Diet Coke Chicken (Slimming Friendly Crockpot BBQ Chicken)
, Updated Dec 03, 2025
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Looking for an easy slimming chicken recipe? This Diet Coke Chicken (a.k.a Cola Chicken / Crockpot BBQ chicken/ Shredded Chicken) is diet friendly, mega tasty and so easy to prepare in your slow cooker, Instant Pot or the stove. No one will ever suspect this pulled chicken is ‘diet food’ – that’s our little secret 😉
You will also love my Slimming Chicken Stroganoff
Dieters following the Slimming World plan can be easily perplexed by ‘food optimising’ and ‘syns’ at first. For the uninitiated, Slimming World involves eating a wide variety of ‘FREE” foods such as lean meat, fish, eggs, most fruit and vegetables and even pasta, potatoes and rice.
There’s no calorie counting and nothing is off limits, but some foods which slow down weight loss are given syn values (for ‘synergy’ not for ‘sin’!) and can only be consumed in moderation. Most members will rave about SW Cola Chicken as one of their favorite recipes – it’s a great low calorie meal that the whole family can enjoy.
Cooking with soft drinks is not new or limited to diet foods – check out my coke pulled pork recipe. The diet coke chicken recipe most people use tends to be quite watery and a bit bland for my taste. I have kept the main ingredients the same but tweaked the quantities to create a recipe that’s full of flavor and very versatile.
Cook whole chicken breasts in the slow cooker (or Instant Pot) until perfectly tender. Shred the chicken and mix into the sauce to create a BBQ pulled chicken that can be served in tacos, over rice, in jacket potatoes, with salad or in wraps. It’s great for office lunches and tastes even better as leftovers!
I love the crockpot version because it’s incredibly low effort – a dump and start recipe that’s ready in only 2-3 hours if cooked on the high setting. You can also cook this Diet Coke Chicken recipe on the stove using diced skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
Here’s What You’ll Need
- Lean chicken: chicken breasts or skinless chicken thighs. See tips for cooking with frozen chicken breasts.
- Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi are SYN FREE. You can also use full fat cola for only a handful of extra syns if you prefer or need to avoid aspartame.
- Large onion and garlic – either grated by hand or whizzed in a food processor until pulpy.
- Passata or smooth tomato sauce and tomato purée (or paste)
- Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce (use Tamari if you are avoiding gluten)
- Cider vinegar
- Sweetener (Sukrin Gold is my preferred sweetener) or brown sugar for 9 syns
- Salt, Garlic and onion granules, smoked paprika, chilli powder
- Green bell pepper – used for flavour in the slow cooker version then discarded
How to Make Diet Coke Chicken In the Slow Cooker
- Add the diet coke, minced onion, garlic, sweetener, cider vinegar, salt and spices, tomato purée, Worcestershire and soy sauce in the slow cooker. Mix together to combine.
- Add the chicken breasts nestling them in the sauce. Add a diced green pepper and smooth tomato sauce (passata) and turn the chicken over to coat in the sauce. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or LOW for 3-4 hours.
- Open the slow cooker and transfer the chicken breasts into a bowl.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken breasts. Mix the shredded chicken back into the sauce to coat. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste.
Serving Suggestions
My kids enjoy eating this shredded chicken on tacos or in wraps topped with grated cheese, diced onions and sour cream.
I like to serve this pulled chicken as a ‘protein bowl’, with brown rice, black beans, shredded lettuce, sugarsnap peas and tomatoes. I sometimes allow myself some sliced avocado too. Serve over cauliflower rice, mashed swede or with salad for an Extra Easy SP option.
Stovetop Instructions
- Combine diet coke, minced onion, garlic, sweetener, cider vinegar, salt and spices, tomato purée, passata, Worcestershire and soy sauce to a deep pan and stir together to combine.
- Add the chicken and bring to a rolling simmer. Reduce the heat and cook on a low simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the pan gets a bit dry then add a little hot water.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add all the ingredients apart from the chicken, pepper and passata in the instant pot and stir to combine. Add the chicken and pepper nestling them in the sauce. Pour in the passata, do not stir. Cook for 15 minutes on High Pressure, allow for 5 minutes natural release then release steam manually.
- Discard the pepper. Remove and shred the chicken then add back in the sauce. If the sauce needs reducing then cook on Sauté until it has thickened to your liking.
Diet Coke Chicken FAQs
The best way to check chicken is cooked properly is to test internal temperature with a digital thermometer. Cook until the chicken reaches 75C/165F on a digital thermometer.
This recipe can be made with frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and pressure cooker. In a slow cooker, add the chicken in the sauce and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 4. You don’t have to make any adjustments to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot, it will simply take longer for the machine to come to pressure.
You can make a diet coke pork version by using pork shoulder steaks trimmed of all visible fat. Pork is not as lean as chicken, even with fat removed. If you really want to remove most of the fat, cool the pork and then chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Any fat will solidify and you can skim it off.
Please leave a comment and rate the recipe, it really helps others find it and gives me great feedback for future tweaks. Don’t forget to share your photos and tag me on tag me on @Instagram or TikTok – I LOVE seeing what you’re cooking.
Diet Coke Chicken (a.k.a Cola Chicken / Crockpot BBQ chicken)
Video
Ingredients
- 6 large chicken breasts or 8 skinless chicken thighs
- ½ cup (125ml) Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi
- 1 large onion , finely grated or whizzed in a food processor until pulpy
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 4 tbsp tomato purée (or paste)
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp granulated sweetener Sukrin Gold
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion granules
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 green bell pepper roughy chopped
- ½ up (120g) smooth tomato sauce (passata)
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
Slow Cooker Method
- Add the diet coke, minced onion, garlic, sweetener, cider vinegar, salt and spices, tomato purée, Worcestershire and soy sauce in the slow cooker. Mix together to combine.½ cup (125ml) Diet Coke, 1 large onion, 2 cloves garlic , 4 tbsp tomato purée, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp granulated sweetener , 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion granules, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp chilli powder
- Add the chicken breasts nestling them in the sauce.6 large chicken breasts
- Add a diced green pepper and passata and turn the chicken over to coat in the sauce. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or LOW for 3-4 hours.1 green bell pepper roughy chopped, ½ up (120g) smooth tomato sauce
- Transfer the chicken into a bowl and use two forks to shred.
- Mix the shredded chicken back into the sauce to coat. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste.Salt and pepper to season
- Serve over rice with plenty of vegetables, in tacos or wraps, with salad or in lettuce boats.
- Stovetop Method
- Used diced chicken for the stovetop version, do not shred. Add the diet coke, minced onion, garlic, sweetener, cider vinegar, salt and spices, tomato purée, passata, Worcestershire and soy sauce to a deep pan and stir together to combine.
- Add the diced chicken and bring to a rolling simmer. Reduce the heat and cook on a low simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the pan gets a bit dry then add a little hot water.
- Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with your choice of sides.
Instant Pot Method
- Add the diet coke, minced onion, garlic, sweetener, cider vinegar, salt and spices, tomato purée, Worcestershire and soy sauce in the Instant Pot. Mix together to combine.
- Add the chicken breasts and diced pepper nestling them in the sauce. Pour in the passata, do not stir.
- Cook for 15 minutes on High Pressure, allow for 5 minutes natural release then release steam manually.
- Remove and shred the chicken then add back in the sauce. If the sauce needs reducing then cook on Sauté until it has thickened to your liking.
Notes
- The best way to check chicken is cooked properly is to test internal temperature with a digital thermometer. Cook until the chicken reaches 75C/165F on a digital thermometer.
- Can I use frozen chicken breasts? This diet coke chicken can be made with frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and pressure cooker. In a slow cooker, add the chicken in the sauce and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 4. You don’t have to make any adjustments to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot, it will simply take longer for the machine to come to pressure.
- You can make a diet coke pork version by using pork shoulder steaks trimmed of all visible fat. Pork is not as lean as chicken, even with fat removed. If you really want to remove most of the fat, cool the pork and then chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Any fat will solidify and you can skim it off.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
Why does it say discard pepper?
Sorry Jane that must be a mistake – ignore
So good! I’m planning to add this to my meal plan next week as it’s such a versatile recipe.
Pinning this for later! Looks like such a fun, delicious and easy recipe!
I am really loving the flavor of this but what tip I love the most is that I can make this from frozen chicken breast! Perfect for when I need to throw something in and go!
Woah, this looks amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
Love how healthy this is!
This cola chicken looks absolutely delicious and so easy to make! Saving it for later!
I know you will love it Julia xxx