Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This BBQ rub is the perfect sweet and savory rub for pork, chicken, and so much more. It’s easy to make with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Don’t grill without it!
How long it takes: 5 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: small bowl or jar with tight-fitting lid
Servings: makes ½ cup
DIY BBQ Rub
Sweet, smoky, and savory. My special blend of spices mixed with brown sugar ensures that your meat will grill up perfectly. With garlic powder and onion powder, there’s plenty of savory flavor, while chili powder, smoked paprika, and a touch of cayenne amp up the smoky spiciness. When the brown sugar hits the hot grill, it caramelizes with the meat juices to give you that prized crust or “bark”. So good!
Versatile. This rub is absolutely perfect for pork and chicken. It adds so much flavor to ribs (try it on slow cooker ribs or Instant Pot ribs), or basically anything you can get your hands on. I’ve used it on broiled salmon with great success. If you’re a vegetarian, sprinkle this BBQ rub on portobello mushrooms before you grill them. It works great for meats that you broil, fry, bake, or even slow cook, too.
Easy! You probably have everything you need in your pantry already. Just measure and mix, store it in a jar, and it’s ready to use whenever you’re ready to cook. You’ll love that your BBQ rub is custom-made in your own kitchen!
Ingredient Notes
Each ingredient adds a layer of complexity to the BBQ rub. Feel free to tweak the recipe to your preferences but I highly recommend you make it as written at least the first time.
- Dark Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar if you’re in a pinch but dark brown sugar has a richer, more molasses-like flavor that enhances the caramelized flavor.
- Kosher Salt and Coarse Black Pepper: Meat always needs salt and pepper!
- Chili Powder: Choose your favorite brand. Chili powder is a blend of spices that adds so much flavor!
- Smoked Paprika: You could use regular paprika but you would miss out on the smoky flavor that really enhances grilled food.
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder has a more subtle flavor than fresh garlic and it’s easier to use in a rub.
- Onion Powder: Similar to garlic powder, onion powder is another basic savory addition. Remember, onion powder is NOT the same as onion salt (same for garlic powder). It’s nothing more than dehydrated onion ground into a fine powder, no salt added.
- Ground Mustard: Dry mustard powder is in many barbecue sauce recipes and it’s a great component of this rub, adding another layer of flavor.
- Celery Seed: Like the mustard, celery seed adds another layer of savory flavor that makes this rub completely irresistible. If you’re not familiar with celery seed, it’s actual small brown seeds from the celery plant. I also use it in my coleslaw dressing.
- Cayenne Pepper: Cayenne adds a little bit of heat and complexity to this rub. You could leave it out but it’s a very small amount that doesn’t make this rub spicy at all. On the other hand, if you like things a little spicier, I’d recommend bumping this up a bit to bring more heat to the mixture.
How To Make BBQ Rub
Simply mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl or a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Use immediately or store for future use. It will keep for up to 6 months as long as your spices are fairly fresh.
How To Use BBQ Rub
Use it with any cooking method. Often you use a BBQ rub when you’re cooking meat on the grill or in the smoker. However, a BBQ rub is a blend of seasonings that you can use for any cooking method including roasting in the oven, pan frying, baking, or even air frying. I love it for slow cooker meats or Instant Pot recipes, too.
Use it on all kinds of meats. I often use this blend when I bake or grill salmon (have you tried air fryer salmon yet?). It goes well with pork, of course, but it’s equally at home on baked chicken breasts. Rub it into portobello mushrooms or eggplant planks.
Make the sauce, too! Don’t forget that you’re gonna want sauce! You’ll want to make my homemade BBQ sauce to go along with your smoked or slow cooked meat. It’s kind of like the frosting on cake, don’t you think? The more the better!
Homemade Seasoning Recipes
BBQ Rub
Ingredients
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons coarse cracked black pepper (halve this if using a finer grind)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder (NOT garlic salt)
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder (NOT onion salt)
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon celery seeds
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl or jar, mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container until ready to use. Makes about ½ cup.¼ cup dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons coarse cracked black pepper, 2 teaspoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder, 1 teaspoon ground mustard powder, 1 teaspoon celery seeds, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- When ready to use, rub the BBQ rub on both sides of the meat, using your fingers or the backside of a spoon. Use as much or as little as you prefer.
Notes
- What to use this rub for: This rub is especially good on pork or chicken. You can use for steaks (or try my steak seasoning). This BBQ rub is also great on salmon or portobello mushrooms. Use the rub for grilling, but it adds flavor to meats that are air fried, broiled, pan-fried, or baked, too. I’ve used it as a shortcut for my slow cooker ribs, too.
- Storage: Store the BBQ rub in an airtight container (I use a small recycled jar with a tight-fitting lid). You can keep it in your pantry for up to 6 months. It will keep longer than that but it will begin to lose flavor.
- Make a double batch. If you grill often, it can be a timesaver to have a jar of BBQ rub on hand. It’s easy to double the recipe (click on the 2X button above).
- Adjust the seasoning. Since it’s DIY, you can change up the BBQ rub to fit your preferences. Cutting back on salt? Use less. Don’t like the heat? Use less black pepper and skip the cayenne.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Came back again for the exact mixture for our favorite rub mix. It has a variety of spices to enhance the pork and chicken that we use it for. Subtle notes of peppers are sweetened with the brown sugar. Have used both light and brown sugar based on what we have on hand. I usually double or triple the mixture and keep in a jar. Thanks Rachel for this winner.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! I’m glad you like the recipe!
I like the idea of having a homemade spice mix. My wife and I know nothing about BBQs and we would like to make on these recipes on ours. I appreciate the improvised tips for barbecue ribs and I think we need a barbecue rub supplier to help us out on this.
I hope you like this rub!
Hi
Is this rub good for lamb?
I haven’t tried it on lamb but I bet it would be fantastic!
that’s a great mix blend!
Thanks Denise!