Best Chicken Dry Rub Recipe

Add flavor to your air fried, baked, and grilled chicken using the Best Chicken Dry Rub Recipe. It takes a few minutes and common spices to make. Use it over and over to season up to 8 pounds of chicken meat like my dry rub wings, dry rub chicken drumsticks, air fryer 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 my own spice mixes 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 a great balance of spices to season your 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

Ingredients Needed

Most of the spices needed to make this are probably in your pantry.

If not, they are easy to get from the spice aisle at your local market.

• Smoked Paprika: this adds a smokey 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
• Natural Ancient Sea Salt: I’m using fine, kosher sea salt
• Chili Powder
• Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Italian Seasoning
• Dried Thyme

How to Make This

1. Add the spices to an airtight container or spice jar
2. Mix the spices to incorporate them

Top Cooking Tips & FAQs

• Use 2 tbsp per pound of chicken part. For whole chickens, I use 1 tbsp per pound
• Let it sit on the chicken for maximum flavor, but no worries if you’re short on time. I’ve used this with and without letting the dry rub sit on the meat
• Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months
• Use fresh spices: Make sure that your spices haven’t expired. It makes a difference in the overall taste

How long should dry rub sit on chicken?

For maximum flavor, I let my dry rubs sit on the chicken overnight (or at least 6 hours).

However, you can absolutely use this dry rub and cook immediately.

What does dry rub do to chicken?

It adds flavor to the meat in the same way that wet marinades add flavor.

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?

You should always 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 This

• Dry Rub Chicken Wings
• Dry Rub Chicken Drumsticks
• Air Fryer Dry Rub Whole Chicken
• Dry Rub Chicken Thighs
• Air Fryer Dry Rub Chicken Breasts

If you try this recipe, please stop back and leave it a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Stay connected & share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!