This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Dr Pepper®. The opinions and texts are all mine.
If you know any die-hard football fans, chances are, you also know that they are a superstitious lot. If their team wins while they are wearing a specific jersey – then that shirt becomes their ‘lucky jersey’ and they’ll wear it on every game day and at every tailgate party moving forward. (Or at least until their team loses – then they will change things up.)
In our neighborhood, our house has become the ‘lucky’ house among our football-loving friends. Our hometown football team has won all of the big games whenever my husband Jack and I host the game day party at our home. So – it’s now a given that everyone is coming to our house to watch the games!
But a couple of weeks ago, one of my friends confessed that everyone loves coming to our house to watch the games because they know we will serve some really great food! With that in mind, today’s Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans is destined to become a crowd favorite!
Everyone knows and loves Dr Pepper® as a delicious carbonated beverage, but did you know that Dr Pepper is also a fantastic ingredient in so many recipes – like our Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans?
The unique, spicy taste of Dr Pepper adds a wonderfully complex and delicious flavor to our recipe. So – whether you make this for a living room football party, or you bring it along to a tailgate party at the stadium – these Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans are sure to become a game day favorite!
We bought our Dr Pepper at our local Stop & Shop supermarket in the soda aisle. There you’ll find all of the different Dr Pepper varieties including the original Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper and Cherry Dr Pepper.
First, make a marinade using Dr Pepper, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and seasonings, then pour it over bite-sized chunks of Beef and Pork.
While the meat marinates, make an amazing sauce with more Dr Pepper, molasses, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, brown mustard, and seasonings.
After draining the meat from the marinade, braise the meat in the sauce (for about an hour) until the meat is fork-tender. After a quick deglaze of the pan with even more Dr Pepper, add beans, peppers, onions and bacon to the pot and cook until heated through.
The result: Epic Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans! Tender chunks of beef and pork with kidney and navy beans, bell peppers, and white onions – all smothered in a luscious, zesty, sweet and spicy Dr Pepper Sauce that is out of this world!
You can serve these Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans as a side dish along with all of your other tailgate fixings – but this dish is meaty enough that you can serve it just like chili. (We served it with a wedge of homemade cornbread.) And of course – serve it with cans of Dr Pepper to drink!
This Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans recipe makes enough to feed a hungry tailgate or homecoming crowd – and I think your football-loving friends will ask you to make this dish for every game day party. (You know…superstition and all!)
To make things easy on game day, make this Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans a day ahead – then reheat and keep warm in a slow cooker at your party.
You’ll find all of your tailgate party supplies – including all of the different Dr Pepper varieties – at your local Stop & Shop, Giant Carlisle and Giant Landover stores throughout the Eastern United States.
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Meat Lover’s Dr Pepper Baked Beans
Ingredients
3 cans Dr Pepper®, divided
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces (start with 1 1/2 pounds)
2 pounds pork butt, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces (start with 2 1/2 pounds)
1 pound apple or cherry cured bacon, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced into half inch pieces
2 cups onion, cut into half-inch pieces
1 medium jalapeno stemmed, seeded and diced small
1 15.5–ounce can white beans, drained
1 15.5–ounce can red beans, drained
1 28–ounce can baked beans, any brand
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup favorite BBQ sauce
1/3 cup brown deli mustard
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Corn bread for serving, optional
Instructions
In a medium bowl or measuring cup with a spout, pour in one can of Dr Pepper along with the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, garlic power, onion powder and black pepper. Stir to combine with a whisk.
In a gallon zipper seal bag, place beef and pork pieces and pour in the mixture you just made. Refrigerate for at least four hours up to a full day. (We marinated ours overnight.)
The next day, drain and discard the marinade. Pat meat dry with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a 5 ½ quart Dutch oven over high heat, add bacon and cook to almost crisp. Remove bacon to a medium bowl and pour bacon fat into another small bowl, leaving two tablespoons of the fat in the pan. Do not discard remaining bacon fat.
Lower heat to medium high and add the peppers, onion and jalapeno and cook for four minutes. Remove this to the same bowl as the bacon.
Add two more tablespoons of bacon fat and once hot, add one third of the meat and sear on both sides, about two minutes per side. (Do not over crowd the meat or it will steam instead of sear). Remove seared meat to a second bowl. Repeat with more bacon fat and continue to sear the next third, adding to the cooked meat, then finally the last third. Leave this in the pot and pour in the rest of the seared meat.
Leave the burner on medium high and add a can of Dr Pepper and using a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom and sides. Cover and place in the oven for one hour.
After one hour, remove from oven and add the bacon, peppers and onions and the last can of Dr Pepper along with the three cans of beans, molasses, BBQ sauce, mustard, cumin, chili powder, coriander and black pepper. Stir and cover and place back in the oven but reduce the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook for one more hour stirring once halfway through.
Remove and serve hot or refrigerate until needed.
Reheat for serving, then keep warm in a slow cooker for your tailgate party. Serve with corn bread on the side if desired.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Great recipe, Dr Pepper marinade added a nice sweetness.
Added 1/1/2 pounds of ground beef and replaced Jalapeño Chile with Roasted Hatch Chile with your ingredients as well.
You will definitely want seconds…Keeper!
Thanks Frank – great suggestions!