Best Chicken Rub Recipe

Last Updated March 7, 2023. Published March 7, 2023 By Davinah Cenou Montezuma

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This homemade chicken rub recipe adds the best flavor to air fried, baked, grilled, and smoked chicken recipes. It takes a few minutes and common ingredients to make. Use this dry rub reasoning to make up to 8 pounds of flavorful chicken like my dry rub wings, dry rub chicken legs, dry rub chicken breasts, and air fryer chicken thighs. Store it in an airtight container or spice jar for up to 6 months.

Why Make This

Control salt, flavor & ingredients: one of the reasons I love to make homemade spice blends for everything from Cajun seasoning to blackening seasoning and even ranch seasoning is because you get to control all the ingredients. This recipe is MSG free and has a great blend of spices to season chicken
Versatile: use it on all types of protein beside chicken. Plus, it tastes great whether you are air frying, baking or grilling your chicken.
Easy Recipe: this homemade rub takes less than five minutes to make and works with your favorite cut of chicken.

Ingredients Needed

You probably have most of these dry rub ingredients in your pantry. If not, they are easy to get from the spice aisle at your local market.

Smoked Paprika: this adds a smoky flavor. I don’t substitute regular paprika for smoked.
Cayenne Pepper: this adds the spicy kick. If you want to make this dry rub spicier, feel free to add more. You can also add less for a less spicy dry rub recipe.
Natural Ancient Sea Salt: I’m using fine, kosher sea salt.
Chili Powder
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
Dried Thyme

You can get the full list of ingredient amounts and instructions from the full recipe card at the end of the post.

photo of the spices used to make homemade chicken dry rub: black pepper, Italian seasoning, sea salt, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, and cayenne pepper.

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How to Make Chicken Spice Rub

Add the spices to a small bowl or an airtight container like a mason jar or spice jar
Mix the spices to incorporate them

Top Cooking Tips & FAQs

My general rule of thumb is to use 1-2 tbsp per pound of chicken part. For a whole chicken, I use 1 tbsp per pound.
For best results and maximum flavor, let the chicken dry rub sit on the chicken, but no worries if you’re short on time. I’ve used this with and without letting the dry rub sit on the meat
Use olive oil or another oil to help it stick to the meat.
Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months in a dry place
Use fresh spices: Make sure that your spices haven’t expired. It makes a difference in the overall taste
Sauce optional: this homemade dry rub works well if you choose to top your meat with barbecue sauce or buffalo sauce. But, you can eat this without any sauce on the cooked chicken.

How long should dry rub sit on chicken?

For maximum flavor, I let my dry rubs sit on the chicken overnight (or at least 4 hours).
However, you can absolutely use this dry rub and cook immediately.

What does dry rub do to chicken?

Think of a dry rub as a dry marinade (dry brine). Similar to wet marinades, it changes the flavor of the meat and can turn bland chicken into some of the best chicken. The salt in the dry rub also helps the chicken retain moisture while it’s cooking.

Do you apply dry rub before or after cooking?

It’s always a good idea to apply dry rub to your raw chicken before cooking as it helps with flavor and moisture retention. For added flavor, you can add a few sprinkles of dry rub to the finished meat in the same way you might add a finishing salt.

Recipes using Dry Rub Seasoning

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