Recipe for slow cooker coffee-chipotle pulled chicken roll-ups
Until I moved to Rhode Island, I'd never heard of coffee syrup. (It's like Hershey's chocolate syrup, except made from coffee. If that helps.) The state drink, coffee milk, combines coffee syrup with, well, milk, and the favorite iced treat, a coffee cabinet, is a milkshake made with coffee ice cream and coffee syrup. Sweet, sweet, sweet. When I met up with my friend Jen of Savor the Thyme at Dave's Coffee, in the opposite end of the state, I bought a bottle of their all-natural coffee syrup, and couldn't resist experimenting with some savory recipes. I packed this slow cooker coffee-chipotle pulled chicken into a piece of oat-bran lavash bread with some lettuce and this smoky spicy cole slaw. That's a lot of Rhode Island goodness rolled up into one great sandwich. Not to worry: you can make this in your own kitchen even if you don't have our coffee syrup. Or you can come to my kitchen and I'll make it for you.
Slow cooker coffee-chipotle pulled chicken roll-ups
From the pantry, you'll need: chipotle pepper in adobo, rice vinegar, hot sauce, chili powder, kosher salt, molasses, instant espresso.
Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
2-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
1/2 cup coffee syrup (I like Dave's), or 1/4 cup molasses + 1/4 cup brewed instant espresso
1/2 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped (approx. 1 Tbsp)
2 tsp rice vinegar
3-4 drops hot sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder (I like Penzeys Chili 3000)
1/8 tsp kosher salt
For the roll-ups:
4 oat-bran or whole wheat lavash breads or tortillas
4 romaine lettuce leaves
Your favorite cole slaw (or this smoky spicy cole slaw)
Directions
Trim the chicken pieces, and add them to a 3-quart slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, and pour over the chicken.
Cook on HIGH for 2-1/2 hours, stirring once. Then, uncover the slow cooker, and continue to cook for 1 hour.
When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the slow cooker into a large bowl. Shred the chicken with 2 forks. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
Roll the shredded chicken into a tortilla or lavash bread with lettuce and your favorite cole slaw.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Slow cooker hoisin chicken and slaw sandwiches
Pakistani "old clothes" beef curry (nihari) in the slow cooker
Southwestern spicy pulled pork
Slow cooker tomatillo chicken and black bean tacos
Slow cooker Middle Eastern garlic chicken
Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Easiest tiramisu, from Eat Boutique
Mocha chip pancakes with espresso syrup, from Rachel Cooks
Slow cooker pulled chicken with chipotle barbecue sauce, from Elly Says Opa!
Crock pot Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps, from Skinnytaste
Slow cooker chicken tostadas, from Taste and Tell
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OK, I'll be there for lunch. Not only have you got me intrigued by the idea of coffee in savory dishes, but I'm dying to try a coffee cabinet.
I'm not a coffee fan, but I would never turn down this dish if you served it to me. It looks lovely, and I'm curious to poke around here and see if coffee syrup is available outside of RI.
Thanks!
What a fun recipe. I haven't heard of coffee syrup either, but I am imagining the delicious flavor it would add to this chicken.
Coffee cabinets were a staple of my childhood. I'm intrigued by what you've done with the syrup in this recipe. Definitely sounds like something we'd enjoy.
TW, no doubt about it, this state loves coffee!
Kirsten, the coffee taste does not overwhelm in this dish. You can purchase coffee syrup on Amazon.com.
Kalyn, coffee syrup is a very local thing, I think. We have several companies in Rhode Island that make it, but Dave's is my favorite because it's all natural.
Patty, not to take anything away from our fabulous coffee cabinets! I've recently started to branch out with coffee syrup and try some more savory dishes. Hope you like them.
Oh Lydia--these look and sound so so tasty.
Coffee syrup is very popular around these parts.
Have you ried baking with those Starbuck Via's?
I love those.
Vanillasugar, I'm not much of a baker, as you know, but baking with coffee concentrate would appeal to me. We're lucky to have coffee syrup around here, and Dave's now makes coffee syrup in a mocha flavor -- have you tried it?
I am always drawn to coffee rubs and the such on meats - so I bet this would be delicious.
Carol, this dish has a subtle coffee undertone but not so much that it screams "coffee", so I'll bet you would like it.
I have an espresso infused balsamic vinegar that might also just do the trick...
Such a great idea! I created a whole cookbook of recipes with coffee but it never occurred to me to use it with pulled chicken. It makes good sense since coffee is great in BBQ sauce.
Janis, I'll bet that would taste lovely.
Amy, hope you give this recipe a try. For a coffee lover, it's heavenly.
You know, they sell something over here in England called Camp Coffee. I have a bottle because it's used to make coffee-flavoured frostings and that sort of thing, but I think it must be similar to the coffee syrup popular in RI. I may have to dust that bottle off and give it a try in this recipe!
Janet, please let me know if that works; I've heard of Camp Coffee but never tasted it.
This sounds really delicious and something new to try. Thank you for sharing this.