The Ultimate Dry Rub for Ribs

By James Kimble February 12, 2025 4 mins read 4 Views

A good dry rub can boost your barbecue from average to “the best ribs I’ve ever eaten.” This rub for ribs uses classic barbecue flavors and has the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and heat.

Even though we say it’s for pork, it goes just as well on chicken and turkey, and it’s always my go-to for pork ribs.

Why I love this recipe

Perfect balance of flavors – A mix of sweet, savory, and heat makes this rub a go-to for mouthwatering pork ribs.
Versatile and foolproof – While it’s made for ribs, it works just as well on pork shoulder, chicken, and even turkey.
Easy to customize – Adjust the spice level, swap smoked paprika for sweet, or tweak the sweetness to match your taste.
Great for meal prep – Make a big batch, store it in a jar, and have delicious barbecue-ready seasoning on hand anytime.

★★★★★ Review

“Simple, easy, and tasty. That the way I like my life and dry rub.” – Doug

The best pork rib rub

When making a rub for pork ribs, I feel it is best to balance sweet, savory, and heat. I’ve given you the ratios that work best for me, but feel free to tweak the exact amounts to your personal preferences.

While we call this the ultimate rub for pork ribs, it works wonderfully on any pork recipe, including our pork belly burnt ends and pellet grill pulled pork.

Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and give it a good mix to make sure it’s well combined.

Once combined, transfer to an airtight container such as a shaker or jar.

Tip – Use fresh spices, as old ones will lose some flavor and potency.

How to customize the rub

black plate with rib rub ingredients on it — Sweeter rubs always work great with smoked pork ribs

As I’ve said, the quantities in this pork rib rub are perfect for me, but might not be for you. Here are a couple of ways you can mix things up:

If you want to play around with the spice level, you can increase or decrease the amount of cayenne pepper. If you are making ribs for kids don’t use any, and if you want to fire things up a notch try using 1/2 tsp instead.
Instead of smoked paprika use a sweet variety

How to store your dry rub

So long as you store this rub in an airtight container it should last for about a year.

As there are no anti-caking agents you will probably need to break it up with a fork before applying it.

It’s also a good idea to label your jar with the date you made it.

Using this spice rub

If you’re using this rub on ribs, you’ll want to apply a nice, even coating all over the slab. The best way to do this is by using a rub shaker from a height of around 12 inches. This allows the rub particles to separate entirely before hitting the meat, giving you an even coating so every mouthful tastes the same.

Check out our recipe for 3-2-1 pork ribs to see how we use this rub to create fall-off-the-bone style ribs.

3-2-1 ribs on pellet smoker — Fall off-the-bone low and slow-smoked pork ribs using our ultimate rib rub.

You can use this rib rub on any of our pork rib recipes, or any pork recipe for that matter. Here are a few you could try it out on:

Check out our other rub recipes

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Ultimate Dry Rub for Ribs Recipe

Our rigb rub brings out the best in pork with the ideal balance of sweet, savory, and heat. If you love it as much as I do, be sure to give this recipe a star rating so more people can try it!