Texas Dry Rub Recipe

Smoky, spicy, sweet, and salty - this brings the "Hot Dang!" to your next cook out.

Make a batch of these spicy Cajun wings to get the party started!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 Storage
• 🤠 Texans Know Our Dry Rubs
• 🥩 Dad's Grilling Secret Formula
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions
• How do you apply dry rub to meat?
• What is a wet rub?
• 🥦 Favorite Side Dishes for Grilled Meats
• 📞 The last word
• Texas Dry Rub
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• All-purpose means you can use it on anything - even grilled veggies.
• Simple, common ingredients.
• Adds tons of flavor for a great brisket, ribs, or even grilled veggies.

We use this easy Texas dry rub for brisket as well as about anything else you care to put it on.

Delicious rubs like this are why we pass barbecue sauce separately rather than mopping it on.

🧾 Ingredients

For this recipe you'll need: chili powder, light brown sugar, kosher salt or some kind of fancy smoked salt is good too, ground pepper, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, lime zest, Mexican oregano, guijillo pepper, chipotle pepper, coriander, roasted cinnamon

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar.
2. Spoon into a Mason jar or other air tight container and store in a cool, dark place.
3. Stir or shake up before using to season brisket.

To Use

1. Pat the meat dry.
2. Cover with olive oil.
3. Pat the dry rub on meat.
4. Vigorously rub the seasoning into the meat.
5. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
6. For large pieces of meat like roasts you can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before cooking.

🥫 Storage

Keep your spice rub in an airtight container or in a small bowl covered with plastic wrap. It will be fine for months.

🤠 Texans Know Our Dry Rubs

When you're from Texas everyone just assumes that you know how to pull every molecule of flavor from beef and other meats.

The answer, of course, is a good dry rub recipe that infuses big flavor into the meat no matter what kind it is, no matter what cut it is, and no matter how you cook it.

Better yet, you need a recipe that you can adapt and tweak until it's your own signature dry rub - just tell everyone that it's a secret family recipe your great-great-grandmother hoarsely whispered to your great-grandmother with her last feeble breath.

This is Texas. Tall tales are part of the mystique.

🥩 Dad's Grilling Secret Formula

My dad was a Texan through and through. Never mind that he grew up on a farm in Michigan - he seemed to absorb every western themed movie he ever saw and all of those movies became who he was somehow.

He was, in fact, more Texan than some of the Texans I know - big hat, boots, dark leathery tan, and that perfect John Wayne squint.

One of the things he learned to do was grill the best flavored beef that you've ever tasted.

Oh, he'd grill chicken and shrimp and pork, too, but it was the beef that you wanted to turn into a scented candle and just burn it all the time.

That smell!

His secret, if there was one besides the fact that he just did everything better than anyone else, was a homemade dry rub that he patted on the beef in a thick layer.

And, when I say patted I mean like how you pat a big spider with a shoe not how you pat a baby's butt to make it go to sleep.

Give this dry rub recipe a try and see if you don't think Dad kinda knew what he was doing.

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

For some reason dry rubs are an enigma. So many people stick with salt and pepper that when you hand them a jar of homemade dry rub you're met with a blank look - kinda like handing a broom to a ten year old.

If you've got questions I've got answers!

How do you apply dry rub to meat?

There's not a lot of instruction that you need about how to use dry rub, or even when to use it.

It's great on all kinds of meats and poultries but also good on the outside of baked potatoes and corn on the cob. I've been known to sprinkle homemade seasonings on my eggs - and if you're looking for a dry rub for ribs you've hit the jackpot.

Whatever kind of meat you're putting it on the technique for getting the best results is the same -

1. Pat the meat dry with paper towels
2. Rub a little olive oil over all surfaces - I like to use a flavored olive oil
3. Pat the rub on thickly with one hand and rub it in with the other - it's called rub for a reason
4. Let the meat come to room temperature, about 30 minutes
5. OR wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to use it the next day - then let it come to room temperature

Seriously, that's it. Couldn't be easier.

Always let meat sit at room temperature before cooking, though - about 30 minutes.

What is a wet rub?

A wet rub is best used when you are putting meat in a slow cooker, smoking it, or cooking it slowly using any technique. A dry rub is better for cooking on the grill, stovetop, or even roasting in the oven.

Any dry rub recipe can become a wet rub. You simply add enough of a liquid to make it a paste. It can be any consistency you want as long as it sticks to the meat. Here are some possibilities but no doubt you'll think of more!

• Beer
• Wine
• Bourbon (watch this if you're cooking over a fire)
• Fruit juice
• Honey
• Mustard
• Worcestershire sauce
• Teriyaki sauce (watch the sodium)
• Melted butter
• Flavored oils

Just a word of caution. If you go searching for a wet rub recipe? DON'T type "wet rub" into the search box on your search engine. And please pass the brain bleach.

🥦 Favorite Side Dishes for Grilled Meats

I have so many family favorites here on Restless Chipotle that it's hard to choose. Here are some of my favorite side dishes to go with grilled meat.

📞 The last word

This is an all purpose dry rub that you can use for just about any cut of meat from brisket to burgers. Make it according to the recipe the first time then try some variations to make it your own.

Once you get your steak done - spoon some of this chimichurri sauce over the top.

First published May 10, 2018. Last updated May 18, 2022 to improve user experience.