Coca-Cola Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

12 Comments

4.75 from 4 votes
5 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
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Coca Cola Chicken Thighs are an easy and hearty weeknight dinner. Tender chicken with a crispy skin baked in a Coca Cola soda and Worcestershire sauce. 

Simple Oven Baked Chicken Thighs always make a wonderful recipe for family Dinners. This version uses coco cola to make a sweet, tangy sauce that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser. 
Baking dish with Coca Cola Chicken

COCA COLA CHICKEN THIGHS

If you’re looking for an easy and fun dinner that’s also packed with flavor, then you’ve come to the right place. Making these tangy, crispy chicken thighs is a simple matter of whisking together the sauce, pouring it over the chicken and baking. The whole recipe is done in about 40 minutes, and it’s absolutely mouthwatering. 

Who knew soda could make such a delicious dinner? That’s right, all you need to make the sauce for this chicken is Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and some coca cola. It might sound crazy, but soda can actually make a great marinade for meat. We’ve done it before with Dr. Pepper Pot Roast and Root Beer Sloppy Joes. Why not try it out with a classic chicken recipe?

This baked chicken recipe is just as flavorful as fried chicken, but it’s healthier. Using skin-on chicken thighs means you get a nice crisp outside without having to add any breading. All the flavor comes from the chicken and sauce. You’ll be amazed just how tangy, sweet, and savory the chicken can be with just a few simple ingredients. 

WHY CHICKEN THIGHS?

Chicken thighs are primarily made up of dark meat. This means that they have a deeper flavor than chicken breasts. The meat is great for baking and does a good job soaking up the flavoring of the sauce around it. The skin on the chicken thighs also crisps up beautifully as it bakes. In the end you’ll have an unbelievably flavorful chicken that’s juicy and tender on the inside, and crispy on the outside. 

MORE EASY CHICKEN DINNERS

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER CHICKEN THIGHS

Leftover Coca Cola Chicken Thighs are great to heat up and enjoy just as they are. However, you can also try adding them to a couple other recipes to change things up. 

  • Tacos: Try shredding the chicken and using it as the base for chicken tacos. After you’ve shredded the chicken, put it in a microwave safe bowl and heat it up. Once the chicken is warm just add it to a taco shell and top it with all your favorite taco fillings. 
  • Salad: You can also chop the chicken up to top a salad. It’s a more flavorful chicken than your typical grilled chicken salad. Adding some cold Coca Cola Chicken to your favorite fresh greens will make a delicious and easy lunch recipe. 

Baked Coca Cola Chicken in pan

VARIATIONS ON COCA COLA CHICKEN THIGHS

  • Soda: Try experimenting with the flavor by changing the kind of soda you use in the sauce. Dr. Pepper or Root Beer are easy exchanges. You can also use Diet Coke or Coke Zero. 
  • Add-ins: There are plenty of different spices you can add to the sauce mixture the next time you make this chicken recipe. Try adding some paprika, garlic, onion powder, or cumin. 
  • Different cuts of chicken: Although this recipe is for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs you can adjust the cooking time for other cuts of chicken. You can use boneless chicken thighs or even chicken breast in this recipe. Just remember that boneless chicken takes less time to bake than bone-in chicken does, so you’ll have to decrease the oven time. 

Coca-Cola Chicken in bowl with mashed potatoes

INSTANT POT COCA COLA CHICKEN THIGHS

  • Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. 
  • Whisk together the coke, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. 
  • Put the chicken thighs in the instant pot and pour the sauce over the top. 
  • Seal the Instapot and pressure cook for 12 minutes. Change to 10 minutes if you’re using boneless chicken thighs.
  • Let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes, then manually release. 
  • Remove the thighs from the instant pot and place them on a baking sheet. Broil them in the oven for 3 minutes. This will make it so the skin is still nice and crispy. 

Chicken Cooking Safety

To double check your chicken is done cooking you can make sure there’s no more pink meat or use an internal thermometer. According to the USDA, chicken is done cooking when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (73.8 degrees C).

HOW TO STORE COCA COLA CHICKEN THIGHS

  • Serve: Don’t leave cooked chicken at room temperature for more than 2 hours. 
  • Store: Once the chicken has cooled, store it in an airtight container. The recipe will be good for up to 4 days. 
  • Freeze: To freeze Coca Cola Chicken, remove the meat from the bones and store it in an airtight container. It can keep well in the freezer for up to 4 months. 

Coca Cola baked Chicken Thigh

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Dinner, then Dessert

Coca Cola Chicken Thighs

Coca Cola Chicken Thighs is an easy and hearty weeknight dinner. Tender chicken with a crispy skin baked in a Coca Cola soda and Worcestershire sauce. 
Yield 5 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Coca-Cola Chicken in bowl with mashed potatoes
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 5 chicken thighs , bone-in and skin on
  • 12 ounces Coca Cola soda
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/4 coarse ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Place chicken thighs in baking dish skin side up and season with salt and pepper
  • Mix together soda, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce pour it over the chicken thighs.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes, basting once while it is cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 849mg | Potassium: 502mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 359IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2mg
Keyword: Coca Cola Chicken Thighs

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Coca Cola Chicken collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Haven’t tried this recipe yet but it sounds YUMMY! I’m always looking for different ways to prepare chicken breasts.

    Planning on using boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Was wondering how long I should cook them in the 375 degree oven.

    Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Not unless they are thawed and patted as dry as you can. The liquid from them would thin out the sauce way too much.

      Reply

  5. My college roommate used to make a similar dish, and we all loved it. I haven’t had it in years! Can’t wait to try it out on my family. 🙂

    Reply

  6. I love adding drinks in recipes, especially meat. The coke with chicken is so tasty! It is so tender on the inside & I love the crisp, flavorful skin on the outside.

    Reply