This North Carolina Instant Pot Pulled Pork recipe is flavorful, tangy, and delicious. Covered in a vinegar-based barbecue sauce and pressure cooked until it shreds beautifully.
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One of my favorite things about North Carolina is the bbq. Fact is, North Carolina has the BEST bbq... at least in my opinion.
I’m a huge fan of vinegar based bbq and prefer it over other kinds of bbq. There’s just something about the tanginess of vinegar and pork that makes my taste buds dance.
I used to make this recipe by placing a huge bone in pork butt in my slow cooker and let it cook all day on low. But now, I use my Pressure Cooker. It cooks much faster without compromising on the same great flavor and the texture is just as amazing.
How to make North Carolina Instant Pot Pulled Pork?
I start by cutting 3 lbs of pork butt into 3 large pieces. I don’t use the bone when making it in the pressure cooker and cutting it allows my meat to cook a little quicker.
I then rub my pieces with a nice homemade bbq rub. You can follow that recipe or buy some from the store.
Once my meat is fully covered, I set it aside and make my vinegar based bbq sauce. Vinegar based bbq sauce is very liquidy, so it’s the perfect sauce to use in your Instant Pot. Sauces that are too thick can cause the dreaded “Burn” signal in the Instant Pot. This sauce won’t do that.
Prepare the vinegar bbq sauce by whisking together apple cider vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper flakes, and water.
Place pork pieces in the Instant Pot insert and pour 1 ½ cups of the vinegar based bbq sauce over the pork, reserving the remainder of the sauce for later.
Cover and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes. Once done cooking, allow the Pressure Cooker to naturally release for 15 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.
Remove pork from Instant Pot and serve. Pour reserved Vinegar Bbq sauce over meat for more flavor.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. Enjoy 🙂
Looking for more Instant Pot Pork Recipes? Try this Instant Pot Pork Chops with Gravy Recipe.
This recipe goes great with this Vinegar Coleslaw.
Pin Instant Pot North Carolina Style Pulled Pork for Later
North Carolina Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork butt cut into 3 large pieces
- 2-3 Tablespoon bbq rub
- 2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Vinegar Bbq sauce
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cup water
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk Vinegar Bbq sauce ingredients together, set aside.
- Rub bbq rub over pork pieces, making sure all pieces are fully covered. Place pork in Instant Pot and pour 1 ½ cups of vinegar bbq sauce and liquid smoke in insert. Cover and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes.
- After 60 minutes, allow Instant Pot to naturally release for 10-15 minutes. Quick release remaining pressure.
- Remove pork pieces from Instant Pot and shred. Drizzle with remaining vinegar bbq sauce when serving. Enjoy 🙂
Beverly says
I follow your blog and have used many of your recipes. Being a resident of the Piedmont of NC, I can appreciate how true to life this recipe is to our area. The rub and your sauce recipe are spot on!! I've made this recipe several times and decided to try one thing differently. I cut a 7 lb Boston Butt into several pieces, and rubbed them all over with your rub. But I took the time to saute each piece of meat on all sides getting a nice crust in my Instant Pot until I got a good browning. I deglazed my pot with the sauce mix, then followed the recipe as directed. And let me tell you, my family raved about it this time!!! Said it was the best barbecue they'd ever had!! Even better than the smoked barbecue from our local barbecue joints. I did add a couple tablespoons of liquid smoke to the pot, and my oh my!! What an excellent outcome!!!!
Tanya says
Thanks so much Beverly! I bet browning those pieces added so much flavor. I'm making a note to make sure I take the time to do this step next time. Thanks again.
Beverly B. says
I will use my leftover pulled pork to make your Instant Pot Brunswick Stew!!! Should be delicious!!! I don't like bottled barbecue sauce in my Brunswick Stew--too sweet!! Your recipe is perfect! But I do add sweet corn, frozen okra, and lima beans in mine, instead of mixed vegetables. Your recipes are great, and I can adjust them to my families liking!! Keep up the great cooking!!!
Tanya says
Thanks so much, Beverly B. I love your addition of vegetables.
Charles Moretz says
Hi Tanya,
I've used your recipe (no changes) many times for a couple of years and I (and my dinner guests) always absolutely love this BBQ. Being from the Hickory, NC area, pulled pork, especially the Lexington style, is almost a sacred affair. Thank you very much for your easy, quick and delicious method! Cheers.
Tanya says
Thanks so much Charles! So happy you all enjoyed this BBQ recipe. It's one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy BBQ.
Derek says
Hey Tanya,
I’ve been making this recipe for several years now and it’s my go-to for when we want homemade BBQ. Our family loves it. And we’re all NC born and bred so we know some good ‘cue! One thing I have started doing is cutting the pork and letting it sit in the rub in a zip loc bag (or bowl) for several hours/overnight. It seems to enhance the flavor even more. Either way this is an amazing recipe! Thanks so much for sharing. We get so many compliments when we make this!
Tanya says
Thanks so much, Derek! Oh yes, great reminder, marinating in that rub makes it even better. So glad you all like the recipe 🙂
Janet says
Hey Tanya, pulled some pork butt out of the freezer to make this, but I had cut it up into 2 inch pieces already. Would it still work, do you think? Maybe if I cut the cook time a bit? Thanks for any advice, and for your always yummy recipes.
Tanya says
Hey Janet! Yes, that would work and yes, reduce the time. I would do 20 minutes under high pressure.
Janet says
@Tanya,
Thanks, that worked great. We like spicy food but I might cut back the red pepper flakes next time as the whole tablespoon was a bit too much for us. Otherwise delicious and our house still smells amazing the morning after!
Tanya says
Thanks so much, Janet! So happy it worked out.
Michelle says
This tasted just like my childhood! It’s amazing to be able to make this in my apartment without a smoker or grill.
Tanya says
Yay! I'm so happy to hear that, Michelle! Agreed, the IP comes in handy.
Aeil says
Thank you so very much
It's flavor smoked butt
only needs sixty minutes
Delicious moist awesome and
Pulled pork I'll use this
alot the marinade is flavorful wonderful
10of10
Made three of them the
taste the same friends
Loved I have your blog
Site. You're a nice blogger
with fast easy delicious
Recipes thanks again for your time and recipes 🤟👍👍
Tanya says
Thanks so much Aeil!
Oscar Petree says
I'm 75 years old, living in Florida, and remember growing up in Greensboro, NC. This was only a few miles from Lexington which is "Ground Zero" for BBQ in the USA. World's best. This recipe takes me back to my youth. It's some of the best "Homemade" BBQ Pork one can have. Using your rub I seared the 3 pcs in saute mode for a couple minutes per surface. That got us a little "Bark"... Then de-glazed with your BBQ Sauce. So very awesome!!! I'll make this again and again now that I know how to do it. Just wonderful! Would not change a syllable of your recipe.
Tanya says
Yay! So glad you like the recipe Oscar! I've lived all over North Carolina, from the mountains to Durham, NC and I agree, there's nothing like North Carolina BBQ.
Alex says
Not sure what I did wrong. Used a pork shoulder/butt and removed the bone and excess fat. Split it into 3 one pound chunks. Used a bbq rub. Poured the amount of sauce into the instant pot along with the liquid smoke. Cooked it on high for 1 hour and then natural release then quick. Pork was way overdone. The sauce was good. Sad I couldn't use it on the pork in the end.
Tanya says
Hi Alex, sorry to hear you had difficulty. Was the pork dry or was it hard to shred? If it was hard to shred, it may have actually needed a bit longer of a cook time in order to shred.
Alex says
@Tanya,
Hello Tanya,
It was actually the opposite. The pork was ultra soft. Almost to the point of being mushy and really dark. Much darker than pulled pork is typically.
Tanya says
Thanks for responding Alex. I've never had that happen before. I'm wondering if it's the kind of cut of the pork, since the color was darker. Next time, you can try lowering the time to 45 minutes high pressure and seeing if that helps.
Donna Clark says
How long does the extra bbq sauce last in the fridge?? This recipe is SO good!
Tanya says
Thanks Donna! The extra bbq sauce should last on your fridge for about 3 weeks.
Andrea says
This is the best eastern carolina bbq on the internet I’ve found!!! Sooo good! I substitute a 1/2 cup of the sauce with 1/2 cup Mojo criollo marinade when cooking the pork and it adds a little bit of different, but delicious flavor! And then I have more of the sauce left for leftovers!!!
Tanya says
Thanks Andrea! I'll have to try it with that marinade.