Pork Shoulder with North Carolina-ish Barbecue Sauce

Today we’re particularly ecstatic about batch cooking. The reason this pork shoulder recipe is so timely is that Heather gave birth to our son Otto early Sunday morning. Labor was relatively quick (about 7 hours) and mom and baby were healthy enough to leave the hospital early. We’re getting less sleep than normal, so having large amounts of pre-cooked food has been a life saver.

This pork shoulder is another iteration of cooking pork shoulder in the Instant Pot. Normally we submerge the shoulder in broth or water, and this time we decided to use just a small amount of water in the bottom. We ended up with a tender meat with a spicy, vinegar-based sauce. This isn’t a traditional North Carolina barbecue sauce, but we think you’ll like it all the same.

Also, at the bottom of the post you can catch a glimpse of our newest family member.

Ingredients
pork shoulder
1/4 C homemade Memphis Dry Rub
1 C water
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
7 lb boneless pork shoulder
2 small onions
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

North Carolina-ish barbecue sauce
1 C apple cider vinegar
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp Cholula
1 tsp homemade ketchup
1 tsp Japanese Seven Spice
1 tsp Blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Method

Pat pork shoulder dry and cover evenly with dry rub.

Sauté onions in olive oil in Instant Pot for 3 minutes. Add water and vinegar.

Place rub-coated shoulder in the Instant Pot, fat-side up, and cook on meat/stew setting for 90 minutes.

To make the sauce, mix all sauce ingredients in a small stock pot and bring to simmer. Turn off heat and allow the sauce to cool.

Shred the pork and serve with sauce.

Before you go, please share this recipe on your social media of choice! If you like this recipe, please subscribe today to be the first to know when we add new delicious meals for you and your family, from our growing family.