Notes
- If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can use a pressure cooker. Alternatively, the chicken can be cooked in a slow cooker on high for 3 to 3 ½ hours, or low for 5 to 6 hours. You can also cook the chicken in a Dutch oven in the oven for 4 hours at 250°F or 3 hours at 300°F.
- Rather than purchasing the chipotles in adobo and adobo sauce separately, I use a single can of chipotles in adobo. After removing the peppers I want to use, I discard the remaining peppers. This leaves enough of the adobo sauce to add to the remaining ingredients.
- I like to remove the seeds from the chipotles before chopping them to help control the spiciness. If you want more heat, don't remove the seeds or add additional chipotles.
- Invariably, the skinless, boneless chicken thighs that I purchase contain a lot of fat, which I remove. For this recipe, I purchased about 2 pounds of the boneless, skinless chicken thighs to end up with 1 ½ pounds trimmed of fat.
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