Cherry Dr. Pepper Grilled Chicken
This grilled chicken recipe brings bold summer flavor with a sweet and tangy twist! Juicy chicken is grilled to perfection and slathered in a homemade Cherry Dr Pepper BBQ sauce—rich, sticky, and packed with fruity, smoky goodness.
If you’re new to my Nest you may not know of my slight addiction to Dr. Pepper! (Fine! I’ve single-handedly kept the company in business!)
I tried to give it up a few weeks ago and drink only water! GASP!!! I decided after the first 4 hours that I was no quitter! So to celebrate my horrifically long 4-hour sobriety, … I decided to make this AMAZING Cherry Dr. Pepper Bar-B-Que Chicken!
I always knew Dr. Pepper was my go-to guy for quenching my thirst…but his sister Cherry Dr. Pepper…well, she’s mighty fine in my homemade BBQ sauce!
My guys fell in LOVE, hard, with this chicken! I wasn’t too sure they were coming up for air. I was getting a tad concerned. It’s O.K. though…cause there’s ALWAYS a Doctor in the house! (wink, wink)
Ingredients for Grilled Chicken
- 1, 3-4 lb whole chicken cut up, or a package of chicken legs and thighs.
- 3 teaspoon all-purpose seasoned salt, or seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
Ingredients for Cherry Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce
- 12 ounces Cherry Dr. Pepper
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1-6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
How to Make Cherry Dr Pepper Chicken
Let’s begin with the chicken. I used a whole chicken that I cut up. However, I’ve also used a package of pre-cut, skin-on, dark meat chicken. There were 4 wings, 4 legs, and 4 thighs. It’s getting more difficult to find whole chickens cut up at the market, so use whatever your family likes best.
The key to successfully grilling chicken, in my very humble opinion, is to always pre-cook the chicken. I have this aversion to setting my house on fire because of fat drippings! By pre-cooking the chicken, this allows you to have that wonderful crispy charred skin on the outside without the inside being raw, and flames reaching your rooftop!
Baking Chicken Instructions
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. I won’t join the ongoing debate about rinsing chicken. The experts advise you not to do that because you will contaminate your sink. I happen to clean my sink after rinsing chicken, so it isn’t an issue at this Nest. You do what you feel most comfortable doing when it come to your chicken!
Line your baking dish with foil. (This will help with clean up. Nobody wants to be doing dishes when you can be watching sunsets!) I season the chicken with a little freshly ground pepper before adding the other seasonings.
In a small bowl, combine the seasoned salt and paprika. Sprinkle your washed and dried chicken with the prepared seasoning. Cover with foil. Bake for 2–3 hours on low heat.
Cooling the chicken
Turn the oven off and allow the chicken to completely cool. This will help the meat to firm up again before placing it on the grill. When the chicken is done baking and completely cooled, remove from the pan and place on a platter for grilling.
TIP: One thing I found when making this recipe is that dark meat does better. White meat tends to dry out during the longer baking times.
Cherry Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce Instructions
While your chicken is cooking on low, it’s the perfect time to make that Cherry Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce.
In a large sauce pan, add 12 ounces of Cherry Dr. Pepper. 1 cup of ketchup, 1–6 oz. can of tomato paste, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp. Onion powder, 1/2 tsp. Black pepper, 1/2 tsp liquid smoke, 1/2 tsp. Chili powder and 1 tsp. Of minced garlic.
Mix well with a wire whisk and simmer over low heat for 2–3 hours until reduced in half, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken considerably as it simmers and the flavors enhance.
Allow the sauce to cool… then place in a container to use while grilling the chicken.
TIP: You can grill with the sauce still warm. For storage purposes, allow the sauce to cool completely and then store in an airtight container for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
How to Grill Chicken
It’s time to combine the two elements and make one fantastically luscious BBQ Chicken dish! Completely Drool worthy and finger-licking approved.
Scrape and oil your grill before turning on the heat. Heat the grill to 300 degrees. Place the chicken bottom side down and brush the top with BBQ sauce.
Gently flip the chicken over. Brush the backside with more BBQ sauce. Allow chicken to cook until you have a slight “char” on the skin. How dark the “char” is will depend on your individual taste.
TIP: Be sure to have a spray water bottle handy for the flames that will arise during grilling. Even though we have pre-cooked the chicken, and cooked a lot of the fat out of the skin…there will still be some that will drop, causing large flames. When that happens, be sure to spray them with the water bottle to keep them under control.
Flip the chicken over, and brush with more sauce. My Grill Master put the perfect “char” on this chicken. It couldn’t have been any better.
I always have him hit it one last time with sauce. It’s just no fun eatin’ BBQ chicken if you aren’t licking fingers and smacking your lips!
My family loves this sauce so much that I serve a side dish of the Cherry Dr Pepper sauce so they can drizzle even more over their chicken!
This chicken is so tender and flavorful. It fell off the bone! I served it with baked beans and those delicious garlic butter Parmesan red potatoes!
This is the perfect 4th of July main course. Actually, I think it’s perfect any time! Don’t expect leftovers. You’ll be sadly disappointed.
Favorite Grilling Recipes
- Grilled London Broil Recipe
- Best Grilled Tri-Tip Recipe
- Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Sandwich
- Grilled Honey Garlic Bone-In Pork Chops
Everyone at your Nest is going to love this mouth-watering BBQ as much as we did!
If I were you…I’d double that batch of sauce and keep the extra on hand for another day of grilling! It would be spectacular on just about anything you throw down on the grill this summer.
Happy Nesting My Friends!
Printable Recipe
Cherry Dr. Pepper Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
Cherry Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
- 1- 12 oz can Cherry Dr. Pepper
- 1 Cup Ketchup
- 1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
- 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
Chicken
- 1 whole chicken cut up OR 1 package of dark meat chicken cut up about 12 pieces of chicken
- 3 teaspoons Seasoning Salt
- 1 tsp Paprika
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan add the Cherry Dr. Pepper, Ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, onion powder, black pepper, liquid smoke, chili powder and minced garlic.
- Whisk together until well blended.
- Simmer over very low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and reduces by almost half.
- Cool.
- Keep in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Chicken
- Wash and dry chicken pieces. Place in a foil lined 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with Seasoning salt and Paprika. Cover with foil. Bake in a 250° oven for 2-3 hours. Allow to cool completely before grilling. This will allow the meat to firm back up before placing it on the grill.
- Coat grill with oil.
- Heat grill to 300° or medium heat.
- Place chicken bottom side down. Brush chicken with BBQ sauce. Gently flip the chicken over and allow to lightly char. While the chicken is charring on the one side brush the bottoms with BBQ sauce. Flip and char that side and brush top with more BBQ sauce.
- Remove for Grill and place on platter.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
About the Author
Meet The Author
Hi! I'm Norine, the cook, baker, and recipe creator behind Norine's Nest. I love sharing and creating recipes that invite family, friends, and neighbors to gather around the dinner table. Sharing good food and creating memories with those we love brings me happiness. Thanks for stopping by my Nest!
1
The bbq chicken is just a plus – the cherry Dr. Pepper is what it is all about! Seriously, this sounds delicious!
Can you use cherry coke instead?
Hi Tracy!
Yes you can! It would be wonderful. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!
Happy Nesting!
Norine
Can you par boil the chicken instead of bake? If that is possible then how long?
Thank you.
Hi Bill!
I’ve only ever slow baked them and thrown them on the BBQ. Sorry I don’t have answer for you regarding the Par boil.
You could try it and see. If it works I’d love to know.
Norine
How would your recommend storing extra sauce? Fridge? Freezer? And how long would it still be good for using each above mentioned method?
Hi Jamie!
You can store the extra sauce for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. You can store it in the freezer, in an air tight container, for up to 3 months. Hope that helps. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this recipe.
Happy Nesting!
Norine
The sauce was amazing! I’ve never been a big fan of bbq because I’ve never had a sauce I really liked. This made a big change, I cooked this with chicken drums twice in 2 weeks now. My whole family said it was amazing and knocked any other sauce out the ballpark. Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Hi Jennifer!
We are so close to grilling season and I can hardly wait to stoke up that grill and make this sauce again! I’m a huge Dr Pepper fan, and like you, not a huge fan of regular BBQ sauce. I’m so glad you liked this recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and visit with me and share. Have a great week and enjoy that BBQ!
Happy Nesting!
Norine
Hi Norine!
I plan on making this for a party where I will not have access to the oven for precooking. Would it be alright if i precooked the chicken the day before, then finished everything off on the grill at the party?
Thanks!
Hi!
Sorry for the late response…I’ve been out today. To answer your question…YES! I often bake mine the day before, refrigerate, and then grill the next day. It works out perfectly. Hope you have fun at your party and enjoy the chicken!
Thanks for stopping by!
Norine
Can this be done all in the oven if grilling isn’t an option?
Hi Jen!
Yes it can all be done in the oven if grilling isn’t an option. I’d put it under the broiler at the end just to give it that “grilled” look. Crisp things up just a bit.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week.
Norine
Hello my friend! I’m making this tonight but unfortunately I had to start when I got home from work at 4:30 so I did pre cook in the oven but not quite 2 hours because my stomach was saying hurry up (lol). So while it was in the oven I did my sauce and was going to do your garlic Parmesan cheese potatoes I didn’t have the real stuff ( I had the “green” bottle) so I had regular mashed potatoes and the baked beans…so while my chicken was cooling I started my grill..I will let you know how the chicken turns out but I tasted the BQ sauce ??…oh by the way I was going to do my chicken in my crockpot and try to cook it on “warm” setting until I got off work but didn’t know if that would work since I would be at work for 8 hrs (longer than your 2-3 cook time on low)
Hi Melissa!
So excited to hear how you like this chicken! That sauce is SO good. To answer your question I think if you were to cook the chicken for 8 hours it would literally fall off the bone! It would be delicious and maybe you could mix the BBQ sauce with it and have BBQ chicken sandwiches…but for grilling it would be over cooked. The mashed potatoes and baked beans sound wonderful! Keep me posted my friend. 😉 Thanks so much for sharing with me.
Have a GREAT weekend.
~Norine