I don’t know what it is about adding cola to a marinade that makes the meat turn out better. I had recently discovered this trick when I started making my mother in law’s pot roast and adding cola to the liquid instead of water. Maybe I’m just biased towards Pepsi. But if you try it, you won’t regret it. (And my kids favorite part about when mom buy soda to marinade the meat is then there’s some left over for everyone to have a rare treat.)
Since I’ve started doing adding Pepsi to my beef cuts in the crock pot, I’ve started looking into other ways in which I can use Pepsi in my cooking. The sweetness of the Pepsi really adds something to whatever you’re cooking and paired with onions it’s always a sure combination. I recently stumbled across this pork chop recipe that uses any flavored cola in its marinade. (But I am, admittedly, a Pepsi girl.)
You will need:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup cola-flavored carbonated beverage
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 medium onion, sliced
8 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the ketchup, cola and brown sugar. Place pork chops into a baking pan and pour cola mixture over, coating well. Top with sliced onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for about one hour depending on the thickness of the pork chop.
Notes: This also works well with chicken. Prepare the same way but instead of cooking for an hour, the cooking time is more around 40 to 50 minutes.
Looking for the ideal side dish? Why not try Parmesan veggie chips? I like to use a mixture of thinly sliced zucchini, potatoes and sweet potatoes, but really you can choose your preferred vegetables. Coat the vegetables with olive oil. In a baggy make a mixture of 1 part seasoned bread crumbs to one part Parmesan cheese. Toss the vegetables to coat and bake on a single layer at 400 for about 10 minutes. Vegetables should be a little crunchy. . .like a potato chip.