So I was planning on posting this amaaaaaazing dinner recipe today (seriously…this is the one and only meal in my arsenal than not one person in my family complains about and where every single leftover got eaten), but as I was madly preparing for the 4th and then reeling in the aftermath of it all, I realized that today is Friday and that people are likely not working and tired and are sleeping in and are going to be out of their routines and that a day like today is not a day for meals that take grocery shopping and advance preparation and things like fresh herbs. Today is a day for caffeine.
Now…I know there are people reading this who are going to think I’m a heathen spawn of evil for posting a recipe with Diet Coke. I know there are those of you out there who long to tell me that Diet Coke is poison and that every cell in my body screams with a tiny, hyper voice with every sip I take. To all of you: I hear you. I probably am the heathen spawn of evil and I probably am poisoning myself, but see, I’m a Mormon girl, which means my list of potential vices is depressingly small, and, try as I might, I can’t seem to find more than 5, sometimes 6 hours to sleep every night. So here we are at Diet Coke. Hello, old friend.
I heard about Dirty Diet Coke the other day on a comment on one of my pictures on Instagram (if you haven’t already, go check out Sara’s, too!) and I knew I pretty much needed to try it out immediately. As luck would have it, I had coconut syrup (I ordered mine from Amazon, but World Market carries an amazing selection too), Diet Coke (duh), and limes on hand.
Now…some of the methods I see call for sugar-free coconut syrup. I used full-sugar coconut syrup because a) that is what I had and I didn’t really feel like waiting and b) sugar-free syrup didn’t sound very dirty. It kind of reminded me of when Gwyneth Paltrow said she knew she had hit rock bottom when she found herself eating brown rice straight from the container in the middle of the night and I just thought, “Her dieting rock bottom is way different from my dieting rock bottom.” If I’m going to have a Dirty Diet Coke, it’s gonna be dirrrty. Sugar and everything.
I found a 24-ounce cup to be the perfect size (I totally haven’t been obsessively making these or anything).
I have these heavy-duty clear cups from Sam’s Club (kind of like the ones you get in coffee shops or cool little cafes), but I have many cups and glasses in my cupboards that hold 24 ounces.
Pour 2 tablespoons of coconut syrup into the bottom of a 24-ounce cup or glass.
Fill it about halfway full with crushed ice.
Squeeze the lime quarters over the ice and drop them into the glass so the rind is touching the ice. Pour the Diet Coke over the spent limes.
This is kind of the traditional Dirty Diet Coke. And it’s delicious and amazing and I think about it all the time (not that that’s weird or anything).
But if you’re feeling wild and crazy…if you’ve had a rough day…if you wish you were somewhere tropical…if you just want to, add about 1-2 tablespoons (really, just a splash) of half and half. It’s amazing. It’s such a great treat (and honestly, if you’re going to have a treat, all things considered, this one isn’t too bad, although it’s probably not the best idea to drink ALL your Diet Cokes with sugar and cream…just saying.) Add a straw to stir and serve. This makes 1 serving. Just for you. No one else. Go hide somewhere with a lock on the door and enjoy.
Dirty Diet Coke
Description
This Dirty Diet Coke recipe is a doctored-up concoction with coconut syrup, fresh lime, and a splash of half and half.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut syrup
- crushed ice
- 1/2 lime (cut the lime into quarters and use 2 quarters)
- 12 ounces Diet Coke
- 1–2 tablespoons half and half (optional)
Instructions
- Pour the coconut syrup into the bottom of a 24-ounce glass. Fill it about halfway full with crushed ice.
- Squeeze the lime quarters over the ice and drop them into the glass so the rind is touching the ice. Pour the Diet Coke over the spent limes.
- If desired, add a splash of half and half. Add a straw to stir and serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
Questions & Reviews
I also had curdled half and half. Not pretty. I’ve tried a few times and it curdles every time. No one else has mentioned it, I’m glad it’s not just me! Citrus + dairy usually results in curdled milk so I’m not sure how other people aren’t having this problem?
That’s so weird! I’ve literally made this countless times and it hasn’t curdled. I use ultra-pasteurized half and half because that’s all I can find at the store–wondering if that makes a difference.
So, I made this today but the half and half curdled. Anyone else have this issue? It tasted great but looked terrible!
Tried this today, it was good but I need to add more lime and coconut! I haven’t had soda in a long long time as I am a very low sugar consumer now. Since I saw this, I have been craving it! I used regular coke too.
I made a delicious cherry limeade at home recently that was more friendly to the way I eat. I used sparkling water (fill the glass with ice a little over half way) them add cherry juicy juice to the top squeeze a slice of lime and you have a yummy cherry limeade that’s lower in sugar, no HFCs, and no red 40! 🙂 if you want it sweet you could use Sierra mist or 7up instead of sparkling water.
This looks delicious!! What kind of alcohol would be good added to this to make it the perfect adult drink?!
What a gem of a recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
Just made this exactly as written except used diet coke with lime since that is what I had. I dont recommend it. Not super yummy, so I will have to get the regular diet coke and try again. I am sure it’s better that way.
I have been wanting to try this so bad! I couldn’t find coconut syrup, but I did find “Samoa flavored” Coffee Mate in the fridge section of my local grocery store. I just added a little, about a tbls to my Diet Dr. Pepper, it was Ahhhhhhhmazing! I just found my new favorite treat.
Oh.my.goodness. I don’t know if I should hate you or love you for introducing me to my new obsession. The mileage I put on my car to find the coconut syrup (sugar-free…bonus!) is absolutely worth it. I think I’ll buy a case next time 🙂
Normaly i hate Coke – but now, with this recipe…I´m in LOVE!
This will be soon in my Blog, thanks for charing it!
Love,
Christina
I live 45 mins from St George and Swig is ALWAYS a place we have to go when we’re down there. (We may or may not have driven all the way down there JUST for Swig…. a few times.) The dirty Sprite is also VERY good. My personal fave is the Mango Purée Mountain Dew. A lot of local places try to immitate it with mango syrup, but it’s just NOT the same!
“my list of potential vices is depressingly small” Yes thank you! It gets so tiring drinking water and lemonade when my friends get to drink things called sangrias and cosmos. I mean, who doesn’t want to drink something called “appletini??” Anyway, we love Italian sodas around here, so this is going to be right up my ally. It’s easy, doesn’t require I get out my blender or make a syrup from scratch–again thanks!
P.S. I love your carmalitas and Peter and I had a moment over ice cream tonight–just saying that 5 lb. block is not lasting too long. So I suppose caramel is on my list of vices.
A friend told me about this yesterday. We are Texans, and had never heard of this before, but I ALWAYS have coconut syrup (sugar-free), diet Pepsi ( unless I can get the original old style Pepsi in a bottle from MX) and limes in my kitchen. Can’t wait to try. Sonic uses maraschino cherry juice in their drinks, and grenadine is pomegranate juice…delish!
I think this is going to be a game changer! One of my favorite drinks ever is Sonic’s Coke Zero with vanilla flavoring added, this looks just as delicious as that if not more so! Thanks for the recipe!
That looks SO good! I may need to make that!
Ok – this was fabulous. LIme and coconut have become one of my favorite combinations. Thanks! So, now that you’re great at summer drinks – can you come up with a copy cat recipe for me? We just got back from a trip down in Utah and we always have to stop at Sonic when we’re out of town. Alaska sadly has none. My favorite thing is their Lemonberry Cream Slush. I’ve looked and looked online for a recipe, but I can’t find anyone that looks very close. Can you come up with one for me? Please?!?! I’m hating life again now that we’re so far away from a Sonic.
PS-dieting rock bottom with RICE???!!! Maybe they don’t have Cheetos or Ben and Jerry’s in California….
LOVE IT!! What do you think of cherry instead of coconut? i’m gonna try it. I love what this represents…because even if you don’t really like soda (which I DOOOOO!!!) every mom needs a “just for you, no one else, hide and enjoy” indulgence!
I think I’m going to try this with a shot of Bacardi!
I made my own coconut syrup so I can try this tonight. Hope it’s as good as everyone says!!!!
Can you imagine if we had pellet ice with a Dirty Diet Coke??? I think I would be translated on the spot!
I actually bought a bag of ice from Sonic on the 4th (because I’m not awesome like Sara and I don’t have my own Sonic ice machine) and yes…fit was translation-worthy.
I tried a diet Mtn. Dew with Mango puree at Swig in St George last fall. Yummy. I’m heading there again tomorrow and will definately try something new!
Diet Coke is nectar of the gods. My friend whines at me all the time about how evil Diet Coke is, and it makes me drink it even more. And it’s hilarious that the “told-you-so” crowd still has the chime in to tell us DC drinkers how awful we are. Yeah, it’s my vice too, but way better than drugs, right? Can’t wait to try the dirty version!
Pretty sure we can be BFFs, haha!
Haha! Kate – you had me at Diet Coke. I stick my fingers in my ears too when people tell me how bad it is. I mean, I’m not drinking or smoking or doin’ drugs…but mama’s gotta have her Diet Coke or the day’s just not going to happen. Can’t wait to try this.
So, I’ve been dying to try this but didn’t want to go searching for coconut syrup OR wait for it in the mail. So I found a way to make it!! 1-2 c sugar, 1 c water. Heat until boiling and dissolved – stirring continuously. Add 1 tbs coconut extract. I’m currently waiting for mine to cool enough to use. Hopefully it’s just as yummy!!
Did your homemade version work?
I had to have one of these, and remembered that Winco sells the Torani syrups. However, they didn’t have coconut! So, I’m going to try french vanilla, and I let the clerk know that they need to carry the coconut flavor!
I will also be using caffeine free diet Coke… not that I don’t like caffeine, but I just can’t handle it. It’s a love-hate relationship!
I am a strictly regular Coke kind of girl. (Can’t STAND the taste of artificial sweeteners.) Would love to hear from anybody who’s tried this with reg sodas? (Oops…didn’t mean to put this way up at the top.)
I first heard of these in St. George (UT) a few months ago at SWIG. And now it seems all restaurants in northern UT sell dirty cokes.
They are my favorite. I crave them!!
I’ll have to try it with the half and half. YUM!
If you’re in the Boise area, you can get Torani syrups at very good prices at Cash and Carry. Nampa has one too, but sadly none in SLC. I’m sure other restaurant supply stotes would have them and most will sell to the public.
This sounds good even though I’m not a big soda drinker. Diet coke isn’t so bad, just don’t post any recipes with Mountain Dew! Jokes :0)
They have a dessert with crescent roll wrapped apple slices with a Mt. Dew sauce that is ridiculous!!
So, I have a bottle (or two) of coconut cream in the cabinet… would be coconut syrup and half and half mixed, right? Sort of? Gonna try it with my Pepsi and find out!
I was thinking the same thing, since I have 1/2 a bottle of “Coco Real Cream of Coconut” hanging out in my fridge. It was DELISH! My go-to summer drink, for sure.