Grilled Spareribs with Cherry Cola Glaze

Delicious spareribs baked in the oven until tender and finished on the grill with a sweet and spicy cherry cola glaze. Grilled Spareribs with Cherry Cola Glaze are the perfect way to celebrate the last holiday of summer.

(published in Bon Appetit) and I tried it because it has many very high ratings. Interestingly, a bunch of the reviewers complained about an off-putting smell emanating from the glaze as it cooked. But they all said putting up with the smell was worth it because the glaze tastes magical on the ribs.

Well I didn’t notice much of a bad smell. Maybe because I was prepared for it and expecting something truly fowl. I did agree that the sauce tastes magnificent on the spareribs.

The glaze is a wonderful combination of cherry cola (I’m sure regular cola would work fine), cherry preserves, Dijon mustard, horseradish, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and hot sauce.

The recipe calls for pouring the soda into a bowl and letting it lose its effervescence for about 4 hours, aka become flat. But I only let mine sit out for 15 or 20 minutes. I don’t think it matters much, but this recipe would be a great way to use up flat soda that is undrinkable.

After baking in the oven for 2 hours, the ribs are cut into individual ribs and tossed with glaze. This was a little bit of a pain to do, especially glazing and turning individual ribs on the grill, but it made serving them and eating them much easier so it was a trade-off.

The sauce can be made a few days in advance and I even baked the ribs a day in advance and grilled them right before serving.

Any way you do it, these sticky spareribs brushed generously with spicy, sweet cherry cola glaze are a wonderful way to end the summer grilling season.

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