Website Review and BBQ Recipe: Cooking with Coke

by Jen Tilley on April 29th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

A couple months ago, I was talking to a friend and he mentioned a BBQ rib recipe. I absolutely love ribs so that immediately caught my attention. However, that's not the only reason why it caught my attention. The ingredients that he used to create the delicious rack of ribs included Coca-Cola. I thought that pairing this classic beverage with a traditional American dish Coca-Cola was such a unique and genius idea. I could only imagine the caramel flavor that the beverage would add to savory dishes.

We always had Coca-Cola products in our house growing up and to this day you can most likely find a bottle or two in our refrigerator. Whether we wanted to enjoy it for celebrations or summer BBQs, we, like millions of other families, love to enjoy a Coke with meals and parties...and now, even in savory dishes! When it comes to preparing savory dishes, families who spend time cooking together and enjoying meals together, join in on an experience that summons all five senses and creates lasting memories.

Recognizing that the brand has become a special part of people’s lives, Coca-Cola has launched Cooking with Coke — a site dedicated to Coke-loving moms and families. The new site provides a place to share recipes, family stories, and mealtime traditions. Visitors to the site can build a personalized recipe book and share tips on how to get the whole family together. This website is meant to get the whole family involved in the cooking experience and get excited about mealtime.

Visitors to the website are free to share their favorite appetizer, main entree, sides, soup, salad, beverage, and dessert recipes (all of which do not need to include Coke as an ingredient). They even have celebrity Chefs Ingrid Hoffmann and G. Garvin on board who share their tips, tricks, and recipes in helpful vlogs. I perused the website looking for a recipe that I would love to prepare and stumbled upon a Coke Bar-B-Q Sauce that reminded me of my friend's recipe. I knew right then and there that I had to make it...and I'm so happy that I did because it was delicious!

Coke Bar-B-Q Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups Coca-Cola
2 cups Ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons chili powder

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, cook slowly for 1-2 hours stirring occasionally.

Coca-Cola encourages you to share your stories and recipes on their site. Also, to make time spent in the kitchen more enjoyable, they're offering a fantastic giveaway on the Mom It Forward forum. Simply post a recipe on the new Cooking with Coke website and leave us a message with a link to your posted recipe!

Recipe from Cooking with Coke.

Have you ever prepared a recipe that included Coca-Cola as an ingredient? What are your favorite recipes that use unique ingredients?

Coca-Cola compensated me for this post but all of the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Jen Tilley has an insatiable appetite for all things related to baking and cooking. She is the author, photographer and recipe developer on How To: Simplify, a blog that shares tips, tricks and recipes to simplify life in the kitchen. She enjoys sharing recipes that require very few ingredients and only a small amount of prep and cook time, all of which make time spent in the kitchen simple and enjoyable. Find her online at How To: Simplify and @HowToSimplify.