5 Best Smoked Chicken Rub Recipes

Bbq chicken is one of my favorite things to cook on the smoker.

Smoking is a fast and simple way to cook super juicy, flavorsome chicken.

So long as you spatchcock the chicken (unless you’re smoking wings), salt it and leave it in the fridge for a few hours and then apply a delicious rub you can’t go wrong.

Often when we think of dry rubs, pork comes to mind. But chicken can be transformed into a smoky, spicy flavor sensation with the addition of a great rub.

Get some inspiration from the smoked chicken rub recipes in the list below, or check out our own line of small batch rubs available from our shop.

1. Barbecue Chicken Dry Rub

This is a classic recipe that is incredibly easy to make.

As with many dry rubs, you will likely have all the ingredients sitting in your pantry already. 

The beauty of dry rubs is you can usually make some extra and keep it in a jar, ready to grab when the need to grill overtakes you.

Click here for the recipe, and then head to your cupboard and see what you have on hand.

2. Sweet Rub for Chicken (This One Will Also Work Wonders on Pork)

This is a sweet rub with a bit of spice just to keep things interesting. 

Even if you are short on time and have resorted to simply chucking some chicken under the grill, this rub will transform it into something truly special.

This would be a great choice if you want a DIY rub for our smoked garlic and parmesan chicken wings.

You can find the recipe here, along with some great tips on how to choose the right paprika to add to your spice mixes.

3. Meathead Goldwyn’s “Simon and Garfunkel Spice Rub for Poultry Recipe”

The cryptic name of this rub is actually a great way to remember the main ingredients. 

Anyone familiar with the Simon and Garfunkel song “Scarborough Fair” will know the lyric “Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”. 

Along with some other herbs and spices, this rub is great for anything that has (or had) wings. It will also work great on smoked lamb or potatoes too.

Click here for the recipe, and some tips on how best to use it.

4. Ultimate Homemade Dry Rub for Pork and Chicken

This recipe is a little more than your basic dry rub – there are a couple of extra flavors in there which make it a little more complex.

This rub can be used on pork as well as chicken, but just be careful that you only use it when cooking chicken for longer at a lower temperature, otherwise the sugar in the rub will burn and ruin the taste.

Click here for the recipe and some useful information about how to build the flavor profile of a rub.

5. Barbecue Chicken Rub (Great for the Whole Bird)

This rub will do great on any cut of chicken, but we think it will come into its own if you are planning to cook a whole barbecue chicken.

Simply put it on the chicken and get roasting!

While this rub is made for chicken, you can also use it on pork, steak and potatoes.

Customize the recipe as you like, there is plenty of room to adjust the levels of pepper, spice and sweet according to your taste.

Wrapping it Up

Make your next chicken dinner one to remember with a hit of your very own “secret rub” – with some inspiration from the rubs on this list. 

The beauty of dry rubs is that they are cheap and simple to make, a breeze to customize, and easy to store. 

And you can keep the ingredients under wraps if you feel you have created something truly special!

We have a detailed guide to smoking a whole chicken spatchcock if you would like to learn more or give our pellet grill whole chicken a try.

We hope you enjoyed our list, let us know what you think in the comments section below. And if you liked this list, please be sure to share!