Dr. Pepper Smoked Ribs
On December 28, 2020 (Updated October 25, 2023)
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These Dr. Pepper Ribs are seasoned, smoked, and sauced with layers of delicious Dr. Pepper flavor. They’re super sweet with just a kiss of heat — everything you love in a sticky lick-your-fingers rib!
Dr. Pepper Ribs
Dr. Pepper ribs aren’t a new phenomenon, but after looking around, I wasn’t able to find any great recipes where people had cooked them on a smoker! There are a handful of recipes for cooking Dr. Pepper ribs in a crockpot, but here at Hey Grill Hey, we’re all about those tasty, good-smoked flavors.
The flavors of smoked pork and Dr. Pepper are a match made in heaven, so I set to work crafting the best possible way to make it happen. When choosing a wood to use to smoke these ribs, fruitwood will complement Dr. Pepper well. Cherry is my first choice, then apple, maple, pecan, and finally alder.
How to Make Dr. Pepper Ribs
This Dr. Pepper rib recipe is based on a fairly traditional way of cooking ribs using the 3-2-1 method (I talk about this method in much more detail in my recipe post for 3-2-1 Smoked Ribs). The ribs start out cooking for 3 hours exposed to smoke, 2 hours in a braising liquid, and 1 hour back on the smoker, typically slathered with sauce. By using this method, I was able to ensure perfectly tender and juicy ribs while also infusing that Dr. Pepper flavor into each step!
For those of you who like a little extra heat in your ribs (this is awesome to balance the super sweet Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce), you can season the ribs with cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper flakes in the rub as well as hot sauce in the braising liquid. Adding those in will definitely make these spicier, but including them is completely up to you.
The rubs and sauces in this recipe can be made using recipes on my site, or you can purchase them delivered straight to you from the Hey Grill Hey Store. If you don’t have any Hey Grill Hey Rib Rub or Everything BBQ Sauce on hand, you can always make them yourself using my recipes for Dry Rub for Ribs and Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce. However, if you have a favorite store bought BBQ rub or sauce, feel free to substitute those in the recipe!
How Long to Smoke Dr. Pepper Ribs
This recipe is written and intended for baby back ribs. As with all my recipes on this site, the time recommendations are a guideline. Each cut of meat will cook differently, and smoke times may vary from one smoker to another. Make sure you have an instant read thermometer on hand to monitor the temperature of your ribs so you’ll know when to pull them off the heat.
If your ribs are really thick or thin, you may need to adjust your cooking time accordingly. If you are cooking St. Louis spare ribs, you will most likely need to increase your braising time, so your overall time will go 3-3-1. My biggest recommendation is to watch your bones during the braising step. You want your rib meat to be pulling away from the rib bones and your ribs to be pliable and tender, without shredding apart.
More Smoked Ribs Recipes
I like to play around with big flavors in my smoked ribs. Dr. Pepper ribs are only a stepping stone onto more diverse and tasty ribs. Try out some of my other popular rib recipes below!
Dr. Pepper Ribs Recipe
Dr. Pepper Smoked Ribs
Video
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
- 4 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 4 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Rib Rub
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
Dr. Pepper Braising Liquid
- 8 Tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup Buffalo sauce optional
- 1 cup Dr. Pepper
Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup Everything BBQ Sauce or your favorite ketchup-based BBQ sauce
- ½ cup Dr. Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the smoker. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Prep and season the ribs. Remove the membranes from the back side of the ribs by wiggling the tip of a butter knife under the membrane and then pulling back with a paper towel. Slather the ribs on all sides with the yellow mustard. Season on all sides with the rib rub.
- Add some heat! If you want your ribs to have some heat, combine the crushed red pepper flakes and the cayenne pepper. Sprinkle on all sides of the ribs.
- Smoke the ribs. Place the lids on the smoker and close the lid. Smoke for 3 hours.
- Make the braising liquid. Prepare for the braising step by laying out two large sheets of heavy duty foil on a flat surface. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar down the center of each sheet of aluminum foil. Top the brown sugar with 2 Tablespoons of butter, cut into small pads. Pour 1 Tablespoon of the Buffalo sauce on top of the butter and brown sugar.
- Add the ribs to the braising liquid. Remove the ribs from the smoker and place each rack meat side down on top of the brown sugar, butter, and Buffalo Sauce. Top the bone sides of each rack of ribs with the remaining brown sugar, butter, and Buffalo sauce. Fold up the ends and sides of the foil before pouring 1/2 cup of Dr. Pepper over each rack of ribs. Tightly crimp and seal the foil around the ribs.
- Smoke for 2 hours. Return the ribs to the smoker at 225 degrees F for 2 more hours.
- Drain the braising liquid. Remove the braising ribs from the smoker. Carefully drain the foil pouches into a bowl or large measuring pitcher and then remove the ribs from the foil pouches. Discard the foil and liquid.
- Make the BBQ sauce and finish smoking. In a bowl, combine the BBQ sauce and the Dr. Pepper. Brush the sauce liberally all over the smoked ribs. Close the lid on the smoker and continue smoking at 225 degrees F for 1 more hour, or until the sauce has set and the meat has pulled back about 1/2 inch from the bones and the ribs are pliable and tender.
- Rest, slice and serve. Carefully remove the ribs to a large cutting board. Rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Rib Rub
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Best Dry Rub for Ribs
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Everything BBQ Sauce
- Make it from scratch using this similar RECIPE: Kansas City BBQ Sauce
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**This post was originally published in February 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Perfect every time. Just follow the recipe and everyone is happy. Finger licking good and so tender. Never any leftovers.
I used the recipe to a Tee except cut all times by 2/3rds, and used a full pork loin; cut in half lengthwise; and then sliced some dang good finger-licking boneless ribs.
Third time making these….they turn out perfectly every time!! Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Going to be trying this memorial day! Should I do anything different with spare ribs?
Nope! This recipe will work great with spares!
Checks all the boxes. As do most of hey grill hey recipes. My go to 90% of the time Delicious -checkEazy – checkDelicious -checkDelicious got two, just because they are.
Lately if I want to try something new i,ve started checking Hey Grill Hey to see if you have done it just to get going in the right direction. This time I stumbled across this recipe looking at other rib recipes and decided I had to try it. Once again a winner from y all. Great tasting ribs with a new twist. Good stuff. 6
Just an FYI Step 4 stays placed lids on smoker and close lid. More importantly this is an excellent rib!
Hey Susie!
Done several recipes of yours and loved them all! Looking at doing ribs and choosing between your Dr Pepper or 3 2 1 method.
My question is both have the same cook time and similar methods, but you have different temperatures for the initial smoke – I’m curious why?
Thanks!
I tend to run baby back ribs at a lower temperature for the first 3 hours to combat overcooking them with the 321 method. Either temperature will work perfectly fine.
Made this on my pit boss yesterday and it was a home run. Everyone loved the ribs, even some that normally don’t care for ribs. A couple of tweaks: we used butcher paper instead of aluminum foil and Cherry Dr. Pepper. This was 2nd time I did the recipe and noticed that the first time I did it, I did the wrap meat up vs meat down. Think that made a big difference. Thanks for a great recipe. Think this will be my go to for St Louis ribs
if I would rather the meat not fall off the rib bones, would you recommend changing the 3-2-1 cooking times? Love the recipe but a little messy for a “finger food” tailgate party…
321 is just a guideline. Play with it to get exactly what you want. I’m usually doing more of a 3-1-1 or 3-1.5-.5 nowadays!