This Coke Zero Pulled Chicken BBQ Sliders Recipe will surely be a hit with your whole family! I love that there are sports year-round for us to make fantastic food to enjoy while watching the games! Now you don’t ned basketball as a reason to make these but it sure doesn’t hurt!
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Like any busy mom, I have limited time to prep and cook the food, so my favorite appliance is — of course––my slow cooker! My kids, they tend to get in a food rut with their favorites, so we make sure to change up their favorite dishes often.
Coke Zero Basketball Chicken BBQ Sliders Ingredients:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Coke Zero– You can also use regular Coca-Cola, root beer, or dr pepper.
- BBQ Sauce– I used honey bbq sauce, but any variety of bbq sauce will work in this recipe.
How to make Coke Zero Basketball Chicken BBQ Sliders:
Spray your slow cooker with a nonstick spray, or line with a slow cooker liner, I did use my 8-quart Crock Pot to make our bbq chicken.
Crockpot LinersNonstick Sprays
Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and cover with minced garlic. I like to spread mine on like a paste.

Pour in the Coke Zero, and be sure to base the amount of Coke Zero on the amount of chicken you use. You want to ensure you are covering the bottom of the slow cooker with liquid to keep the meat nice and moist.
Cover your slow cooker with the lid and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Use a meat thermometer to verify that your meat has reached a safe internal temperature of 165° F. Once you have confirmed that your chicken is finished cooking, carefully remove the meat from the slow cooker.

You can place the chicken on a plate to shred using two forks or gloves to pull the meat into shreds. My favorite option is to use a Kitchen Aid mixer with a paddle on low to shred the chicken slowly. This method beats burning your hands trying to shred the chicken, and it takes next to no time to get it done.
Once the meat is shredded, mix it into a bowl with BBQ sauce. You can add your sauce to the bowl and mix with a fork or your hands, ensuring the sauce is distributed well. You can also pour a bit more Coke Zero to give the meat more flavor.
Now you are ready to scoop and serve!

Basketball Bun Ingredients:
- Slider Buns
- Yellow Food Coloring
- Red Food Coloring
- Pastry Brush
- Food Pen-We used a candy pen to dry the slider buns.
How To Make Basketball Bun:
Mix yellow and red food coloring to make orange for the bun.
Be sure to put on gloves, or it will dye your hands like it did mine!
Use a pastry brush to coat the bun with orange food coloring lightly.
Allow the buns about 5 minutes to dry.
Use the food pen to draw on basketball lines.
*Draw slowly my food pen, tore the buns a bit*

Place the pulled bbq chicken onto your basketball buns.
You can use other buns, but my kids just love the slider buns! They are the perfect size for their smaller hands. Serve with your favorite side dish!!

RECIPES USING COCA-COLA
- Coca-Cola BBQ Grilled Wings
- Coke Zero BBQ Crock Pot Chicken
- Pulled Coca-Cola Pulled Pork Sandwiches
- Coke Zero BBQ Crock Pot Wings
- Coca-Cola Butt BBQ Chicken
- Crock Pot Coca-Cola Ham
- Brine With Coca-Cola
- Coca-Cola Slow Cooker BBQ Kielbasa
- Coca-Cola Slow Cooker Ribs
- Coke Zero BBQ Chicken Sliders
How To Store Leftover BBQ Pulled Chicken
Store in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to five days. You can freeze this in the freezer for up to six months in an air-tight container.
What To Serve With BBQ Chicken Sliders
Any side will go with these, but these are some of my favorite dishes with bbq chicken sliders.
- Tater Tots
- Crockpot Loaded Baked Beans
- Coleslaw
- Potato Salad
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Macaroni And Cheese
- Grilled Corn on the Cob

Coke Zero Basketball Chicken BBQ Sliders
These Slow Cooker Coca Cola Pulled Pork BBQ Sliders are perfect for tailgating! Easy to make in the crockpot and full of flavor to make the whole crowd happy!
Ingredients
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 16 Ounces Coke Zero
- 1 Bottle BBQ Sauce
- Minced Garlic
Basketball Bun Ingredients
Instructions
-
Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and cover with minced garlic. I like to spread mine on like a paste.
-
Pour in the Coke Zero, be sure to base Coke Zero on the amount of chicken you use. You want to make sure you are covering the bottom of the slow cooker with liquid to keep the meat nice and moist.
-
Cover your slow cooker with the lid and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
-
Use a meat thermometer to verify that your meat has reached a safe internal temperature of 160° F. Once you have verified that your chicken is finished cooking, carefully remove the meat from the slow cooker.
-
You can either place the chicken on a plate to shred using two forks or use gloves to pull the meat into shreds. My favorite option is to use a kitchen mixer with a paddle on low to slowly shred the chicken.
-
Once the meat is shredded, place it into a bowl and mix with BBQ sauce. You can add your sauce to the bowl and mix with a fork or your hands, ensuring the sauce is distributed well. If you want, you can also pour in a bit more Coke Zero to give the meat more flavor.
-
Now you are ready to scoop and serve!
Basketball Bun Directions
-
Mix together yellow and red food coloring to make an orange.
-
Be sure to put on gloves or it will dye your hands!
-
Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the bun with orange food coloring. Allow the buns about 5 minutes to dry. Use a food pen to draw on basketball lines
-
Place the pulled chicken onto your basketball buns. You can use other buns, but my kids just love the slider buns! They are the perfect size for their smaller hands.
Mondelēz International and Coca-Cola are Corporate Champion and Partners of the NCAA. NCAA and Taste the Madness are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. © Mondelēz International group © Coca-Cola Zero is a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company.
donald says
loved this article nice photos makes me want one
Kathleen says
This looks like a lot of fun. A bit outside my diet but it would be great for that special game.
Sherry says
These looks soooo good! I’ve made a few things with coke but not with coke zero. I’m sure they taste as good as they look.
Kristina and Millie says
ohhh love bbq and using the crockpot is perfect! Hubby will grill out year round if the weather is nice but this would be great for those off days! Thanks for the coke zero bbq recipe!
Laurie says
Jenny, Looking so forward to trying your recipe! It really looks great and perfect for a gathering too. Thanks for sharing!
~Laurie
Sabine says
I absolutely love these colorful food! I’m sure that having food should be for fun. 🙂
Beverly says
These sliders look great and what a unique flavor combination. Sounds delicious!
Wendy says
What a FUN meal! One can never go wrong with BBQ and Oreos! 🙂 Thanks for sharing that you don’t add the bbq sauce to the crockpot — I always do, and it is always watering. Now I know…!
Lisa says
I love how the buns came out! I’ve never seen anything like that before. You’re so creative!!!
Sandra Garth says
The Oreo dunk was a really good idea as was the painted buns. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe. This looks like it was a really fun shop!
Amberjane says
Looks very tasty –
chellie says
Very creative!
Erlene says
Great idea to color the buns. Such a unique way to make a fun themed meal.
Sally says
These look great. I’ve tried to make diet coke chicken in a pan before but it didn’t have much taste. I’ll have to try it in the slow cooker now I’ve seen this.
Sally
Lauren @ Oh Hey! I Like That! says
These sandwiches look amazing! Definitely pinning this recipe for later!
AJ says
Hi Jenny!
At first I thought you were going to put the oreos into the bbq sliders! 🙂 That’s fun that you made the buns into basketballs-how creative!
Cheers,
AJ