Cooking with Coca Cola
We just had our first out-of-town guest since the pandemic began. That’s kind of a crazy thought. But my mother-in-law took a short break from her hectic life to hang out with us for a couple of days. We did venture to our downtown science museum, but mostly we just do our normal things, which included bringing Grandma along to swim practice.
We did grill hamburgers once while she was here, but it has been hot and humid, with evening storms always a threat. I had purchased some chicken breasts to grill, but decided to cook them in the slow cooker instead of trying to work around rain. I did this on a swim night, so dinner would cook while practice happened and people could eat as soon as they were home.
Still wanting to try for something that tasted like summer but had the ease of slow-cooking, I found a recipe for Slow Cooker Coca Cola Chicken from www.spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com. I have to admit, I was a little nervous that it might be crazy sweet, but I thought I would give it a whirl all the same. It was a little risky experimenting with visiting family, but I like to live dangerously.
The recipe calls for 6 chicken breasts, but my package contained 4, but they were very large, so I just went with 4 XL chicken breasts. Place them in the bottom of your slow cooker and sprinkle with some minced dried onions, garlic salt and some black pepper. Next, you pour 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce on top of the chicken breasts, then pour 1 cup of Coca Cola on top of that.
Set the slow cooker to 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high and let it cook away. The recipe said 3 hours, but I stopped my cooker at 2 1/2 . I might even decide to stop it after 2 hours next time, to make sure the chicken stays moist.
After that cooking time, carefully drain the liquid off of the chicken breasts. I used heat resistant gloves to pour off the liquid out of the crock without burning my hands. Return the crock to the slow cooker and pour another cup of barbecue sauce on top of the chicken and another cup of Coca Cola. Cook for 1 more hour.
When the time is up, you should have a nice thickened sauce with your chicken breasts. You can remove them and serve the breasts with a drizzle of sauce on top, or you can shred the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and mix them with the sauce and serve on buns for even more of a summer vibe.
I served ours alongside some cheesy potatoes au gratin and some summer snap peas. It made a delicious, well-balanced meal. I do think my chicken breasts got a little dry, which could be due to cooking time or it could be because I only used 4 breasts. Next time, I think I will cook them for a shorter time and try it shredded for variety.
The flavor was not overly sweet, but well-balanced. The flavor will depend on the barbecue sauce you use as well. We like Sweet Baby Ray’s, but you can use whatever sauce you like. Do not ask if you can swap out Pepsi. I am sure you can, but we are a Coke home, so that is close to blasphemy.
I think this recipe will become a go-to option for our summers and beyond. I am sure it will reheat nicely too, and if you chose to shred it, it would be great for potlucks and picnics.
Find the recipe here: https://spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com/easy-coca-cola-bbq-slow-cooker-chicken-preparetoparty
