BBQ Pork n Beans with Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce & Cherry Coke Lava Cakes

Who would have thought you’d see me showing off a recipe featuring Coca-Cola? We all know I’m a big Pepsi fan and my husband is the die hard Coca Cola fan. Opposites attract right? Well, when my husband saw that I was presented with the opportunity to try out some recipes that include Coca-Cola as the special ingredient, he begged and pleaded for me to try a meal out. I’m guessing the BBQ recipes from Chef G. Garvin had a little something to do with that too.

I won’t deny it … cooking with Coke is kinda awesome. I mean, just look at this dish …

Friends, that was THE BEST grilled pork tenderloin I’ve ever eaten in my life. Hands down. The best! On the rare occasion that I do cook pork, it always comes out dry and rubbery but somehow I managed to grill this tenderloin to perfection. And the BBQ sauce, well, let’s just say a good portion of that disappeared long before it was drizzled on the pork.

My only wish is that I could take credit for this recipe, but I can’t. All the credit goes to Chef G. Garvin, who has several amazing Coca-Cola recipes featured at My Coke Rewards. When you visit MyCokeRewards.com/meals you get access to exclusive recipes from celebrity chefs, G. Garvin and Ingrid Hoffmann. While Ingrid offers a Latin twist to her recipes which looks amazing, my husband and I were drawn to Chef G. Garvin’s recipes that have a more down home, simplistic feel to them. That’s my kinda cooking!

What I loved most about these recipes is how incredibly easy they are. Watching the BBQ Pork and Beans video you can see how quickly you can whip together your own homemade BBQ sauce. Use it now, bottle it for later … or spread it all over a grilled pork tenderloin. Whatever you do, just try it. Nearly every ingredient was something I already had in pantry with the exception of molasses and liquid smoke, both of which will be a permanent fixture in my kitchen from now on.

Some sauteed onions, jalapenos and garlic (top left) start this recipe. After a few minutes you layer in ingredients including a heaping pile of ketchup, a little orange juice, some thick molasses and of course brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit. You can adjust the ingredients to your personal preferences and a little liquid smoke gives the sauce a real, stick to your ribs, BBQ feel.

There’s one ingredient I would never have thought belonged in BBQ sauce but you’d be surprised what a splash of Coca-Cola does for it.

While the sauce simmers and thickens you can prepare a pork n beans side dish in a matter of minutes.

I made a few changes to the original recipe with some maple bacon instead of ground turkey. All that’s left to do with these is to toss in the beans and seasonings including: ground mustard, chili powder, molasses, brown sugar and the ingredient that ties it all together … a splash of that delicious homemade Coca-Cola BBQ sauce.

It literally took less than 20 minutes to make both the jar of BBQ sauce and beans. If you’re a great at multitasking or have someone to help you in the kitchen you can even grill the seasoned pork tenderloin at the same time to have all three meal components ready at the same time.

And for dessert … we made Cherry Coca-Cola Lava Cakes! These little cakes are prepared using the traditional Coke Cake recipe but with a little maraschino cherry juice poured right into the chocolate icing and topped with a cherry.

Compensation was provided by Coca-Cola, but Coca-Cola is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this pin/post. All opinions expressed are my own and not those of Coca-Cola.