Dry Rub for Ribs
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Make the best Dry Rub for Ribs with this easy recipe, perfect for seasoning baby back ribs or beef ribs! Made with a brown sugar base, this rub recipe is sweet, salty, and smoky. Whether you’re making ribs on a grill, or in a smoker, oven baked ribs, or fall-apart-tender Instant Pot ribs, this rub will add a delicious amount of flavor to any rib recipe! It’s easy to mix up in just 5 minutes, with 7 simple ingredients!
“I was looking for a rib rub that didn’t contain chili powder in it and this is it. I baked my ribs for dinner tonight, but I can’t stop picking at them, they are soooo good! Great rub!”
-Varnamala
Say hello to the new secret ingredient that will help you make the best ribs ever! This spice rub is flavorful, sweet and smoky. It combines 7 spices that you probably already have in your pantry, to make an incredible dry rub for beef or pork ribs.
Making homemade spice blends is one of my secrets to creating incredibly flavorful food! When you make your own seasoning blends at home, you know exactly what’s going into them. No additives, or sneaky extra “flavorings” that you don’t know what they are!
Keep this rib rub recipe in your pantry for up to 6 months, alongside my famous Steak Seasoning and Chicken Seasoning, so you can make flavorful meat every time, no matter the protein!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this rib rub recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Dark brown sugar – all good dry rubs have a nice balance of sweet, salt, smoke and spice. In this seasoning blend, brown sugar adds the sweetness to the mix.
- Black pepper – I recommend a course-ground pepper for this recipe, as it adds great texture to the spice blend.
- Sea salt (or kosher salt) – I prefer either kosher or sea salt, over table salt, in this seasoning mix because of their coarse texture and superior flavor.
- Smoked paprika – this spice adds a wonderful smoky flavor to the seasoning blend and gives the spice mix beautiful color. If you don’t have smoked paprika on hand, regular or sweet paprika can be used in it’s place, but you won’t get the smoky flavor.
- Garlic powder (or granulated garlic)
- Onion powder (or granulated onion)
- Mustard powder – you may also see mustard powder labeled as dry mustard or ground mustard at the grocery store. They’re all the same and can be used interchangeably.
- Cayenne pepper (optional) – if you prefer no spice, you can leave this ingredient out of the seasoning blend. If you’d like to add just a hint of spice to the mix, go ahead and add 1 teaspoon. For a spicy dry rub, add 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper to the seasoning mix.
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 6 months.
Easy as that, in 5 minutes you have a flavorful dry rub for ribs, ready to spice up all your favorite beef or pork rib recipes!
Ways to use it
There are a variety of different ways to make delicious ribs with this rub. Try the rub on baby back ribs using any of the following cooking methods.
- Instant Pot Ribs – follow the recipe linked here to make the most amazing fall-apart-tender ribs in an Instant Pot.
- Smoked Ribs – use the 3-2-1 method for fall-off-the-bone smoked ribs. Click the link for the full recipe + tips and tricks!
- Oven Baked Ribs – cover baby back ribs in this dry rub, using 1 tablespoon per pound of meat. Wrap the ribs in foil, then place them meat side up on a baking sheet. Cook the ribs in a preheated 275°F oven for 2 1/2 hours. Open the foil to reveal the top meaty side of the ribs, and brush the ribs with bbq sauce until they’re completely coated. Turn the oven from bake to broil on high. Place the ribs under the broiler and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the barbecue sauce starts to bubble.
- Grilled Ribs – cover baby back ribs in this dry rub, using 1 tablespoon per pound of meat. Preheat a grill to medium-low heat, around 300°F. When the grill is hot, place the ribs, meat side down, on the grill, cook for 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the ribs reaches 145°F. Flip the ribs and brush the meat-side generously with your favorite bbq sauce. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Slow Cooker Ribs – rub the rack of ribs with this dry rub, 1 tablespoon per pound of meat. Place the ribs, bone-side down, in a slow cooker or Crock Pot. Brush with 1/2 cup bbq sauce (for 1 rack of ribs, approximately 2 pounds) and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. Before serving, turn the oven on to broil on high. After removing the ribs from the slow cooker, transfer them to a foil-lined baking sheet and brush with an additional 1/2 cup bbq sauce. Place under the broiler in the oven and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the bbq sauce starts to bubble.
If you love the sweet and smoky taste, you could also use this homemade dry rub on other cuts of pork like pork chops, pork loin, pork shoulder, or pork tenderloin.
This rub is also delicious on beef ribs. Try this recipe for Smoked Beef Ribs, using this dry rub, for meaty, flavorful ribs, also known as “brisket on a stick”!
More homemade seasoning blends
Stock your pantry with all of these homemade seasoning mixes to add THE BEST flavor to every meal!
Rib Rub
Ingredients
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt, or sea salt
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon ground mustard
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl or mason jar.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Notes
- This recipe makes 13 tablespoons of seasoning for ribs. If you’d like to make a double batch of the seasoning, simply click on the 2X button above. The ingredient amounts will automatically update to accommodate the new serving size.
- I recommend using 1 tablespoon of seasoning per pound of ribs that you’d like to season.
- The dry rub will stay good, stored in an airtight container in the pantry, for up to 6 months. After that the spice blend will not “go bad” but as spices sit longer, they begin to lose their flavor.
- I recommend storing the dry rub for ribs in an 8 ounce mason jar. If doubling the recipe, use a pint size or 16 ounce mason jar. I recommend labeling the dry rub with a date and using the seasoning mix within 6 months.
- To make the dry rub spicy, add 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper to the mix.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free.
Nutrition Facts
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One Comment on “Dry Rub for Ribs”
I was looking for a rib rub that didn’t contain chili powder in it and this is it. I baked my ribs for dinner tonight, but I can’t stop picking at them they are soooo good! Great rub!