A good Basic BBQ Spice Rub should be in every cook’s pantry. Use it liberally on pork, chicken, or beef for a bold, smoky, sweet, and spicy flavour. Perfect for grilling, frying, and roasting!

BASIC BBQ SPICE RUB

If you have ever had one of those days when you have no idea what to make for dinner, you must be an adult! As the one person who is responsible for 99% of the cooking and 100% of the baking in our home, I’ve felt that stress a time or two. My Basic BBQ Spice Rub just might get rid of some of that stress for you!

Many friends think that I’m a food blogger and I must always have great meals, but they are wrong. Yes, I cook and bake almost every day, but not without planning. For example, while you are enjoying summer grilling, I’m working on Thanksgiving recipes. A food blogger is always months ahead of what is presently happening.

And that, Dear Reader, is why I perfected this Basic BBQ Spice Rub in March! I’m writing this up on March 1st. You are looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day or even Easter right now. I was done with those two the first or second week of January.

When I’m looking out the window at a massive snow storm, and jotting down ideas for a mother’s day brunch menu, it can be a little overwhelming. Just like you almost every time you have a million things to do, but need to get food into your family. Basic BBQ Spice Rub is going to help make that easier for you!

A SEASONING WITH MANY USES!

Contrary to what you might think, a spice rub is not only for rubbing into ribs or pork before you smoke them. A rub can be used in so many ways! Once you have this rub in your pantry, get ready for a whole lot of flavour in many of your mains and sides.

Obviously, you can use it as intended. Rub it over chicken, beef, pork, etc. Cover it and let it sit in the fridge so that the rub can really permeate the meat. Then, cook according to you liking. It screams grilling, right. But, what if you don’t have a grill? Here are some options.

Stir some of the spice rub mixture into the water when cooking rice. Plain rice is great, but spice rub seasoned rice is wonderful! Add a teaspoon or so to pasta salad. It’s as easy as whisking the spice rub into the mayonnaise or sour cream before tossing it with the cooked pasta.

The same method can be applied to sour cream. Whisk in the rub to make a fast, easy, and delicious dip. Try placing some of the spice rub into a mason jar. Pour in some olive oil. Put the lid on and shake it until well mixed. Pour the dressing over greens or drizzle it over roasted or grilled vegetables. So much flavour!

INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED

Everything in this recipe will mostly like be something you will find in your pantry. We can all be guilty of leaving a food item in our pantry for way too long – especially a spice. If you don’t cook or bake often, it’s easy to do. Make sure your spices still have life left in them.

What does that mean? Well, basically make sure they are still good to use. Open the lid and gently smell the spice. Can you smell it? If you get a good, strong scent, it still has life left! If the smell is weak, or if it smells like something other than what it is, ditch it and buy new.

Paprika – This the most dominate spice in this mix, meaning that the volume used is larger than any other ingredient. It adds flavour, a bit of smokiness, and great colour too!
Brown Sugar – Just enough to add sweetness and help with caramelization.
Dry Mustard – There is really no substitute for this. If you don’t have dry mustard, I would advise you to not make this recipe.
Garlic Powder – Every spice rub needs a bit of garlic, right!?
Seasonings – Salt and black pepper.

MAKING AND STORING SPICE RUB

Making Basic BBQ Spice Rub couldn’t be easier. Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl. Whisk them together until they are well dispersed. The spice is ready to use immediately. Otherwise, you can transfer it to a clean mason jar. Place a lid on it and store it in your pantry for up to three months.

As you can see by the amount of each ingredient in the recipe card, this does not make a large amount of rub. There’s plenty for one to two recipes, depend on how much you are smoking, roasting, or grilling.

Easily adjust the recipe to make more or less simply by doubling the ingredients or halving them. It’s very forgiving! You can even adjust the salt level if you feel it’s too much for you. Enjoy!

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