Our Favorite Pork Chop Seasoning
With its perfect blend of sweet and smoky flavors, our easy pork chop rub is a must to have on hand during the summer grilling season.
Dry rubs of all kinds add flavor to meat, help it retain its natural juices during cooking, and enhance tenderization. We created this one for our favorite grilled pork chop recipe, which features brined, bone-in rib chops grilled to tender, juicy perfection.
Once we discovered how beautifully this seasoning blend flavored the pork, we decided to try it on several other cuts as well as chicken and seafood. It’s really easy to make and keeps for months, which is why we always have a batch on hand.
What You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients in our pork chop rub recipe. You’ll find the quantities we recommend in the printable version of the recipe below, but feel free to play with them a bit to tweak the flavors to your liking.
- Salt: Kosher salt is an essential choice for making dry rubs because its large, coarse grains dissolve slower than table salt during cooking and impart more flavor. In addition, because kosher salt has less salt by volume, it provides better coverage without an excessively salty flavor.
- Brown sugar: Either light or dark brown sugar will work in this rub. We like the dark variety because it has deeper notes of molasses flavor.
- Paprika (sweet and smoked): We use a combination of sweet and smoked paprika in our pork rub. The smoked version lends the rub a bit of that classic barbecue flavor, and the sweet variety adds an overall depth of flavor that can’t be substituted.
- Garlic and onion powder: Feel free to use powder or the granulated (slightly coarser) version of both of these seasonings. We’re partial to the granulated version because it’s a little easier to get even coverage when seasoning your food, but either one will do.
- Dry mustard: Watch the “best buy” dates on your dry mustard. It’s not an ingredient that gets used too frequently and has a tendency to hang out in spice cabinets for extended periods of time. It does lose its flavor potency, so if yours is particularly old, you may want to pick up a new container.
- Black pepper: There’s not much explanation needed here as any type of black pepper will work. Although we normally use a pepper mill and grind our own for recipes that just need a sprinkling, it’s nice to keep a tin on hand for when you need to measure out larger quantities like in this recipe.
How to Make Our Easy Pork Chop Rub
Making this recipe (and just about any other dry rub) is as simple as thoroughly combining all the ingredients in a bowl, then packaging it into an airtight container for storage. This recipe makes about 2/3 cup of rub.
TIP: If you have any clumps in your brown sugar, break them up with your fingers first, then sift through a strainer to produce a uniform, granular consistency. Once combined with the other spices, they should absorb what little moisture is left in the brown sugar, and if the mixture is kept tightly covered, it should stay clump-free.
How to Apply a Rub to Pork Chops
To season pork chops with dry rub, sprinkle an even coating over the surface of the meat and use your fingers or the back of a spoon to rub it in. Repeat the process on the other side and set the chops aside for 30 minutes to one hour to allow the flavor to infuse the meat before grilling.
How to Store Dry Rubs
Provided your ingredients are fresh at the outset, dry rubs can be stored for up to six months before they begin to lose their flavor. Just pack them in a tightly sealed jar and store them in a cool, dry pantry or cabinet.
More Ways to Use This Recipe
You don’t need to limit your use of this rub to pork chops. Give it a try on the following cuts of pork, as well as on chicken, fish, and seafood.
- Pulled pork rub: Thoroughly coat a 3 to 4-pound pork butt with this rub before slow-cooking or roasting. You’ll likely need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of rub to completely coat a piece of meat that large, so you’ll want to double this recipe.
- Dry rub for pork tenderloin: If necessary, trim the silverskin (thin, silver-colored membrane) from the outside of the pork tenderloin and brush with olive oil on all sides. Sprinkle on the rub and use the back of a spoon to massage it and the oil into the meat. Let stand for 15 minutes before grilling or roasting.
- Pork rib rub: To use this rub for ribs, follow the instructions for applying it to chops, coating the ribs thoroughly on both sides. Set aside for 30 minutes to an hour before proceeding with your recipe.
- Chicken: Coat bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, drumsticks, or leg quarters with rub before grilling, roasting, or broiling, then brush with your favorite barbecue sauce during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking for extra-flavorful barbecue chicken.
- Fish and seafood: The classic barbecue flavors in this rub pair well with both salmon and shrimp. For salmon fillets, sprinkle a healthy coating of rub on the top of each fillet before roasting or grilling. For shrimp, put a couple of tablespoons of rub in a zip-top plastic bag, add the shrimp and toss to coat. Thread the shrimp onto skewers for grilling, or sauté them in olive oil or butter.
Pork Rub Recipe Variations
Here are a few ideas for switching up the flavor profile of this rub. Each one replaces the smoked paprika with a blend of other herbs and spices.
- Southwest Dry Rub: Omit the smoked paprika and add 1 teaspoon of chipotle chile powder (or more to taste), 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander, and oregano (preferably Mexican), and a pinch of ground allspice. Use on pork, chicken, or beef.
- Caribbean Dry Rub: Omit the smoked paprika and add 1 teaspoon of ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg and ground ginger. Use on pork, chicken, or shrimp.
- All-Purpose Herb Rub: Omit the smoked paprika and add 1 teaspoon of dried basil, 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano and thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of dried rosemary, and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander. Use on chicken, turkey, or pork.
Easy Pork Chop Rub
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, or more to taste
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
Instructions
- Thoroughly break up any clumps in the brown sugar with your fingers, then sift it through a strainer for an even, granular texture. Doing this will ensure it blends evenly with the other ingredients.
- Add the salt, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, dry mustard, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Combine thoroughly and transfer to a tightly covered container until ready to use.
How to use this rub:
- To season pork chops with this dry rub, sprinkle an even coating over the surface of the meat and use your fingers or the back of a spoon to rub it in. Repeat the process on the other side and set the chops aside for 30 minutes to one hour to allow the flavor to infuse the meat before grilling.
Recipe Notes
More Ways to Use This Rub
You don’t need to limit your use of this rub to pork chops. Give it a try on the following cuts of pork, as well as on chicken, fish, and seafood.- Pulled pork rub: Thoroughly coat a 3 to 4-pound pork butt with this rub before slow-cooking or roasting. You’ll likely need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of rub to completely coat a piece of meat that large, so you’ll want to double this recipe.
- Dry rub for pork tenderloin: If necessary, trim the silverskin (thin, silver-colored membrane) from the outside of the pork tenderloin and brush with olive oil on all sides. Sprinkle on the rub and use the back of a spoon to massage it and the oil into the meat. Let stand for 15 minutes before grilling or roasting.
- Pork rib rub: To use this rub for ribs, follow the instructions for applying it to chops, coating the ribs thoroughly on both sides. Set aside for 30 minutes to an hour before proceeding with your recipe.
- Chicken: Coat bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, drumsticks, or leg quarters with rub before grilling, roasting, or broiling, then brush with your favorite barbecue sauce during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking for extra-flavorful barbecue chicken.
- Fish and seafood: The classic barbecue flavors in this rub pair well with both salmon and shrimp. For salmon fillets, sprinkle a healthy coating of rub on the top of each fillet before roasting or grilling. For shrimp, put a couple of tablespoons of rub in a zip-top plastic bag, add the shrimp and toss to coat. Thread the shrimp onto skewers for grilling, or sauté them in olive oil or butter.
Tony Bennington says
This looks a fabulous rub which I would like to use, but my kidneys are not as good as they used to be and I have to reduce my salt intake. Is the recipe badly affected if the salt is reduced considerable (e.g I can only have 2,5gms/day total)? Could you recommend a suitable alternative spice that could take the place of the salt altogether?
Best Regards
Lynne Webb says
Hi Tony,
I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t reduce the salt to as little as 1/2 teaspoon, or even make it totally salt-free. It has plenty of flavor from the other ingredients, but you could add a little heat with a pinch of cayenne if you like.