Easy Coca Cola Brine Recipe
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This Coca-Cola Brine Recipe is one of my favorites to use when I am grilling or smoking meat! I always get the oddest looks when I say I use Coca-Cola to brine my meat. As many odds look as I have gotten, they quickly stop when they try the meat after it’s done. Coca-Cola adds such a great flavor and also tenderizes tougher meats!
This is an easy brine to mix up, and you can even add some changes. This poultry brine can be tweaked, but the basic idea is easy to follow. I tend not to add more cold water to the brine if I use ice as the ice melts.
Coca-Cola Brine Ingredients:
Coca-Cola– You can change this up with any dark soda, Diet Coke, Root Beer, Dr. Pepper, or Coke Zero. The flavor of soda will alter the taste a bit but it will work.
Ice
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How To Make Coca-Cola Brine Recipe:
Find a large container to hold your liquid, ice, and meat in. A large bowl or even a large metal bowl if you can have a lid, the container will need to be able to be stored in the fridge. A cooler also works as long as you keep adding ice.
Pour the Coca-Cola into the container; each can is about 1.5 cups of Coca-Cola. In this brine, I used five cans of Coca-Cola; I’ve used a whole 2 liter for big batches before. You can start with a couple, then add more to cover the meat.
Next mix Coca-Cola with the 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce and the minced garlic to start the Coke brine in the container.
Add the dry ingredients to the liquid mixture. This will cause the Coca-Cola to bubble up with carbonation as you add other ingredients. You could mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them if you want.
Combine cola and seasonings well with a whisk to make sure it has mixed well. The seasoning and salt will dissolve quite a bit during this process.
Next, add your meat to the brine; I recommend adding the rest of the pieces one at a time. This will allow you to monitor spacing in the container with the brine and meat. I did this with chicken legs and thighs this time.
Add to the container ice or more Coca-Cola if needed. The sweetness of the soda will be noticeable at this point.
Allow your meat to brine for at least 4 hours or longer in your large covered bowl or container. It may seem like a long time, but it’s worth it. If you are bringing pork or another tough cut of meat, I recommend at least a 24-48 hour brine to allow the cola’s high acidity and salt to tenderize the meat.
The most critical step of the brine is to keep the meat in cold water, not room temperature.
Remove the chicken from the brine and place the meat on a wire rack over a baking sheet. This allows the recess brine to drip off the meat.
Now, if you don’t want to grill this, you could heat the oven and throw the baking sheet into the oven.
Fire up your grill or smoker to cook your meat!
You will want to cook on medium heat, not high heat. The sugar from the Coke will add to flame flare-ups.
As with any meat, cook it to a food-safe temperature, and verify using a meat thermometer.
Do you brine meat? What ingredients do you put in your brine?
Meats To Brine With Coke Marinade
- Boneless Chicken Breasts
- Whole Chickens
- Flank Steaks
- Sirloin steaks
Other Coca-Cola Brine Recipe Ingredient Options:
- Soy Sauce
- Olive Oil
- Onion Powder
- Cloves garlic
- Black Pepper
- Vegetable Oil
- Mustard
- Dry Mustard
- Hot Suace
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
Recipes Using A Coca-Cola Brine:
While there is no limit to what you can make with a Coca-Cola Brine, below are my favorites. You can swap out Coca-Cola for any dark soda; this is just my go-to flavor.
- Boneless BBQ Ribs
- Cornish Game Hens
- Chicken Legs
- Chicken Thighs
- Coca-Cola Smoked Turkey
- Pork Shoulder Roast
- Chicken Leg Quarters
- Chicken Wings
- Pork Shoulder
Coca Cola Brine Recipe
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Ingredients
- 5 Cans Coca Cola
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 4 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 4 Tbsp Salt
- Ice
Instructions
- Find a large container to hold your liquid, ice, and meat in.
- Pour the Coca-Cola into the container; each can is about 1.5 cups of Coca-Cola.
- Next mix Coca-Cola with the Worcestershire sauce and the minced garlic to start the Coke brine in the container.
- Add the dry ingredients to the liquid mixture.
- Combine cola and seasonings well with a whisk to make sure it has mixed well.
- Next, add your meat to the brine; I recommend adding the rest of the pieces one at a time.
- Add to the container ice or more Coca-Cola if needed.
- Allow your meat to brine for at least 4 hours or longer in your large covered bowl or container.
- The most critical step of the brine is to keep the meat in cold water, not room temperature.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and place the meat on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
- Fire up your grill or smoker to cook your meat!
- You will want to cook on medium heat, not high heat.
- As with any meat, cook it to a food-safe temperature, and verify using a meat thermometer.
