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This BBQ seasoning recipe mixes up in just 5 minutes with pantry spices that you probably already have on hand, and has a sweet, spicy, and smoky flavor profile. It’s perfect as a dry rub for meat, but it’s very versatile; use it on roasted vegetables, corn on the cob, or combine it with sour cream for a BBQ dip for chips and raw veggies.
If you like the flavor of a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce, you’re going to love this easy BBQ seasoning. It works beautifully as a BBQ dry rub for chicken, beef, salmon, and even vegetables.
Here we blend together a few simple pantry spices to make this BBQ spice mix taste like something you grilled up. The trick to balanced BBQ flavor is a combination of sweet, smoky, and spicy components. If you have a well-stocked spice cabinet, you may already have everything on hand to make this delicious spice mix.
What I really love about BBQ seasoning is that it gives the flavor of barbecue to food without having to fire up the grill!
BBQ Seasoning Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
- Light brown sugar – For sweet flavor and to help caramelization. Or you can use dark brown sugar for a more robust molasses-y flavor.
- Sweet paprika – For color and subtle fruity pepper flavor.
- Garlic powder and onion powder – These pantry staples add savory depth of flavor to our BBQ mix.
- Salt – To enhance the flavor of everything else.
- Chili powder – Chili powder is a spice blend that usually contains ground dried chilies, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano.
- Smoked paprika – For smoky flavor and subtle earthy sweetness.
- Black pepper – For a touch of piquancy.
- Cayenne pepper – This adds a touch of spicy heat to balance brown sugar’s rich sweetness.
How to Make Homemade BBQ Seasoning
This recipe couldn’t be easier to make! You simply add everything to a bowl and stir to combine. Or you could add it to a mason jar, cover the jar, and shake to combine.
Storage
For best flavor, store this homemade spice blend in a covered glass jar (amber glass works exceptionally well because it blocks most of the UV light) in your pantry for 6 months. This is because ground spices tend to lose their flavor after about 6 months.
How Do You Use BBQ Seasoning?
I like to think of barbecue seasoning as a versatile spice mix, because that’s exactly what it is! Here are a few different ways you can use it:
- Add a sprinkle to buttered corn on the cob instead of salt.
- Season sour cream with a generous spoonful of BBQ seasoning and eat it as a dip with raw vegetables or potato chips.
- As a BBQ chicken rub or a BBQ beef rub.
- On salmon or other seafood.
- Sprinkled on roasted vegetables.
Tips For the Best Homemade BBQ Spice Mix
- To reduce the carbs, use keto brown sugar or just omit the brown sugar.
- Feel free to customize this blend based on your taste preferences or what you have on hand.
- If you like giving homemade gifts, this spice blend makes a great teachers gift or hostess gift. Put it in a pretty glass jar, tie on a decorative ribbon, and you’re all set!
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s interesting to think of barbecue as a flavor, but it is! For example, BBQ potato chips. Think about what makes BBQ flavor unique. It’s a combination of sweet and spicy notes with an underlying smokiness. For this recipe, we use a mixture of seasonings and spices to achieve the same flavor profile even if the food never hits the grill.
BBQ seasoning and BBQ rub are made from a blend of spices that create a sweet, spicy, and subtly smoky flavor profile. Common ingredients are brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.
The ingredients in BBQ rub are pretty much the same as the components of BBQ seasoning. However, the difference between the two is that a rub is typically used to flavor meat before cooking, and a seasoning (also called a spice mix) is used to add flavor before or after cooking. You can use this BBQ seasoning recipe as a BBQ rub for chicken, beef, pork, or pretty much any type of meat you like.
Sugar serves two purposes in barbecue rub: 1) it adds sweet flavor to balance out the spice, and 2) it helps caramelization. You know those beautiful char marks you get from cooking steak on a grill? Use this seasoning as a dry rub before grilling and the bump up the caramelization even more.
Side Dishes For Grilled Meat Seasoned With BBQ Spice Mix
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BBQ Seasoning (Homemade BBQ Dry Rub Recipe)
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Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons light brown sugar (lightly packed)
- 3 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 3 tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.
Notes
- Net Carbs: 5 grams net carbs per 1-tablespoon serving. To reduce the carbs even more, use keto brown sugar or simply omit the brown sugar.
- Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes 22 tablespoons (1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons) of spice mix, or 11 (1-tablespoon) servings.
- Make it Your Own: Feel free to adjust the spice amounts in this recipe to suit your own tastes. For example, if you like things on the spicier side, bump up the cayenne pepper!
- Storage: For best flavor, store this homemade spice blend in a covered glass jar (amber glass works exceptionally well because it blocks most of the UV light) in your pantry for 6 months. This is because ground spices tend to lose their flavor after about 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on June 23, 2023 and updated on August 14, 2026.
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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I just tried it! Wow, that has awesome flavor, Faith! And as always, I’m in awe of your photography!