Eastern Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce

Name: Eastern Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Ingredients: 350 ml apple cider vinegar; 60 ml water (optional); 1 tbsp red chilli flakes; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp black pepper; ¼ tsp cayenne / chilli powder (optional); 1 tsp chilli sauce (sriracha-style) (optional)

Vegetarian

A thin, sharp, peppery sauce of cider vinegar, crushed red pepper, black pepper, salt and a little sugar, splashed over chopped whole-hog or pork shoulder barbecue.

Eastern Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce is a Southern US sauce from United States, ready in about 1 hour 5 minutes and made with apple cider vinegar and red chilli flakes. It serves 14 and is rated beginner to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 0 min
Rest: 1 h
Total: 1 h 5 min
Serves: 14
Level: Beginner
Calories: 11

Best after resting overnight in the fridge.

Ingredients

14 servings (about 30 ml each)

350 ml Apple cider vinegar (opens in a new tab)
60 ml Water (opens in a new tab) (optional)To soften the vinegar a little.
1 tbsp (5.5 g) Red chilli flakes (opens in a new tab)Crushed red pepper.
1 tbsp (14 g) Brown sugar (opens in a new tab)Some pitmasters use none.
2 tsp (12 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
1 tsp (2.5 g) Black pepper (opens in a new tab)Coarsely ground.
¼ tsp (0.5 g) Cayenne / chilli powder (opens in a new tab) (optional)
1 tsp (5.5 g) Chilli sauce (sriracha-style) (opens in a new tab) (optional)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Put everything in a jar or bottle, seal and shake until the sugar and salt dissolve.
- 3 min
- Glass jar with lid (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Maria Verkhoturtseva on Pexels
2
Step 2
Leave for at least an hour, ideally overnight in the fridge, so the pepper (opens in a new tab) flavours the vinegar.
3
Step 3
Shake before using. Toss a few spoonfuls through freshly pulled or chopped pork and serve more at the table, or use it as a mop for meat on the smoker.
- 2 min

About this dish

Origin: Eastern North Carolina, United States · Well documentedMore food from United States
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Sauces
Cooking method: No-cook
Taste: sour, spicy (chilli heat), peppery, tangy
Diet: Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · Low-fat · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Budget-friendly · Make-ahead
Cook more with: Apple cider vinegar · Red chilli flakes · Brown sugar
Techniques: Smoking

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

11 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 30 g · recipe makes 14

Where the energy comes from

Protein 5%
Carbohydrate 82%
Fat 12%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	11 kcal	36 kcal
Protein	0.1 g	0.2 g
Carbohydrate	1.5 g	5.1 g
Net carbohydrate	1.4 g	4.6 g
Sugars	1.1 g	3.7 g
Added sugars	1 g	3.2 g
Fibre	0.2 g	0.5 g
Fat	0.1 g	0.2 g
Saturated fat	0 g	0.1 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	335 mg	1115 mg
Salt equivalent	0.8 g	2.8 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 30 mg
Calcium: 4 mg
Iron: 0.1 mg
Magnesium: 2 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 8 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 0 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
Optional ingredients are not included: water, cayenne / chilli powder, chilli sauce (sriracha-style).
Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Warm it slightly before tossing through hot pork so it soaks in.

Common mistakes

Expecting a thick sauce — it is meant to be thin and is used as a splash and mop, not a glaze.

Serve with

Pulled or chopped pork shoulder
Smoked chicken
With coleslaw and hushpuppies

Storage

Keeps in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Variations

Lexington (Piedmont) dip (United States): Western North Carolina style adds a little ketchup and more sugar to the vinegar.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Goes with

BBQ pulled pork

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Customise in Sauce & DrizzleCompare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

The spice and seasoning backbone

Spices, masalas & pastes

Red chilli flakes1 tbsp · 5.6 g
Salt2 tsp · 12 g
Black pepper1 tsp · 2.4 g
Cayenne / chilli powder (optional)0.25 tsp · 0.5 g

Used in step 1

Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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