A Nutritionist's Favorite Low-Carb BBQ Chicken Recipe
It's perfect if you have diabetes or try to avoid sugar.

Want to enjoy the finger-licking goodness of BBQ chicken, but not a fan of all that sugar in your favorite bottle of BBQ sauce?
This sweet and zesty condiment makes almost any food better, but it’s also pretty sweet, and not in a good way. Some popular brands have more than 15 grams of sugar per serving! That means you may unknowingly consume way more sugar than you intended—and during a savory dinner, not even for dessert! (Here are more sneaky condiments to watch out for.)
If you’re treating insulin resistance or following a diabetic diet, the sugar in BBQ sauce is something you need to pay attention to, since it can cause an unexpected blood sugar spike you might not be prepared for.
In this episode of Diabetes Bites, nutritionist Fiorella DiCarlo, RD, whips up a diabetes-friendly BBQ chicken that uses a low-carb, homemade BBQ sauce that imitates the traditional grilling favorite with way less sugar. But actually, you won’t even need a grill: Fiorella makes this in a slow cooker, so you can enjoy this recipe all year round.
This low-sugar BBQ chicken recipe uses dark meat like drumsticks or thighs since these are juicier. Although the chicken breast is usually recommended because it’s lower in fat, dark meat has tons of protein along with iron and vitamin B12. For people managing diabetes, increasing protein intake is beneficial since it helps you stay full while you’re cutting back on carbs. (Here are more foods nutritionists recommend to treat diabetes.) That said, you can totally swap in chicken breast if that’s your jam.
Then round out your plate with some seasonal grilled vegetables, and you’ve got a perfect diabetes-friendly dinner.
Ingredients
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons jalapeno pepper jelly
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar substitute
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 8 -10 chicken thigh and/or drumsticks, skinned (2 to 2-1/2 pounds)
Instructions
Using a 4-quart slow cooker, combine tomato sauce, jelly, lime or lemon juice, tapioca, brown sugar, cumin, and red pepper. Blend thoroughly. Sit the chicken pieces on top of the sauce mixture in slow cooker, flipping pieces a few times to coat. Cook on high heat for 3.5 hours, or low-heat for 7 hours. Serve alone, or with a side of veggies, a salad, or a slice of 100% whole wheat bread.Nutrition Information
Nutrition Information Based on a Single Serving
*Percent Daily Value are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Dietary Needs




Carbohydrate

Fiorella DiCarlo is a registered dietitian in New York City.
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[MUSIC]
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We are making savory
barbecue chicken today, and
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yes barbecue can be
part of a healthy diet.
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I love barbecue and today I'm going
to show you the two ways we're
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going to mimic that barbecue style
in our recipe and keep it healthy.
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We're going to create a really, really low
fat antioxidant filled barbecue sauce,
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then we're going to use a lean protein.
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Chicken thighs today, and
we're going to slow cook them,
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just like barbecue in our slow cooker.
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All right, now we're gonna assemble
our healthy barbecue sauce, and
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the first thing we're gonna add is tomato
sauce, that's going to be our base.
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Tomato sauce is filled with vitamin C,
vitamin A and lycopene.
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It has a lot of antioxidant power that's
gonna lower inflammation in your body,
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so that's really, really good for you.
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Then we're gonna put in some tapioca,
just to thicken up the sauce a bit.
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Then we're going to add a brown sugar
substitute in here to give it a little bit
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of a sugar and sweetness kick.
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After that,
we're going to put in some cumin and
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some red pepper flakes to spice things up,
there we are.
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Then we have a jalapeno pepper jelly
which is gonna be really delicious and
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give it an extra kick along side
of the chili and the peppers.
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Now we're gonna add a little acid in there
and we're gonna squeeze some lemon juice.
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And just squeeze about
two tablespoons in there.
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I'm just gonna spread it evenly at
the bottom of this crock pot, like this,
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because we're gonna sit our
chicken over top of it.
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[MUSIC]
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We have chicken breast here, which is
a typical healthy recommendation, but
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honestly, that can get pretty boring,
really fast and it's not as juicy.
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What you can do is try
some of the dark meat,
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the chicken drumsticks or
thighs, those are great.
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There's more bang for your nutritional
buck in there because they have
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tons of protein, iron, and B12 vitamin.
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So here we are, we have a chicken thigh.
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It's on the bone, but it's skinless, and
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it is full of iron and B vitamins,
and a complete protein.
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And we know that increasing protein, for
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diabetes management, is really
beneficial while lowering your carbs.
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So, we're go ahead and place the chicken.
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This is great.
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And this is gonna be slow cooked and
fall off the bone just like barbecue is.
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So, we'll gonna go ahead put this on.
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And keep it going for
the next seven hours.
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All right, our savory barbecue chicken
is done and I can't wait to see this.
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It looks lushes.
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We're gonna go ahead and plate this,
watch your portions here.
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I think about two pieces of
the chicken thigh would be great.
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You could accompany this with a small
salad, a side of vegetables, or
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a piece of whole wheat bread.
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There we are.
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Look at that.
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Doesn't that look scrumptious?
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That's savory barbecue chicken.
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[MUSIC]
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Thanks for joining us for
another episode of Diabetes Bites.
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We'll see you next time.
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[MUSIC]