5 Easy Chicken Rub Recipes for BBQs, Grilling & More

Chicken is one of those ingredients that can be incredibly tasty or incredibly boring, and quite often the difference is simply what you put on it before you cook it. These easy chicken rub recipes are handy when you want to add plenty of flavour without making a separate marinade or sauce.

They’re particularly useful for BBQ chicken, chicken skewers and grilled chicken breasts, but you don’t need to wait for a sunny weekend to use them. A dry rub can be used on chicken you’re cooking indoors too, so they’re worth keeping in mind when you’ve got chicken for dinner and absolutely no inspiration for what to do with it.

I’ve included five different flavour ideas below, ranging from smoky BBQ to spicy Mexican-inspired chicken and Chinese five-spice. You can also adjust most of them to suit your own tastes, particularly when it comes to chilli.

If you need more help with the actual cooking rather than the seasoning, my ways to cook chicken breast guide covers several different methods.

What is a dry rub for chicken?

A dry rub is simply a mixture of dried herbs, spices and seasonings that’s rubbed over the outside of the chicken before cooking.

Unlike a marinade, there isn’t usually a large amount of liquid involved. That makes dry rubs really convenient when you’ve forgotten to prepare something hours in advance.

You can mix the spices together in a small bowl and then coat the chicken evenly with the mixture. A tiny amount of oil can help the seasoning stick if necessary, particularly when you’re cooking chicken breasts or skewers.

The quantities you need will depend on how much chicken you’re cooking and how heavily seasoned you like it, so think of these as flavour combinations you can adjust rather than something you need to measure with laboratory precision.

Spicy Mexican-inspired chicken rub

This is a smoky, spicy rub that works particularly well on chicken breast, chicken skewers or chicken you’re cooking on the BBQ. The cayenne gives it a decent kick, so reduce that if you’re cooking for someone who isn’t keen on spicy food.

Makes enough for approximately 500–600g chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1 tsp onion granules
• ½ tsp hot chilli powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp sugar

Method

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until evenly combined.

Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken and rub it over all sides. You can add a teaspoon or two of oil to the chicken first if you find that helps the seasoning stick.

Cook the chicken using your preferred method until it is thoroughly cooked. A squeeze of fresh lime over the chicken just before serving works particularly well with these flavours.

Smoky BBQ chicken rub

This is the sweeter of the five chicken rubs, with brown sugar, smoked paprika and cumin giving it that familiar smoky BBQ flavour. There’s a little cayenne for warmth, but you can easily adjust that.

Makes enough for approximately 500–600g chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1 tsp onion granules
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp celery salt, optional

Method

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl, breaking up any lumps in the brown sugar.

Rub the mixture evenly over the chicken. If necessary, lightly coat the chicken with a little oil first to help the seasoning stick.

Cook until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. Because this rub contains sugar, keep an eye on it if you’re cooking over a very high heat because the outside can darken quite quickly. easy chicken dinner to try.

Moroccan-inspired chicken rub

This combination is much more aromatic and uses some of the warming spices you might already have in the cupboard for curries and tagines.

Combine:

• 2 tbsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp aniseed
• 1½ tsp mixed herbs

There’s quite a lot going on in this one, so don’t worry if you’re missing one of the less common spices. I’d rather adapt a spice mix slightly than buy a whole jar of something I’m unlikely to use again.

For a complete dinner using similar flavours, have a look at my Moroccan chicken casserole with orange and spices.

Chinese five-spice chicken rub

This combination is based around the familiar flavours of Chinese five-spice.

You’ll need:

• 1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 5 whole star anise
• 2 tsp whole cloves
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Blitz the whole spices in a spice grinder or suitable food processor until finely ground, then combine them thoroughly with the cinnamon.

This one is particularly aromatic, so you don’t need to completely bury the chicken in it. Start with a lighter coating and see what you think.

If you regularly use Chinese five-spice, you could make a larger batch of the seasoning and keep it in a labelled airtight jar rather than making it from scratch every time.

Easy curry chicken rub

If your spice cupboard already contains curry powder, this is probably the easiest chicken rub of the lot.

Combine:

• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp allspice
• Salt and black pepper to taste

You can choose a mild, medium or hot curry powder depending on who you’re feeding.

This is particularly handy when you fancy curry flavours but don’t actually want to make a curry with a sauce. Use it to season chicken breast, chicken skewers or pieces of chicken for a salad.

For more curry ideas, my chicken curry recipes include everything from mild family curries to much spicier options.

How to get a chicken rub to stick

Chicken is usually moist enough for finely ground seasoning to stick reasonably well, but if your spice mix keeps falling off, rub a very small amount of oil over the chicken first.

Then sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken and use clean hands or utensils to coat it evenly.

If you’ve touched raw chicken, wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and don’t reuse plates, boards or utensils that have been in contact with it unless they’ve been properly washed.

How long should I leave a dry rub on chicken?

One advantage of a dry chicken rub is that you don’t necessarily have to think about dinner hours beforehand.

You can season the chicken shortly before cooking it. If you do want to prepare it earlier, keep the seasoned raw chicken covered in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it.

I wouldn’t leave raw chicken sitting out on the worktop while the BBQ heats up or while everyone decides what they’re having!

Cooking chicken safely

Whichever seasoning you choose, the important bit is making sure the chicken itself is thoroughly cooked.

This is particularly worth remembering with BBQ chicken because the outside can brown very quickly while the thickest part isn’t necessarily cooked through yet.

Check the thickest part of the chicken rather than judging it purely by how browned it looks on the outside.

If you’re starting with frozen chicken, my guide to defrosting chicken safely explains how I deal with that rather than trying to rush things at dinnertime.

Can I make chicken rubs in advance?

Absolutely. In fact, if you use one of these regularly, making extra makes far more sense than getting every spice jar out each time.

Mix the dry ingredients together and keep the seasoning in a clean, completely dry airtight jar. Label it with the name of the mixture because several jars of homemade brownish-red spice mix become surprisingly difficult to identify a few weeks later!

Don’t put seasonings or chicken rub that’s already touched raw chicken back into your storage jar. Take out what you need first and keep the main batch separate.

What else can I use these seasoning rubs for?

Although I’ve concentrated on chicken here, the spice mixtures themselves can be useful for other foods.

Try them on roasted vegetables, potatoes or tofu, depending on which flavours you’re using. The smoky BBQ and curry versions in particular are easy ones to experiment with.

They’re also useful if different people in the family eat differently. As a vegetarian, I can use the seasoning on tofu or vegetables while chicken can be seasoned with the same flavours for Stuart and Ben. It means you’re not necessarily creating two completely different dinners just because one person isn’t eating the chicken.

More easy chicken ideas

If you’ve got chicken in the fridge but haven’t decided what to make with it yet, my healthy chicken recipes page is probably the best place to start.

You’ll find chicken curries, pasta dishes, tray bakes, slow cooker meals, fakeaways and quick dinners there, along with links to my air fryer chicken recipes and other chicken cooking guides.

Sometimes choosing the flavour first is actually easier than choosing the recipe. Pick smoky, spicy, curry, Moroccan-inspired or five-spice chicken, then decide whether you fancy cooking it on the BBQ, in the oven, in a frying pan or in the air fryer.

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