Chili’s Dry Rub Recipe

What if you can enjoy your favorite food items from Chili’s at home? Amazing, huh? Chili’s has been serving us tasty hot food items since 1975. Today I’ll share the secret recipe for their magical dry rub.

Our homemade Chili’s dry rub recipe makes the ribs as flavorful or more as you experienced at Chili’s. It’s rich and complex with chilies, sweet with brown sugar, and intense with the chosen mix of spices. With this rub and by slow smoking, the ribs will be juicy and pleasantly flavorful.

The recipe is easy, flavorful, and uses simple ingredients. It’ll bring brightness to the taste of ribs, It’s great on chicken, shrimp, and veggies as well. Read on to know the secrets behind an impressive feast this summer.

Chili’s Smoked Dry Rub Ingredients:

Dry rubs are a random mixture of spices, salt, and sometimes sugar. These are used to enhance the taste of BBQ meat. Chili’s smoked dry rub has the spices and ingredients to take your ribs to the next level. 

The smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and chili powder together created an incredibly complex base. I added smoky, spicy, and earthy notes using yellow mustard seeds, garlic powder, and oregano. Salt and sugar are used to have the right balance of flavors. Let us explore the ingredients in detail:

Brown Sugar:

Dry rubs usually contain a sweet ingredient to balance all the other flavors. Today I used ½ cup of light brown sugar for a nice caramel crust.

Smoked Paprika:

Paprika is made from dried and smoked red chilies. 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika will make our spicy rib rub spicy enough for BBQ ribs.

Chili Powder:

Chili powder is a mixture of different types of chili peppers smoked and crushed into fine powder. 2 tablespoons of chili powder not only gives our rub a bright red color but also provides the right balance of spiciness.

Kosher Salt:

Salt is the basic ingredient that’s found in every dry rub recipe. Use 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in the dry rub recipe. Table salt is not recommended as kosher salt has coarse grains which helps to tenderize the meat.

Black Pepper:

Coarsely crushed black pepper is used to add spiciness to any dry rub. 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper would make the dry rub spicy. 

Garlic Powder:

Garlic powder is an effective way to add savory flavor to dry rubs and marinades. It is easily found in grocery stores. Use 1 teaspoon for today’s recipe.

Cayenne Pepper:

Cayenne pepper is a relatively spicier variety of red chili pepper.1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper makes our Chili’s dry rub hot and spicy.

Mustard Seeds:

Mustard seeds have a slightly bitter flavor. You’ll need 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds for this chili’s BBQ seasoning recipe.

How To Make Spicy Rib Rub?

The key to delicious smoked ribs is a good dry rub spread into the ribs. You can always use store-bought dry rubs. But I prefer homemade rubs as they don’t have any added preservatives in the ingredient list.

Our copycat Chili’s spicy rub retains the moisture inside while grilling and allows the ribs to melt into your mouth. If you have only 5 minutes on hand, this recipe is for you. Follow the simple directions.

Step 1:

Add all the ingredients into a bowl and stir well to combine. There should be no lumps.

Step 2:

Remove excess fat from the ribs. Coat the ribs nicely with the dry rub. Wrap and refrigerate. Grill or smoke whichever you prefer.

Last Words:

Our Chili’s dry rub for ribs brings earthiness, smokiness, and savory notes to BBQ ribs. Also, it creates a nice smoky crust on top that you’ll love for sure. If you’re still confused about whether to make this recipe, go for it.

It takes only five minutes. What do you have to lose? Make it once and you’ll know the difference. Best of luck!