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It’s been a bit quiet around the blog lately….but summer has a way of doing that, I suppose. There are so many opportunities to slow down, relax, and get together with friends, that it’s easy to forget about my laptop (for a while.) And with good friends of ours in town over the weekend and lots of opportunities to mingle, I think that we spent more time in the backyard than we did in our house. You see, my friends have 3 kids just around the same ages as my kids, and although they may not see each other often, when we get together the kids are best buddies again in no time. I can assure you that our backyard was probably the loudest in the neighborhood on Saturday afternoon. It was quite the backyard bash, full of friends, food, and fun.
The only problem was that it was a pretty last minute get together and I didn’t have much of a menu put together. I needed a recipe that didn’t require a ton of preparation or supervision, after all, I was needed out at the pool. So I decided to whip up a recipe that I’d heard of before where you use a combination of soda, ketchup, and BBQ sauce to marinate chicken. Everything I’d heard about the recipe was that it was quick, easy, and utterly delicious. I’d always wanted to try it before, just to see how it would turn out.
I decided that our backyard bash was the perfect opportunity to give it a try using some of the Dr Pepper that I picked up at Walmart the week before.
Now, ordinarily, I’d grill this recipe. Season the chicken, put it on the grill, and use this delicious sauce as a marinade, but my husband wasn’t feeling so well. Since he does most of the grilling, I decided that it would probably be better baked, plus that gave me some more time outside with the kids.
Just before our friends arrived, I stuck the chicken in the oven and set the table. I even spruced it up with a little DIY Dr Pepper decor.
And in an hour my house smelled amazing. Now, I’m sure that the brown sugar on top helps, but this BBQ-Dr Pepper sauce (or as I call it, DPQ sauce) smells so good. Like, outrageously good. As I took the chicken out of the oven, I knew this recipe was a winner. And as it hit the table – paired with instant wild rice and steamer veggies – my guests probably would have thought that I’d been cooking all day…except, they knew better. But that didn’t stop them from raving about it. Hazeline ate close to an entire chicken breast by herself (although most of the other kids had filled up on Cheez-Its at that point, so they didn’t eat much).
So despite my hesitation, this was the perfect recipe for our backyard bash, and it’s a must try if you have a last minute get together! And don’t be afraid to try it on the grill – that’s what I’m going to try next!
Thinking of throwing your own backyard bash? Want to make your own DPQ Baked Chicken? Here’s the recipe:
You will need
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
2/3 cup Dr Pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (any variety)
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
Sea salt & pepper, to taste
Step 1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
Step 2 – Rinse chicken and remove any excess fat. Salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3 – In a medium sized mixing bowl combine Dr Pepper, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. Mix until well combined.
Step 4 – Pour a small amount of the Dr Pepper sauce on the bottom of the 13×9 baking dish spread it so it covers the bottom. Then place the chicken on top of the sauce and drizzle remaining sauce on top of the chicken. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the chicken.
Step 5 – Bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan and serve with mixed veggies and wild rice! Enjoy!
