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This chicken seasoning is great for grilling or roasting any poultry dish. This seasoning is also sugar free, making it a great high heat rub that won’t burn when placed over direct heat for perfect grilled chicken. For a more unique flavor try our Lemon Pepper Seasoning.
We have a lot of grilled and BBQ chicken recipes on our website and when catering. And when roasting or using high heat on the grill we have learned to avoid using sugar. This savory chicken seasoning is perfect with recipes like our Grilled Wine Can Chicken, Grilled Chicken Wings, or our Pellet Grilled Chicken Thighs.
Table of Contents
Chicken Seasoning Ingredients + Substitutions
New to making homemade rubs? Check out our simple all purpose seasoning for our advice balancing flavor. This goal of any of our seasoning recipes is to have similar size grains for even flavoring. All of the portions are in the recipe card.
- Kosher Salt – We strongly recommend kosher salt over table salt. Using Kosher Salt in recipes enhances the flavor. If you all you have is table salt, use half the portions.
- Pepper – Use coarse black pepper, you can find it in most grocery stores or invest in a good pepper grinder.
- Smoked Paprika – You can use regular paprika but the smoky flavor of the smoked version adds a nice earthy flavor.
- Granulated Garlic – Granulated garlic has coarser crystals, if you only have garlic powder, use half the portions.
- Dried Herbs – We love ground sage and ground thyme for the herbal flavor. But you can substitute with ground oregano, ground fennel, or rosemary. Just swap it with one of the herbs and keep the same portions.
If you are cooking low and slow you can use our pork seasoning which has sugar and herbs that are great for the smoker. If you want to add any heat feel free to add cayenne pepper in 1/2 teaspoon increments.
What is a Dry Rub?
A dry rub is a combination of dry spices, herbs, salt, and pepper combined with your preferred flavor profile. The term “Dry Rub and “Seasoning” are often used synonymously. Look on any store bought rub or seasoning and you’ll see similar ingredients. If we’re not using simply salt and pepper, we’re referring to this mix as a Dry Rub.
This is a combination of herbs and spices that we generally apply liberally to our protein of choice. Making a home made rub or seasoning is easy and we follow some basic principles in creating the right rub for your chicken, beef, or pork.
This particular one is fantastic for chicken or other poultry for the purpose of grilling or smoking!
How To Make Chicken Seasoning
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. It’s that that easy, then use in your favorite recipe.
Add to a storage container and enjoy on your favorite dishes in the future.
How To Season Chicken
Ideally use the chicken seasoning 24 hours prior to cooking to allow it to build flavor. Season liberally with a light amount of oil, it’s best if you season from a foot above the meat to allow it to liberally coat the chicken.
If seasoning a whole chicken like our smoked whole chicken, be sure to season the cavity as well. We like to season the cavity first, then the bottom thighs and wings, and then the top breast area.
Then use it when you are ready like on our perfectly grilled chicken using a two-zone griling method.
Chef’s Tip
Before you season any chicken it needs to be dry. Do not rinse the chicken with water to avoid cross contamination.
Instead trim your chicken and then pat it dry with a paper towel. Be sure to pat dry inside a cavity if needed. This way the oil and seasoning will work. If the chicken is wet from packaging, the oil will slide right off and the chicken seasoning will clump.
Make Ahead + Storage
Our chicken seasoning is best if used within six months. Store in a large mason jar or airtight container. Store in a dark and cool location to prevent any moisture from trying to evaporate which can cause clumping.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Seasoning is simply a reference to, just that, seasoning a dish. This is generally as simple as adding salt and pepper to “season” a final dish. Often times this can refer to adding a light dusting of other herbs and spices to enhance the flavors of any given protein or vegetable.
In this chicken seasoning recipe we’re using a combination of different dry seasonings (salt and pepper included) to create a blend specifically for chicken or other poultry dishes.
If you are seasoning immediately before cooking, a light amount of olive oil will help the chicken seasoning stick. For best flavor coat chicken with the chicken seasoning overnight to allow it to dry brine which will add more flavor into the meat. We have an article on how to dry brine for more details.
Chicken is like a blank canvass, we find that any spices work well if you balance them. Start with kosher salt, and then add pepper for balance. Finally add any dried herbs for a more floral flavor. If you want spice and earthy notes add cumin, paprika, or dried mustard. For heat cayenne is perfect.
Other chicken seasoning + Rubs
Rubs and Seasoning Recipes
Savory Cajun Seasoning Recipe
Rubs and Seasoning Recipes
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Recipe (for chicken or pork)
Rubs and Seasoning Recipes
Incredible Blackened Seasoning
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Easy Grilled Chicken Seasoning
Equipment
- 1 Large mason jar.
Ingredients
- ½ cup kosher salt
- ½ cup coarse ground pepper
- ¼ cup smoked paprika
- ¼ cup granulated garlic, (not garlic powder)
- 2 tablespoons ground sage
- 1 tablespoon ground thyme
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine all ingredients and stir, making a point to mix thoroughly. Store in a mason jar in a cool dry place. Will last for six months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The calorie and carb number seem to be unbelievable for the ingredient list.
That’s because it’s judging a “serving” as the whole portion, which is 2 cups. We’d never expect anyone to use 2 cups of this rub on any individual portion of food.
If you were using it on a chicken breast, for example, you’d only need about 1 tablespoon of the rub. In that case the calorie numbers would be a small fraction of what you see in the nutrition label. These labels are based on the full ingredient list. Definitely not a perfect solution, but just good for estimating.
Question
You say this is sugar free, but in the nutrition guide is shows 3 grams of sugar. Where is this coming from?
Audra that’s a great catch. We just recalculated and adjusted to reflect -0- sugar as none of the seasonings had sugar in it.
Hi! Do you recommend how many teaspoons per kilo of chicken to be grilled?
Generally we use one tablespoon per pound, so roughly two teaspoons per kilo would be a rough equivalent for chicken. We generally like a liberal coating of the seasoning all over the chicken, so it depends on how seasoned you like it.
This sounds perfect for summer grilling!
Love making my own seasonings. This blend looks so delicious and versatile!
Thank you!!
Definitely need to have some of this on hand when I finally get to grilling again!!! It sounds amazing.
I’ve never tried making my own seasoning blend but this seems pretty simple and doable.
Love that this is a gluten-free and sugar-free dry rub – and that it lasts for several months!
Chicken always tastes better with a dry rub! This sounds easy enough, and it lasts 6 months so that’s awesome. I’ll have to try it!
I love having great dry rubs on hand for when I need a quick grilling recipe! Thank you!