Dr Pepper Recipes

I cook with Dr Pepper more than I should admit. These are the 34 that actually work, every one of them made in my own kitchen with real measurements: sticky slow cooker pulled pork, fall-off-the-bone ribs, fudgy chocolate cake, and the 15 drinks and cocktails most people come here for.

What can you make with Dr Pepper? Three things, mostly. It braises meat into something dark and sticky, which is the pulled pork, ribs, brisket and carnitas end of this page. It replaces the liquid in chocolate bakes and leaves a faint spiced edge behind, which is the cake, cupcakes and brownies. And it mixes, which is what most people actually arrive looking for: the 23 flavors already lean on cherry, vanilla and baking spice, so bourbon, rum and whiskey need no help at all.

All 34 recipes below are ones I have cooked myself, with weights and timings I checked rather than copied. Last tested 16 June 2026.

What kind of Dr Pepper recipe do you want?

The filters below the table do the same job, but here is the shape of the collection and where I would start in each group.

GroupRecipesStart with
Cocktails and mixed drinks12Dr Pepper bourbon smash
Floats, punches and soft drinks4Dr Pepper float
Mains, mostly barbecue8Dr Pepper pulled pork
Desserts and bakes6Dr Pepper chocolate cake
Slow cooker5Dr Pepper carnitas
Sides, sauces and marinades4Dr Pepper BBQ sauce
By the occasion:

34 recipes

Cooking with Dr Pepper: common questions

What alcohol mixes best with Dr Pepper?

Bourbon and dark rum are the two that need no help at all, because the 23 flavors already run to cherry, vanilla and baking spice, which is most of the way to a whiskey mixer. Irish whiskey and spiced rum work for the same reason. Tequila needs the lime in a Dr Pepper margarita to keep it from turning syrupy, and amaretto is the almond note behind most of the copycat shots.

What is a Dr Pepper shot, and does it contain Dr Pepper?

The bar drink called a Dr Pepper shot or drop shot usually contains no Dr Pepper at all. It is amaretto dropped into beer, and it is named for the fact that it tastes faintly like the soda rather than for anything in it. If you want the real thing in the glass, the Dr Pepper cocktail and the Dr Pepper old fashioned both use the soda itself.

Why does Dr Pepper work so well on meat?

Two things happen at once. The acidity softens the surface of the meat while it braises, and the sugar reduces into the dark, sticky glaze that coats ribs and pulled pork. The spice notes in the blend land somewhere near a barbecue rub, which is why it tastes deliberate rather than like a novelty.

Can you cook with Diet or Zero Sugar Dr Pepper?

For drinks, yes, and nobody will be able to tell. For anything that needs to reduce, no. Dr Pepper Zero Sugar and Diet Dr Pepper have no sugar to caramelize, so a glaze made with them stays thin and watery instead of turning sticky. Use the full-sugar can for ribs, pulled pork and anything baked, and save the zero-sugar cans for the floats and the mixed drinks.