Variations & Tips
If you like a little heat with your sweet, stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes or a spoonful of hot sauce into the barbecue sauce and cola mixture before pouring it over the ribs. For a smokier flavor, choose a hickory or mesquite-style bottled barbecue sauce, or add a half teaspoon of liquid smoke to the sauce mixture. You can swap the cola for root beer or Dr Pepper for a different kind of sweetness that still gives you that sticky, lacquered finish. If you only have country-style pork ribs, use them instead; they’re meatier and will cook the same way, though you may need to trim any large pockets of fat. To keep cleanup even easier, use a fresh sheet of foil under the ribs if you decide to broil them at the end. Leftover rib meat can be pulled off the bones and reheated in its sauce, then piled on buns for sandwiches or stirred into baked beans for another comforting meal later in the week.
