Ultimate BBQ Pork Rub Recipe

This homemade pork seasoning builds upon our our basic rub and adds more complexity and flavors to really provide a wow factor to your next BBQ pork recipe. 

I call this “The Ultimate” pork rub because it’s truly the rub we use on most pork recipes to enhance the smoky flavor. We’ve served it to hundreds of guests at events for our catering company, and have sold packaged versions to tons of happy customers. It’s also an incredibly popular recipe on the internet with millions of views.

This recipe also works great for smoked chicken.

Ingredients

The recipe card has the portion details. This recipe makes 2 cups of seasoning with a key ratio being 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of everything else.

• Brown Sugar – We prefer dark brown sugar for the richer flavor but you can use light brown sugar as well. Cane sugar just adds sweet versus the deeper flavor of the molasses. So avoid cane sugar.
• Kosher Salt – We use Diamond Crystal, not all kosher salts are the same weight. Do not use iodized table salt otherwise this pork seasoning will be too salty.
• Smoked Paprika – Smoked paprika adds richer flavor and smokiness compared to regular paprika. But if all you have is regular it will be as good.
• Coarse Black Pepper – Coarse pepper grinds are the same size as teh kosher salt and sugar which makes for a much more even seasoning when applying the rub to meat.
• Cumin – The cumin adds an earthy flavor and is in a very small portion. If you don’t care for cumin you can leave it out.
• Granulated Garlic – Granulated garlic (versus garlic powder) is a similar size granules as the kosher salt and sugar, which makes it better to use than powder. If you only have powder than use half the portion.
• Onion Powder – Onion powder is rich in onion flavor and balances the garlic and the paprika.
• Cayenne Pepper – We love adding a heat element to any of our dry rub recipes. Cayenne has a good texture compared to red chile pepper flakes.

How To Make A Homemade Pork Rub

Making a homemade pork rub is as easy as gathering ingredients and mixing them together. That’s it!

1. In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Use a fork to break up any clumping and mix to combine.
2. You can use it right away or store the spice blend in an airtight container in a cool dry dark cupboard for up to six months. If you see clumping you can just shake the jar or break it up with a fork. We prefer glass mason jars with tight-fitting lids.

How To Use This Pork Rub

This seasoning is perfect for any Smoked or BBQ Recipes and provides a nice flavor from the sugar as it caramelizes. It’s also great in the oven for pork roasts. We do not recommend this for any grilled recipes (i.e. high-heat grilling) because sugar can burn and turn bitter when cooked over high direct heat.

Before applying this pork rub start with some liquid binder to help it stick. We use olive oil, beef or chicken stock, mustard, or Worcestershire. Place the binder on your meat and then liberally season the meat. If using as a dry brine allow up to 24 hours to flavor.

How Long Should Meat Marinate In The Rub

Liberally apply the pork rub to the meat so it’s completely coated for at least an hour before cooking when possible. You can add more flavor if you season the day before cooking. But honestly, if all you have is 10 minutes between seasoning your meat and cooking it, it will still be delicious!

Rub Variations

We’ve written extensively on seasonings and one of our favorites is our all purpose dry rub. If you’re new to making spice blends, I suggest you start there, then come here for this, more advanced, recipe.

To summarize our previous article on rubs keep the three S’s in mind: Sweet, Savory, Spice (aka heat)

• Sweet: what we start with. Dark brown sugar (or light brown), cane or turbinado. This will help to create a caramelized crusty exterior (bark). To balance the sugar, this is where the savory comes in.
• Savory: things like salt, onion powder, garlic powder, dry mustard, chili powder (which is simply a blend of dried chilies), cumin, paprika, celery salt, and more.
• Spice: cayenne pepper, red chili flakes, or dried chipotle. Add these slowly (like 1 teaspoon or tablespoon at a time).

Don’t be nervous about adding spice! This will help balance the sugar (I promise!).

A Note About Salt

We get feedback across the board about salt. Salt is a very subjective taste. Also, the specific kind and brand of salt in your pantry matters when making dry rubs. We use Diamond Crystal (affordable) or Jacobsen (really expensive) kosher salt.

We do not use iodized table salt and we recommend that you don’t either. Salt will be of different weights, even among kosher varieties. So no two salt companies will measure the same.

Adjust this recipe based on the type of salt you have, and we encourage kosher salt.

Storage

This recipe will yield just over 2 cups of pork rub. Keep this stored in an air-tight container in the pantry (or cool, dry, and dark location) and use it throughout the summer on your favorite pork recipes.

You don’t want direct sunlight to hit the glass. This causes any moisture in the spice blend to activate and condensate, which hardens the seasoning. Most commonly the sugar has the most moisture.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Recipe Inspirations

This pork spice blend is great on pork roasts or any piece of meat you plan to smoke low and slow. We don’t use this on beef because of the sugar and prefer a beef seasoning with savory and salty elements.

• Pork Belly Burnt Ends – Cut the piece of meat into small cubes and season liberally with the dry rub.
• Smoked 321 Ribs – This is fantastic on any kind of pork ribs.
• Smoked Pork Butt – This is our go-to as a pulled pork rub.