Soda-Can Chicken


I have an addiction. I'm not ashamed. The culprit (gasp)... is cookbooks! Just because I was hearing creepy, suspenseful music in my head while I typed that, you can hear it, right? If not please reread and think creepy, suspenseful music. On a serious note, I do love cookbooks. My favorite bookmobile read this month has been Mr. Food's Quick & Easy Diabetic Cooking. If you're new and don't already know what the bookmobile is... think monthly library on wheels catering to us small-towners out in the sticks. I'm not diabetic, but I do like to feed my family as healthily as possibly. Cutting sugar's always a good option... and mostly I'm not a cookbook snob. I love them all :) My husband's very selective about his chicken. He's not a chicken fan, but occasionally I like to sneak one in on him and I have found several recipes he will happily eat. This chicken fits into the "he will happily eat" category. I had a hard time getting my chicken to stand on the pop can, so when it fell over in the oven I left it with the can still in, but turn on it's side (most of it didn't spill from the can). I ended up with a moist, flavorful chicken everyone enjoyed... except Picky Pants Makayla who wouldn't try it because she didn't like the way it looked. The sauce from the can was wonderful. I think you need to try this one! Enjoy :)

I wanted to get a lovely picture of the whole bird before getting sliced into. It didn't happen. The little hand you see belongs to Chicken Bone herself (a.k.a. Sophie). She loved the chicken so much she couldn't control herself 30 seconds while I snapped a picture and was stealing a wing (she actually cried because it was so tender I couldn't get the legs off without it falling off the bone).

SODA-CAN CHICKEN
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 can (12 oz) diet lemon-lime soda, half full
1 TBSP dried basil
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 whole chicken (3 1/2 pounds)
Remove top oven rack. Preheat the oven to 350. Add the BBQ sauce to the half-full can of soda. In a small bowl, combine the basil, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; mix well and rub evenly over chicken. Place cavity of chicken over the can so it's sitting vertically on can, then place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake on bottom oven rack 1 1/2- 1 3/4 hours, or until no pink remains and juices run clear (mine fell over, but still cooked wonderfully). Cut chicken into serving-sized pieces and carefully pour the remaining sauce from the can over chicken.

Comments

Michelle said…
This looks really delicious! I will have to try it!
Willoughby said…
Looks good! You can never have too many good recipes for chicken.
Rhonda said…
I'd rather have you swing over and do it for me. I fail miserably at anything "kitchen". lol
Rachel said…
I'm really trying to incorporate more chicken into my meal planning, so thank you, in advance, for a great idea! My kids LOVE "dippie" (everything is "dippie", whether it be ranch dressing, BBQ sauce, etc), so I bet this would be a huge hit!

Good luck tomorrow!!!
Coleens Recipes said…
I love super tender baked chicken!! I had to laugh when I was reading your instructions to sit the chicken upright, I was thinking to myself...hmmm, it might fall over. Your next sentence was "mine fell over" hahaha.
Stephanie said…
I'm a big cookbook fan myself, I have a whole bookshelf full of them in my room. Cookbooks are awesome!

I've seen recipes like this, but most of them call for beer or cola. Glad to find one that doesn't! With lemon-lime soda, I would actually make this!
Lara said…
Wow that sounds cool! My kids would be just as enamored with the process as the finished product!
Krista said…
This really looks delicious and I love the idea of making sauce in a can! My grandma does this, and I still haven't tried. Now I'm reminded that I want to try!
Chicken, chicken...I love a good chicken...baaak. Holly at lifelaughlatte.blogspot.com
AngiDe said…
Good luck on your cook off tonight!

Visiting from SITS!

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Angie
Nana's Box
This looks and sounds positively divine. I will most definitely be giving it a try. Adding it to my collection of recipes as we speak!

Tiffany
Katy ~ said…
What a hoot. Now, question. Do you cut the top of the can off, or do you try to pour the BBQ sauce through that little opening?
Unknown said…
I know what you mean about cookbook addiction - I have a very full shelf of cookbooks! I've stopped buying Japanese cookbooks because most of them repeat the same recipes, but I'm still a sucker for soup and bread cookbooks!
Too funny that we both posted similar recipes this week! Yours looks really yummy!!