Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken is made in the crockpot with chicken broth, red pepper flakes, sugar, and vinegar. Perfect to serve in sandwiches!
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.
CAROLINA BBQ VINEGAR SHREDDED CHICKEN
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. While the slow cooker is going, the chicken will absorb all the juices and tangy flavor around it. Once it’s done you have fabulous food with a tender, juicy texture ready to go!
Use this easy chicken recipe to make the perfect North Carolina-Style Barbecue Chicken Sandwich. It’s super easy after you shred the flavorful chicken to serve it in a hamburger bun for a filling and family-friendly meal. Spoon any extra tangy sauce over the shredded chicken and top off the buns with Coleslaw. The cool and creamy coleslaw and the tangy chicken make a great flavor combo, so this is sure to become one of your favorite chicken sandwich recipes ever.
To turn North Carolina Chicken into an easy meal prep recipe, you can cook the Shredded Chicken in your crock pot with the 5-ingredient sauce 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. BBQ Vinegar Shredded 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.
MORE EASY CHICKEN RECIPES
Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast
Blackened Chicken
Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken Thighs
Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts
COOKING TIPS
- Prep time: If your chicken thighs are frozen, take them out of the freezer in advance and let them thaw in the fridge.
- Vinegar mixture: Whisk together the chicken broth, white vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt to make the warm vinegar sauce.
- Cook time: Add the chicken to the slow cooker and pour the vinegary sauce over the top. Cover with the lid and let the chicken cook on low for 6 hours, or set it to high heat for 3 hours to give it a shorter cooking time.
- Shred chicken: Use two forks to easily shred the chicken mixture. Then serve Shredded BBQ Vinegar Chicken over buns with any extra sandwich fillings you want.
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VARIATIONS
- Vinegar: Instead of regular white vinegar in the tangy sauce, you can use apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or rice wine vinegar.
- Brown sugar chicken: To give the recipe a darker sweet flavor, you can replace the granulated sugar with brown sugar in the warm vinegar sauce.
- Spicy North Carolina Chicken: To make a delicious spicy sauce for the Vinegar Shredded Chicken, you can whisk in hot sauce or a bit of cayenne pepper with the tangy sauce.
- 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: To 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 barbecue sauce recipe or make your own Homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe for the Carolina BBQ Crockpot Shredded Chicken.
PRESSURE COOKER
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 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 while the pressure naturally releases for 8 minutes, then quick-release the remaining pressure.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken, and then serve BBQ Vinegar Chicken over buns.
EASY SIDE DISHES
Baked Mac and Cheese
Garlic Roasted Red Potatoes
Cobb Salad
Seven Layer Salad
HOW TO STORE
- Serve: You shouldn’t leave Carolina BBQ Vinegar Shredded Chicken at room temperature for more than 2 hours. To keep it out during a party or potluck, return meat to the crock pot after shredding. Keep the slow cooker on low so the chicken stays 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 also freeze the Vinegar BBQ Chicken for up to 6 months.
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
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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
Thanks Andy. I agree, cole slaw would be the perfect side for this meal. Have you tried any of my cole slaw recipes (https://dinnerthendessert.com/?s=cole+slaw)?
What size crockpot did you use? Thanks.
It can be cooked in a 5 or 6 qt crockpot
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!