Husband Approved Dry Rub
Husband Approved Dry Rub makes chicken, ribs or your favorite cut of meat taste absolutely phenomenal. This recipe has a great balance of heat, spice and sweetness. Both men and women will go crazy for the flavors of this dry rub.
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Recently I had the pleasure of watching my husband, father and brother dive into a plate of ribs that were made with this Husband Approved Dry Rub recipe. It was like watching men who hadn’t eaten for a year eat again. Ok, so I will admit, I was also acting like a voracious animal myself tearing into those ribs because, they were that glorious. This rub was a huge reason why. This dry rub recipe has a wonderful balance of sweet to smokiness with a mild to medium heat. I would love to be able to say I created this recipe but I only created the name. My younger brother Tommy has a deep love for BBQ and smoked flavors. With that love he created this Husband Approved Dry Rub recipe and was gracious enough to let me share it with all of you. Just look at how gorgeous meat turns out using this rub:
Best Dry Rubbed Ribs of Your Life
Husband Approved Dry Rubbed Chicken
Tips about Husband Approved Dry Rub:
- First off, if you are fairly new to grilling and/or cooking meats, you may be asking what is a dry rub? Dry rubs generally consist of dried spices, herbs, sugar and seasonings rubbed on meats before cooking. Their sole purpose is to impart flavor.
- Dry rubs are generally applied right before cooking however they can be applied a few hours before cooking to increase the flavor profile.
- Pro Tip: Buy quality spices for this rub. Here are some of my favorites: Onion powder, Smoked paprika, Chipotle powder, Garlic powder, Black pepper and Brown sugar. (affiliate)
- This Husband Approved Dry Rub recipe produces a medium heat. For a more mild heat use 1/2 tsp- 1 tsp chipotle powder and substitute the amount taken out with smoked paprika.
Husband Approved Dry Rub
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and thoroughly mix to fully incorporate spices. Rub on all sides of your favorite cut of meat.
Tasty and unbelievably easy to make,,
I am so glad you enjoyed it Jose! Thank you for taking the time to make the rub and commenting!
Is chipotle powder and chipotle chilli powder the same thing?
Good Morning! This is such a good question. My understanding is that they are not the same but I would check the ingredients label to be sure. Often chili powder can be a mixture of ingredients where as just plain chipotle powder is just the one ingredient. I hope this helps.
I keep this around almost always!! I love it on a pork tenderloin and chicken but my favorite use for it is on wings as a spice mix to toss cooked wings with! So delicious.
Thank you Megan! That makes me so happy to hear. We use it all Spring and Summer long and every time my husband can’t stop telling me how much he loves it.
Do you use regular salt, sea salt or kosher salt?
Hello, I really like using either sea salt or pink Himalayan salt.
Absolutely wonderful! Tried this rub on chicken wings on the pellet grill. Just perfect!
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear Amy. My whole family is addicted to this rub. Thank you so much for taking the time to make it and for sharing.
Can you use plain paprika instead of smoked? I can’t find chipotle powder so what can I use for a substitute?
Hi Stephanie!
This is a hard couple of questions to answer because the final product with both the smoked paprika and chipotle powder turns out so amazing. For the smoke paprika yes, you can substitute with regular paprika but if you get a chance I do recommend giving the smoke paprika a try. I adore the Simply Organic brand, however Frontier Smoked Paprika is delicious too.
Here is the Chipotle Powder I use. Cayenne pepper would be the first spice I would say could substitute well, however I would start with a 1/2 tsp and work your way up from there.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with.
I made this today and it’s very lumpy. The brown sugar keeps clumping with the other spices. How do you prevent this?
Hi Jeanette,
Unfortunately, if the rub is made ahead of time and not stored in an airtight container or the weather conditions are humid, brown sugar will clump. It really is the nature of brown sugar. The work around would be to make the rub immediately before use. Even when stored in an air tight container often you’ll need to break the rub apart with a fork.
I do hope you enjoy and will rate the recipe based on the rub.
If you put the rub in an airtight container with a piece of fresh white bread, it will help with the clumping issue. I put a piece of white bread in all of my brown sugar things to keep.
I look forward to making this dry rub for wings for the 4th!
Comments were absolutely key in helping make my decision along with the simplicity of the recipe!~~~Susan
Thank you Susan! That is a great tip!
Thank you for taking the time to share. I hope you enjoy and have a happy 4th.
This was so simple and absolutely delicious. I used it on grilled chicken thighs but will try it next time on ribs. Thanks for the awesome recipe. It’s a keeper!
I am so happy to hear that Kat. Thank you so much for taking the time to rate the recipe! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
Hi! I can’t wait to try this! I’m making it tonight. Chicken is my favorite protein. Do you recommend, baked or fried? My grill is unavailable at the moment 🙁
Hi Lindsey,
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. We have always either bakes, broiled or grilled with this dry rub. I have tried frying yet so if you do try it that way I would love to hear how it turns out.
I was thinking of making this as part of a BBQ gift basket with home made BBQ sauce too. What tips do you have when packaging this rub?
Hi Carissa.
That is such a fun gift idea!
My biggest suggestion would be to not open the brown sugar until just before mixing the spices and then once mixed put dry rub immediately into an airtight container. This will help keep the brown sugar from clumping.
I hope everyone enjoys!
My husband definitely approves of this rub. I use it on pork chops, which I cook on my grill pan over med-high heat.
That makes me so happy Susie. To be honest with you I am kind of embarrassed that I name the dry rub what I did. I named it that though because my husband went BONKERS for this rub. Thank you for helping me to feel better about the name.
If I don’t have chipotle seasoning could I replace it with Cajun seasoning?
Hi Jamie. You absolutely can give it a try however, every cajun seasoning mix is going to be a little different and can vary the results. Who knows though, it could be a raving hit.
Made this twice in one week for ribs because it was so delicious!!!
This makes me so happy to hear! My family adore this rub like crazy. Thank you so much for coming back and rating the recipe. I very much appreciate it.
Do I have to use brown sugar?
Hi Will,
You are always welcome to play with the recipe for your taste preferences, however I do recommend for this one to keep the brown sugar. Not only does it help to caramelize on the exterior of ribs, wings, chicken, etc., it also helps to balance the salty and spiciness. I hope this helps and please let me know how it goes.
Excellent dry rub just the right amount of blends
I am so happy to hear that Kathy. Thank you for taking the time to rate the recipe. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
How would you store this rub? Would it need to be refrigerated?
Hi Ann. I have gotten the best results making just just before using the rub because the brown sugar tends to clump when there is any humidity in the air. However, I have had readers successfully store it in an airtight container with a slice of white bread. Hopefully this helps.
I made this for the first time for Super Bowl 2020 EVERYONE LOVED IT!!!! My son doesn’t like wings any other way. I did have to cut back on the chiptle powder the 4th time I made..Today as a matter of fact because my son’s girlfriend doesn’t do well with spicy. The first time I made the wings for SB Sunday I couldn’t find smoked paperika anywhere so I ended up using regular paprika. The second time I did find the smoked paprika is very important it gives it such a fantastic flaver it really makes a difference. LOVE the recipe!!! I will try it on ribs next.
Oh this makes me so happy!! I completely agree with you about the smoked paprika. It is such an amazing spice and so different from regular paprika. I honestly think that next to dill, it is my favorite.
I hope you enjoy this on ribs and thank you so much for taking the time to rate the recipe.
This dry rub is fabulous. I have used on wings as well as whole
Chickens. I let it sit for 2 days flipping it over in the fridge twice a day. Highly recommend
I love that suggestion! We usually put it on right before cooking but will need to give the 2 day approach a try. Thank you for sharing!
My favorite rub now. Used on chicken and pork. Thank you for sharing
Yo are very welcome Paul and it makes me so happy to hear you love it!