Mountain Dew Wants You To Make Pancakes

Using soda in recipes is nothing new. Anyone who’s used Coke in a meat marinade or added a splash of lemonade to a cake can attest to that. But Mountain Dew…I dunno, there’s just something about it. It’s the color, I think, and the branding. That combination of the green bottle, the very LOUD label, and the yellow-green liquid inside…it all kind of screams “don’t put me in any recipe whatsoever.” 

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Or does it? Mountain Dew itself doesn’t think so. A recipe on its website for Mtn Dew Pancakes sent me down a bit of a mental rabbit hole as to what you can actually do with the drink in the kitchen – and it threw up a few recipes/uses that you might be able to whip up with your leftover cans. 

Mountain Dew Pancakes

First, let’s talk about these pancakes. This Mountain Dew-sanctioned recipe, which comes courtesy of Fun Foods, invites you to make pancakes using buttermilk pancake mix and Mountain Dew, with a few drops of green food coloring if you so choose, and top them with a syrup made with the soda, sugar, and corn syrup. 

The whole thing sounds wildly, tooth-achingly sweet. And honestly…I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort. It’s hard to find reviews of this one, but one commenter on Fun Foods’ recipe video for it on YouTube said that these were “really gross” and “disgusting.” Not mincing words there.

Mountain Dew Pulled Beef

If Coca-Cola can be used to make meat, why can’t Mountain Dew? That was clearly the thought process behind one Redditor’s decision to combine Major Melon, a now-discontinued Mountain Dew flavor, with beef, slow-cooking it with ketchup, Cajun spices, and garlic, until it was fall-apart tender. If you wanted, we’d imagine you could also do this with pork.

Would you want to? Well…your call, probably. The Redditor who used the melon-flavored soda with his beef said that it “turned out pretty amazing,” and if you were using the standard Mtn Dew, we’d imagine it’d lend your meat a citrusy, sharp note which might contrast against its umami notes, as well as some tenderizing power. We miiiight stick with Coke, but don’t write this one off. 

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings

And now, a Mountain Dew recipe that is VERIFIABLY good, according to the full five-star rating it has on Food.com. Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings combine canned crescent roll dough with tart apples, sugar, butter, cinnamon, and a can of Mountain Dew Soda. You pour the Mountain Dew over at the end, before baking everything together. 

The result? Apparently, it’s excellent. “I would never have thought to use Mountain Dew in this way, but wow was it tasty,” said one review.  The dumplings were tender and so flavorful.” The Mountain Dew is absorbed into the dish as it cooks, making the dumplings moist without being waterlogged – and the whole thing is sharp and flavorful.