Boneless pork butt is massaged with a dry rub and slow-roasted until fall-apart tender, then given big Carolina flavor in the form of a tangy vinegar-based bbq sauce. Use the pulled pork to make sandwiches, nachos, pizza — you name it!
My Foolproof Method for Making Pulled Pork
North Carolina’s signature bbq sauce is a far cry from the sweet and sticky bottled stuff most of us buy. The vinegar sauce favored in this part of the world is a little spicy, a little sweet, and a whole lotta tangy.
Like my classic pulled pork recipe, this version is a breeze to assemble and is darn near impossible to mess up. Instead of busting out my slow cooker, I opted to braise the meat for maximum fall-apart tenderness.
We typically pile the meat onto buns to make pulled pork sandwiches, typically with a scoop of creamy coleslaw on top to balance out the puckery flavor of the bbq sauce. Pulled pork is perfect for July 4th celebrations, family gatherings, and weeknight dinners — it’s a dish even the pickiest of eaters will love.
Enjoy! Heidi
Heidi’s Tips for Making Pulled Pork
- Braising the pork in apple juice makes it significantly more tender than if you were to use just water or broth, and it gives it even more flavor. Opt for unsweetened apple juice and thin it out with a little water for best results.
- To prevent the pork from stewing in the cooking liquid, I always raise it off the bottom of the roasting pan using a roasting rack. This helps air circulate all around the meat so it cooks more evenly and becomes super tender.
- The vinegar bbq sauce is supposed to be very runny and thin — that’s just the Carolina way! It will taste more tangy and sour than spicy or sweet, but my recipe has a nice balance of flavors to it.
The Best Cut of Meat for Pulled Pork
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
Boneless pork butt or picnic shoulder — layered with ripples of fat, these types of pork roast create the most tender and juicy bites when cooked low and slow.
The Key Ingredients for the Dry Rub and BBQ Sauce
The Dry Rub
The Carolina pork rub is the flavor foundation for this whole recipe. It’s a simple combination of: brown sugar, paprika, ground coriander, dry mustard, onion powder, kosher salt, and pepper.
The brown sugar helps create a caramelized crust around the pork as it cooks, and it also contains more moisture than granulated sugar.
The Vinegar Sauce
My vinegar of choice for making Carolina bbq sauce is apple cider vinegar. It has a tangy fruitiness that pairs nicely with the fatty pork. In a pinch you could use white vinegar, but your sauce will taste much sharper and more sour.
To balance out the vinegar, you’ll be mixing in some ketchup and brown sugar for sweetness, Worcestershire sauce for a little umami flavor, cayenne for heat, and butter for richness.
- Season the pork. The pork needs to be massaged all over with the dry rub and refrigerated for at least 2 hours to allow the salt time to dissolve and begin breaking down and seasoning the meat.
- Roast it low and slow. You can transfer the seasoned pork directly to a roasting rack set over a roasting pan and pour the apple juice mixture into the bottom. I like to braise the pork at 300ºF, tightly covered, until it’s fork tender. Then, I remove the foil and let it roast for just a little longer to crisp up the edges.
- Make the bbq sauce while the roast cooks. You could buy a bbq sauce from the store, but when you can pull the ingredients from the pantry and fridge, it’s just as easy to make at home.
- Shred the pork. I tackled this with two forks and some upper body strength, but you can apparently shred pork with a mixer in a fraction of the time. I know what I’ll be testing out next time I make this recipe!
- Toss with the bbq sauce … or not. I’ve seen Carolina pulled pork doused in vinegar sauce, and I’ve seen the two served separately so guests can add as much or as little as they like.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Carolina Pulled Pork Recipe with Vinegar BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
For the Pulled Pork
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoons ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 3 pounds boneless pork butt or picnic shoulder
- 2 cups apple juice
- ½ cup water
- 1 package hamburger buns
For the North Carolina BBQ Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcesterchire sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Season the pork butt. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and the dry spices together. Massage the mixture into the pork, cover, and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Slow-roast the meat. Preheat the oven to 300° F. Place the pork on a rack insert fitted inside a roasting pan just large enough to fit the meat and high enough so the pork is sitting above the cooking liquid. Add the apple juice and water, then cover the pan tightly with foil, and slow roast for 5 hours. Remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes, until the pork is browned and crisping and the meat is basically falling apart.
- Shred the tender pork. Remove from the oven, place on a platter and let the meat cool for 15 minutes. Using two forks or your fingers, shred the meat into chunks. Add the drippings back into the pork and stir. Transfer to a serving bowl for serving, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Assemble shredded pork sandwiches. Pile a serving of meat on a warm bun, drizzle with North Carolina BBQ Sauce, and serve with pickles¸.
For the North Carolina BBQ Sauce
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add all of the ingredients except vinegar to the saucepan and cook until brown sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and serve warm with pork or at room temperature.
Notes
What to Serve With Carolina Pulled Pork
Storage Tips
Leftover pulled pork will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. You can store it with the vinegar sauce, or keep them in separate containers. Add a little sauce to the pork when reheating to prevent it from drying out.
More Classic BBQ Recipes
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