Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

5 Comments

5 from 2 votes
8 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
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Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken is slow-cooked to tangy perfection! Perfect for sandwiches or easy weeknight meals.

If you’ve tried our classic Shredded Chicken or BBQ Shredded Chicken, then this is yet another simple and tasty Chicken Recipe that you can use for weeknight meals and tasty sandwiches.

Sabrina’s Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken Recipe

Use this easy chicken recipe to make the perfect North Carolina-Style Barbecue Chicken Sandwich. It’s super easy to serve the flavorful chicken after you shred it in a hamburger bun for a filling, family-friendly meal.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken Recipe

Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken is slow-cooked to tangy perfection! Perfect for sandwiches or easy weeknight meals.
Yield 8 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Close up of chicken on bun with veggies
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 pounds chicken thighs , boneless skinless (about 6 thighs)

Instructions

  • Add all the ingredients to a slow cooker and mix well.
  • Cook on low heat for 6 hours or on high heat for 3 hours.
  • Use two forks to shred the chicken.
  • Serve on buns.

Nutrition

Calories: 245kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 585mg | Potassium: 250mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 150IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg

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About this Recipe

Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken is cooked slowly in the Crockpot. That way, it has plenty of time to absorb all the flavor from the tangy sauce. All you have to do is whisk together the simple vinegar sauce and pour it over the chicken to cook. Once it’s done, you have fabulous food with a tender, juicy texture ready to go!

Can this be made ahead of time?

To turn into an easy meal prep recipe, you can cook the Shredded Chicken up to a few months in advance. Then just let the dish cool to room temperature before you seal it in a Ziplock freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months. This chicken is a great option for meal prep because all you have to do is reheat the already-cooked chicken in the slow cooker, and you have an easy dinner. 

Cooking Tips & Tricks

  • Prep time: If using frozen chicken thighs, thaw them in the fridge ahead of time.
  • Cook time: Add chicken and sauce to the slow cooker. Cover and cook 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high.
  • Shred chicken: Use two forks to easily shred the chicken mixture.

What to Pair With

Spoon any extra tangy sauce over the shredded chicken and top with Coleslaw before adding the buns. This makes a great flavor combo, so this is sure to become one of your favorite chicken sandwich recipes ever. Add Southern Baked Beans and Homemade Potato Chips too!

How to Store

  • Serve: Do not leave out for over 2 hours. Return chicken to Crockpot and then keep on low to stay warm.
  • Store: Let the chicken cool down to room temperature, then put it in a Ziplock bag or another airtight container to keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.
  • Freeze: You can freeze leftovers for up to 6 months.

Pressure Cooker Method

Instead of the slow cooker version, you can follow a few easy steps to make it in a pressure cooker.

  • Place the chicken in the pressure cooker.
  • Whisk together the quick, five-ingredient sauce and then pour it into the Instant Pot over the chicken.
  • Seal and cook at high pressure for a 5-minute cook time.
  • Let the chicken rest for 8 minutes as the pressure naturally releases, then quick-release the remaining pressure.
  • Use two forks to shred the chicken, and then serve BBQ Vinegar Chicken over buns.

Variations

  • Vinegar: You can use apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or rice wine vinegar.
  • Brown sugar chicken: To give the recipe a darker, sweeter flavor, you can replace the granulated sugar with brown sugar.
  • Spicy North Carolina Chicken: To make a delicious spicy sauce, you can whisk in hot sauce or a bit of cayenne pepper.
  • Seasonings: There are a variety of other flavors you can add with seasonings like black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, celery salt, onion powder, or dry mustard. 
  • Sauce additions: Add some mix-ins to the delicious sauce. Try mixing in some Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, mustard sauce, or ketchup. Another great addition to the tangy sauce is barbecue sauce. Either mix in your favorite store-bought brand or make your own Homemade Barbecue Sauce.

More Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes

Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken collage

These photos were in a previous version of this post

Shredded Ingredients for Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken in slow cooker
Ingredients for Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken in slow cooker
Ingredients for Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken in prep bowls
Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken in sandwich bun with coleslaw

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I am blown away by how easy and how good this recipe is to make. I’m feeding extra mouths for the week and this meal is my ace in the hole.

    As a Virginian, I gotta recommend good slaw as well

    Reply

  3. This is a wonder, simple recipe that captures the goodness of eastern NC BBQ. This BBQ goes great with copycat KFC slaw. For added enjoyment, add Texas Pete to BBQ before serving. This is absolutely the best meal!

    Reply