Diary of a Semi-Health Nut

ramblings + recipes of a semi-healthy nut

I Want my Baby Back Dr. Pepper Ribs

by

Hello Friends!

Since the BF and I are obsessed with Chopped on the Food Network, when we saw a special episode featuring grilling (more specifically, ribs), we both got a craving for some BBQ ribs.

I made this recipe from Men’s Health a couple of years ago…only I put it in the crockpot.  I really really wanted to make it again, however I didn’t remember the specific crockpot method I used.

Did I fill the crockpot with Dr. Pepper?  Did I season the meat?  Did I wait to put the sauce on? 

I could not remember!

This is one reason I love food blogging…many of my favorite recipes are saved on this lovely space of mine on the internet.  I can pull it up anytime, anywhere.  

Except for this ribs recipe…because I’m pretty sure I wasn’t blogging at that point. 🙁

After coming home late on Saturday from my late birthday-fun-day, I realized that there actually wouldn’t even be enough room to put two full racks into my itty-bitty crockpot.

You see this time, we were planning on sharing the yumminess with some friends!  Which made the pressure to figure out the recipe even greater!  Emily (my zoo day friend) and Joe are nice and all..but it would still be embarrassing if the dish was a flop!

I decided I would have to bake the ribs.  Low and slow seemed to be the ideal way…and closest to crockpot cooking, but I didn’t have a whole lot of time since I didn’t get home from church until around 1pm.  Dinner was supposed to be at 5:30pm…30 minutes away from my house.


So with crossed fingers and Google, I figured out an approximate method.  And what do ya know, it worked.

Baked Dr. Pepper Ribs {Print Recipe}
(Modified from Men’s Health Magazine)

You Will Need:

  • 2 Babyback Ribs
  • Large baking dish that will hold said ribs (I used a disposable aluminum dish)
  • Tongs
  • Meat thermometer
  • Pan for sauce
  • 2 liters Dr. Pepper Cherry minus 2 cups (for sauce)

Sauce Ingredients (this will create an abundance of extra sauce):

  • 2 cups Dr. Pepper Cherry
  • 2 TBS vegetable oil (for sauteing vegetables)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 2 TBS brown sugar
  • 6 TBS Worcestershire sauce
  • 8 TBS cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp cayanne pepper
  • 1 tsp chili powder

Rib Rub:

  • 2 TBS Chili Powder or Your choice of rib rub

How To:
The night before (or 2 hours before):

  1. Liberally salt the ribs on each side.  Place in baking dish.
  2. Fill with Dr. Pepper Cherry.  Place covered into fridge overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Optional:  Next time I will trim off extra fat.  I left it on because I was worried it might take away from the flavor, but I think I could do without it.

Baking the Ribs:

  1. Take out the ribs (leave the Dr. Pepper in the dish!) sprinkle dry rub on both sides of the ribs and rub on with (clean) hands.  Place ribs back into the dish with Dr. Pepper.
  2. Put the dish with the ribs (and the Dr. Pepper still in it) into the oven.  Bake 3 hours at 250 degrees.  Low and slow. 😉
  3. During the last 30 minutes, start making the sauce.
  • Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
  1. Saute onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft.
  2. Add remaining ingredients.  Simmer 20-30 minutes.
  3. Let cool and thicken.

 

  • Note: for thicker sauce, add more ketchup and reduce cider vinegar/Worcestershire 
  • Take the ribs out of the oven and drain all the Dr. Pepper and juice from the meat.  I simply used a baster and put the liquid into the Dr. Pepper bottle (with a couple of grocery plastic bags around it…just in case the bottle melted or something).  The Daddio helped me with that part because he is awesome.
  • Crank up the oven to 350 degrees and bake another hour.  
  • Add additional sauce to make it look fresh.  Enjoy!

 

The Results:
Juicy and super messy ribs.  That’s the way ribs are supposed to be right?

Emily’s potatoes and pasta salad were AMAZING!  Wonder if she’ll share the recipe..

We cut each rack into thirds and that seemed to be a good portion for each of us.  Everyone loved the ribs…even little Miss Rhea.

She was cracking me up all night with her new words and gestures.  Whenever Emily would leave the room (the porch to go inside) Rhea would hold up her hands and say “Mommy?” as if to say “Where’s mommy?”  She also says “warwerry” for strawberry.  Absolute adorableness.

After dinner I offered to take some pictures of Emily‘s lovely aprons and bags she is making for her Etsy page.

We are thinking of doing a giveaway or discount or something for the semi-healthy readers for adding some flair to your cooking/baking excursions…what do you think?

Rhea was very helpful.  She kept sitting on the aprons haha!

We also got to take a very relaxing boat ride since Emily and Joe happen to live on a lake.

Joe, BF, me, Rhea

Rhea already has her “sea-legs” as Emily calls them.

Rhea eating her cookies.  Such a stylin babe!

She was walking around the boat most of the time we were moving and kept her balance! 

I’m so happy the ribs turned out and we got to spend some time with some lovely people.

Leftovers!

Such a great way to end the weekend with the BF, who will be out of town for work for the next two weeks. *sigh* 

Cheers and blessings!

*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*

Carnivores: what’s your favorite meat?

What do we think about those aprons??  Should we arrange a giveaway?