The Best Chicken Rub Recipe

Poultry becomes irresistible when rubbed with a blend of warm spices. This poultry dry rub is a versatile recipe for chicken, turkey, or duck.

This is the best chicken rub recipe! We use it on chicken, turkey, and duck. It’s perfect for grilling, frying, searing, baking, or roasting. This chicken dry rub seasoning blend does it all!

Homemade spice blends are easy to make, and you can make a large batch to have handy in your pantry for quick grabbing. Best of all, you can control the ingredients without preservatives and additives. So if you are on a low-sodium diet, making your own dry rub is an excellent way to keep your diet in check.

Use this fantastic chicken rub recipe for something as easy as oven-baked chicken wings to a long slow cook. It’s excellent for smoked chicken or smoked turkey. This chicken seasoning compliments almost any bbq sauce, so feel free to use it for bbq chicken! 

It’s a versatile dry rub for smoking meat. You can even use it on pork or vegetables! This has become one of our favorite spice rubs for poultry.

Ingredients Needed to Make Chicken Rub

All dry rubs are made of sweet, salty, savory, and heat. The following ingredients are needed to make this poultry rub:

• Sugar: Brown Sugar
• Salt: Kosher Salt
• Savory Herbs & Spices: Garlic Powder, Cumin, Mustard Powder
• Heat: Paprika, Black Pepper, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper

How To Make Chicken Dry Rub Recipe

1. Gather the Ingredients: It’s a lot easier to gather all the ingredients before you start mixing. This way, everything gets included, and you know ahead of time if you have the herbs and spices you need. 
2. Measure the ingredients into prep bowls or in separate piles in a bowl or on a plate. If you measure incorrectly, you can fix your mistake easily.
3. Mix: Add all spices together in a small bowl and combine with a whisk. Add the rub to a glass jar and seal it tightly with a lid. Shake well before using.
4. Rub: Generously pat (rub) the spice mixture over everything from a whole chicken, chicken wings to chicken thighs, boneless skinless chicken breasts, or any poultry before cooking.

Storage

Keep the poultry dry rub sealed tightly in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for six months.

How to Use Poultry Dry Rub

This poultry rub is excellent for anything poultry. Here are a few chicken recipes that we’ve used this rub for:

• Smoked Chicken
• Smoked Turkey Breast
• Chicken Tenders
• Roast Chicken
• Cornish Game Hens
• Oven-Baked Chicken Wings
• Chicken Lollipops

Tips

• Altering the ingredients will affect the way this rub tastes. Be careful when adjusting this recipe. Reducing the cayenne pepper is ok if you don’t like spicy food.
• If you are not using this rub on the grill or smoker, substitute smoked paprika or coarse smoked sea salt for regular paprika for a great smoky flavor.
• Pat your poultry with paper towels before applying the poultry rub so it disperses evenly and won’t slide off the meat.

FAQ’s

For best results, add the dry rub up to an hour before cooking to boost the flavor of your meat even more. Don’t worry; if you don’t have time to allow the meat to sit with the rub on it, it still tastes great but won’t be as intense. 

Make this dry rub your go-to recipe for all your poultry recipes!

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